Quality assurance for school health service providers at primary healthcare centers in Hillah (Iraq)

Authors

  • Mahdi Hamzah Al-Taee
  • Salim K. Hajwal
  • Zahraa M. Ayad
  • Fakhria Jaber Muhaibes
  • Muna Abdulwahab Khaleel
  • Abbas Abdul-Hussein Hassan
  • Alaa Hamza Abbas
  • Hayder Ridha-Salman
  • Zahraa H. Abbas

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.60988/p.v37i2S.168

Keywords:

evaluation; quality assurance; school health providers; primary health; care centers

Abstract

This study aimed at evaluating the performance of school health providers at primary health centers in Al-Hilla City (Hillah) through the application of a quality assurance framework. A descriptive evaluation study was conducted from October 5, 2024 to March 25, 2025. A purposive sample of 63 individuals was selected using a non-probability sampling technique from 15 primary healthcare centers, drawn from two health sectors within the Al-Hilla City Center under the Babylon Health Directorate in Iraq. The sample comprised 20 members of the medical staff and 43 members of the nursing staff. A panel of thirteen experts participated in a pilot study in order to assess the reliability of the evaluation instrument through content validity and internal consistency metrics. The findings indicate a growing demand and a diminishing supply of workforce in primary health care. The quality assurance assessment of school health activities performed by medical and nursing staff revealed a fair overall performance. However, health education services provided to teaching staff and students were found to be suboptimal.

Author Biographies

Mahdi Hamzah Al-Taee

Department of Nursing, College of Nursing, Al-Mustaqbal University, Hillah, Iraq

Salim K. Hajwal

Department of Nursing, College of Nursing, Al-Mustaqbal University, Hillah, Iraq

Zahraa M. Ayad

Department of Physiology, Biochemistry, and Pharmacology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Al-Qasim Green University, Al Qasim, Iraq

Fakhria Jaber Muhaibes

Department of Nursing, College of Nursing, Al-Mustaqbal University, Hillah, Iraq

Muna Abdulwahab Khaleel

Department of Nursing, College of Nursing, Al-Mustaqbal University, Hillah, Iraq

Abbas Abdul-Hussein Hassan

Department of Nursing, College of Nursing, Al-Mustaqbal University, Hillah, Iraq

Alaa Hamza Abbas

Department of Pharmacology, College of Pharmacy, Al-Mustaqbal University, Hillah, Iraq

Hayder Ridha-Salman

Department of Pharmacology, College of Pharmacy, Al-Mustaqbal University, Hillah, Iraq

Zahraa H. Abbas

Diwaniyah Health Directorate, Ministry of Health, Diwaniyah, Iraq

References

1. de Jonge V., Sint Nicolaas J., van Leerdam M.E., Kuipers E.J. Overview of the quality assurance movement in health care. Best Pract. Res. Clin. Gastroenterol. 25(3), 337–347, 2011. DOI: 10.1016/j.bpg.2011.05.001

2. Rosenblum R.K., Sprague-McRae J. Using principles of quality and safety education for nurses in school nurse continuing education. J. Sch. Nurs. 30(2), 97–102, 2014. DOI: 10.1177/1059840513489710

3. Payne A.A., Eckert R. The relative importance of provider, program, school, and community predictors of the implementation quality of school-based prevention programs. Prev. Sci. 11(2), 126–141, 2010. DOI: 10.1007/s11121-009-0157-6

4. Akbiyik A., Akin Korhan E., Kiray S., Kirsan M. The effect of nurses’ leadership behavior on the quality of nursing care and patient outcomes. Creat. Nurs. 26(1), e8–e18, 2020. DOI: 10.1891/1078-4535.26.1.e8

5. Nair M., Baltag V., Bose K., Boschi-Pinto C., Lambrechts T., Mathai M. Improving the quality of health care services for adolescents, globally: a standards-driven approach. J. Adolesc. Health 57(3), 288–298, 2015. DOI: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2015.05.011

6. Fernández D., Vigo D., Sampson N.A., Hwang I., Aguilar-Gaxiola S., Al-Hamzawi A.O., et al. Patterns of care and dropout rates from outpatient mental healthcare in low-, middle- and high-income countries from the World Health Organization’s World Mental Health Survey Initiative. Psychol. Med. 51(12), 2104–2116, 2021. DOI: 10.1017/S0033291720000884

7. Rowe A.K., de Savigny D., Lanata C.F., Victora C.G. How can we achieve and maintain high-quality performance of health workers in low-resource settings? Lancet 366(9490), 1026–1035, 2005. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(05)67028-6

Downloads

Published

10-10-2025

How to Cite

[1]
Al-Taee, M.H. et al. 2025. Quality assurance for school health service providers at primary healthcare centers in Hillah (Iraq). Pharmakeftiki . 37, 2S (Oct. 2025). DOI:https://doi.org/10.60988/p.v37i2S.168.