An-Najah National University

About: An-Najah National University is a education organization based out in Nablus, Palestinian Territory. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Adsorption. The organization has 1857 authors who have published 2607 publications receiving 68226 citations. The organization is also known as: An Najah National University.

Operationalisation of service innovation: a systems thinking approach

Abstract: This paper initialises an effort to explore the impact of an innovative systems thinking approach for service operations design on creating innovation. A qualitative exploratory case study approach...

Community pharmacists’ knowledge, practices and beliefs about complementary and alternative medicine in Palestine: a cross-sectional study

Abstract: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) utilization is dramatically increasing among patients. As community pharmacies are a major provider of CAM products, community pharmacists need to have the sufficient knowledge and information to advice their patients, answer their inquiries and to be proactive in the healthcare process to ensure optimal therapy outputs and minimize both drug-drug and drug-herb interactions. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to assess the knowledge, beliefs, and practices of community pharmacists in Palestine about CAM. The study was conducted in a cross-sectional design in which a questionnaire was administered on a sample of licensed community pharmacists from Palestine. The questionnaire was of 5 sections: demographic and practice details of the participants, practice, beliefs, and knowledge about CAM. Mann-Whitney-U or Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to comparison of different issues as appropriate. P-values of <0.05 were considered significant. A total of 284 community pharmacists were surveyed, however, 281 were included in the analysis as they met inclusion criteria. Out of the 281, 149 (53.0%) of the participants were males and the rest were females. About 40% of the participants were between 20 to 29 years old. Pharmacists frequently recommended CAM modalities. Exercises (84.0%) and food supplements (82.6%) were the most commonly recommended modalities. In the last year, vitamin B12 was the most frequently prescribed supplement. The median knowledge score was 5 out of 8 and the median beliefs about CAM score was 4.0 out of 7.0. CAM recommendations by pharmacists appear to be commonplace. Although their knowledge scores were fair to average, pharmacists still need more education and training about CAM in order to be more qualified to provide better pharmaceutical care and improve their patient’s outcome.

Patterns and attitudes of self-medication practices and possible role of community pharmacists in Palestine.

Abstract: Purpose: This research aims to describe the extent of self-medication, assess possible factors associated with it, identify patients' reasons for self-medica- tion and their attitudes towards the role of pharmacists in self-care so that future inter- ventions can be documented and planned. Methods: A cross-sectional study using a questionnaire was conducted. Question- naires were distributed randomly to 565 persons from all over the West Bank. The questionnaire covered self-medication pur- chases and experience with minor illnesses. Results: From 565 people approached. 400 (70.8%) agreed to participate in the study. Self-medication was reported by 87.0% (n = 348) of cases interviewed, among them 224 (56.0%) used at least one medi- cation without consulting a doctor in the previous month. Analgesics were the most common class used in self-medication by 317 (79.2%) respondents, followed by flu medications (233, 45.3%), and antibiotics (132, 33.0%). The majority reported that they selected medications based on self- decision and previous use (233, 58.2%). Advice received from pharmacists was an- other important factor in 216 (54.0%). The most common reasons for self-medication were: their ailments being minor (341, 85.2%) and they had this medical problem before 198 (49.5%). Among 397 respon- dents, 335 (84.4%) either strongly agreed or agreed that the community pharmacists play an important role in providing advice - when needed - for self-medication. Con- clusions: Self-medication practices have been common among people in Palestine. There has been a high rate of using antibi- otics without prescription, which requires suitable regulations and interventions to solve this problem. The results have shown a positive attitude towards the role of phar- macists in self-care. Community pharma- cists have the potential to make a huge impact in ensuring that medicines are used appropriately.

Towards Sustainable Water Quality: Management of Rainwater Harvesting Cisterns in Southern Palestine

Abstract: Environmental management of rainwater harvesting in southern Palestine is required to reduce the continuously increasing demand for fresh water from limited water aquifers and to reduce the adverse health impact on the people drinking harvested rainwater. This continuously increasing demand for fresh water requires the enhancement of environmental conditions surrounding the cistern owners’ awareness to tackle the mismanagement that contributed to rainwater contamination. In this study, 100 cisterns were sampled and tested for physiochemical and microbiological parameters. Most of the tested physiochemical parameters were within the acceptable limits of WHO and Palestinian standards except turbidity, calcium and magnesium where 24%, 47% and 32% of the samples were non-conforming, respectively. The pH values of the collected rainwater ranged from 7.32 to 8.97 with a mean value of 8.16. The nitrate analysis results range from 1.5 to 7.0 mg/L, with a mean value of 4.2 mg/L. High percentage of cisterns were found to be contaminated with total Coliforms (TC) and faecal Coliforms (FC) with percentages of 95% and 57%, respectively, rendering the cistern water unacceptable for drinking purposes. 78% of samples had a severe degree of contamination for which water needs flocculation, sedimentation then chlorination to become suitable for drinking. On the other hand, based on FC data, none of the tested samples for FC was a “high risk”, but 57% of them were categorized with “simple” to “moderate risk” and 43% were “no risk” cisterns. A cistern owner’s survey was utilized to reveal the roots behind this contamination. Different remediation measures, such as cleaning cisterns and rainwater collection surfaces and discarding water from the first season storm, were recommended to enhance and protect the cistern water quality.