The effect of teaching World Health Organization prescription guidelines on the prescribing skills of midwifery students

The most effective way to prevent irrational use of medicines is appropriate trainin and the best time for training, is before the formation of inappropriate prescribing habit. Therefore ,the aim of this study was to determine the effect of teaching WHO prescription guidelines on prescribing skills of midwifery students.
In this quasi experimental study, 26 senior students of Midwifery at the Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery of Mashhad University were selected through convenience sampling in 2010. Data collection included demographic form, and objective structured clinical examination (OSCE), respectively. Four-hour training program was presented through two consecutive sessions of lecture. Before, immediately after and two weeks after the intervention, students’ prescribing skill was evaluated by OSCE. Finally, the collected data were analyzed with SPSS 18, ANOVA and Friedman Tests.
Findings: students’ prescribing skill after the intervention increased significantly in OSCE; there was a significant statistical difference (p>0.001) between before and immediately after the intervention, before and two weeks after the intervention. However, there was not a significant statistical difference (p=0.629) between immediately after the intervention and two weeks after the intervention. Despite the rise in the acquired score in the scientific test after the intervention, there was no significant statistical difference (p holding training courses for logical prescription of medicines like the WHO guidelines can lead to the improve in the prescribing skill of midwifery students.