Introduction: Nursing students are confronted with bullies in the classroom and during clinical placement. Acquisition of the necessary psychomotor skills intended during clinical placements may be impeded when workplace bullies intimidate students. This study aimed to describe the various bullying behaviours experienced by nursing students and their effects during clinical placement in the Central Region of Ghana. Methods: A qualitative phenomenological descriptive approach using a semi-structured interview guide was employed to collect data from nursing students in focus groups. Overall, six (6) focus groups were used, with five (5) students in each group comprising males and females. The sample size was based on data saturation and was saturated on the six focus group discussions giving a sample size of 30. Purposive sampling was used to select students who had been on the ward at least three clinical placements and had experienced bullying in the clinical setting. In-depth interviews were conducted, recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using content analysis. Results: The study revealed that nursing students had experienced bullying practices such as shouting, isolation, humiliation and being assigned tasks below their competency level. In addition, findings showed that bullying led to a loss of confidence and caused stress and anxiety in nursing students. Conclusion: Therefore, it is recommended that nursing students are mentored holistically in a caring and accepting environment where they will be supported to achieve their learning goals, build their confidence, and develop their personal and professional identity.

Introduction: Although cervical cancer is preventable, it is a major gynecological disorder among women currently. More than 500,000 new cases of cervical cancer are being diagnosed across the globe, with one woman dying of cervical cancer every 2 minutes. In addition, about half of cervical cancer survivors have challenges with their sexual function. Despite these findings, literature regarding the sexual function of women with cervical cancer is scanty. The study aims to assess cervical cancer’s impact on the sexual and physical health of women diagnosed with cervical cancer in Ghana. Methods: The researchers of this study employed a qualitative approach with phenomenological design. A purposive sampling technique was used to select 30 participants engaged in face-to-face in-depth interviews that were audio-recorded. The content of the transcripts was analyzed using content analysis. Results: This study revealed that cervical cancer patients experienced low libido due to the cervical cancer symptoms and the side effects of chemotherapy. This low libido made them divert their sexual gratification from the vagina to other centers of the body. Findings further revealed that some participants showed apathy toward their partners’ sexual feelings. Some physical problems experienced by the participants were also unraveled. Conclusion: Cervical cancer affects all aspects of a woman’s health, including sexual function and physical well-being. Therefore, there is the need for further studies to help address challenges faced by cervical cancer women about their sexual and physical health.

Background: Patients suffering from chronic and life-threatening diseases receive inadequate palliative care in low-income countries, eventually leading to poor quality of life for these patients. Little is known about the experience of delivering palliative care in a low-resource country such as Ghana in comparison to higher-income countries. This study, therefore, aimed to assess the roles and challenges of nurses providing palliative care services for patients with cancer and life-limiting conditions at tertiary Hospitals in Ghana.Methods: Thirty oncology nurses at a tertiary Hospital in Ghana participated. All nurses were providing end-of-life care to patients with cancer. A qualitative exploratory-descriptive design and a semi-structured interview guide developed by the researchers were used. Interviews lasted on average forty minutes to 1 h were audio-recorded, and transcribed verbatim. Content analysis was carried out to generate themes and sub-themes.Findings: Participants were between the ages of 25 and 40 years. A higher percentage of females (n = 17, 57%) participated in the study than males (n = 13, 43%). Two main themes were generated which were the delivery of palliative care and the provision of home care services. The current roles of nurses were centered around pain management, home care services, spiritual needs, and psychological care. Challenges that hindered the implementation of palliative care included distress over expected and unexpected patient mortality, difficulty delivering bad news to patients and families, and frustration with health system resource shortages that negatively impacted patient care.Conclusion: Palliative care is one of the essential services provided for patients with life-limiting conditions, and nurses play an active role in the provision of this care. Further research is needed to determine the most effective ways to deliver this care, particularly in developing nations like Ghana.

The advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) tools has revolutionized teaching and learning, particularly in healthcare education, where they enhance pedagogy, foster immersive learning, and support healthcare provision. However, their use in healthcare education is contentious, warranting careful examination, especially regarding Generative AI (GenAI) tools like ChatGPT. This scoping review aims to explore the impact of ChatGPT on healthcare education and identify future research directions. The scoping review, conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement, utilized search terms such as “ChatGPT,” “GPT,” “natural language processing,” “large language models,” and “health education”. The review followed the five-stage framework outlined for organization and analysis. The search encompassed Web of Science (WOS) (n = 100), PubMed (n = 100), CINAHL (n = 21), SCOPUS (n = 4), Science Direct (n = 25), and Google Scholar (n = 150). Initially, 400 papers were retrieved from these search engines, which were then reviewed and narrowed down to 33 papers for final analysis. This review investigated the trends, challenges, and opportunities of ChatGPT in healthcare education. The findings suggest that GenAI tools such as ChatGPT can significantly enhance teaching, learning, and research in healthcare education. Developed countries, particularly the United States and China, which are leaders in AI investment and research, lead research on ChatGPT's applications in healthcare education, with limited studies conducted in the African region. Additionally, barriers remain that could lead to ethical and legal issues, particularly exacerbating inequalities in developing countries. Further research is needed to promote better GenAI practices in healthcare educational settings, especially for individuals in these regions.

Background: Patients accessing health care enter the hospital environment with extreme anxiety, fear and distress which impacts their interactions with nurses and other health care professionals who are expected to help allay these anxieties in order to enhance patients care satisfaction. However, evidence suggests that there is a lack of effective therapeutic nurse-patient interaction in hospitals and the clinical environment globally, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Methods: A qualitative research approach with an exploratory design was used to purposively select 30 participants who were engaged in face-face interactions. A semi-structured interview guide was used to conduct five audio-recorded FGDs with the 30 participants (6 in each group—2 males and 4 females) after which the discussions were transcribed verbatim, and content analyzed. Findings: Two (2) main themes and 10 sub-themes emerged from the analysis of the data. The two themes were: Therapeutic communication practices and Barriers to therapeutic communication. Some of the factors identified by patients to impede therapeutic nurse-patient interaction include family interference, negative attitude from patients, patient condition, a discriminatory attitude of nurses, increased workload, and stress. Conclusion: Communication practices identified in this study include nurses’ manner of communication, use of touch, positive reassurance, and nurses’ demeanor. Several obstacles affect communication practices, hence the need to implement measures to improve nurse-patient interaction.

Background: Awareness about cervical cancer screening and vaccination in the developed countries are high as compared to the developing countries. Sixty to eighty percent (60–80%) of the women who develop cervical cancer in sub-Saharan Africa live in the rural areas with inadequate awareness of cervical cancer screening. However, cervical cancer knowledge remained a significant direct predictor of screening behaviors. The study therefore aim to explore the Knowledge on Cervical Cancer Screening and Vaccination among females at Oyibi Community.Methods: A qualitative exploratory design was employed to purposively recruit 35 participants who were made up of 7 members in a group forming 5 Focus Group discussions in all. Data was retrieved using a semi-structured interview guide.Results: The study revealed two main themes with 7 subthemes. The two main themes were cervical cancer screening and vaccination knowledge and cervical cancer vaccination effectiveness and cost. The subthemes were; knowledge on cervical cancer screening types, knowledge about cervical cancer screening and vaccination centers, knowledge about how cancer screening is performed, knowledge about cervical cancer vaccination, cervical cancer screening and vaccination sources of information, knowledge about the effectiveness of cervical cancer vaccination and awareness about cervical cancer screening cost and vaccination cost.Conclusion: Ghanaian women are increasingly becoming aware of cervical cancer, nevertheless low knowledge on screening and vaccination of cervical cancer, and effectiveness was detected with high awareness about the screening and vaccination centers. There is therefore the need for heightened sensitization regarding cervical cancer screening and vaccination in rural communities to help reduce misconceptions and increase patronage rate.