Observational Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Feb 6, 2024; 12(4): 758-765
Published online Feb 6, 2024. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v12.i4.758
Perceived stress among staff in Saudi Arabian dental colleges before and after an accreditation process: A cross-sectional study
Amal S Shaiban
Amal S Shaiban, Department of Restorative Dental Science, College of Dentistry, King Khalid University, Abha 61471, Saudi Arabia
Author contributions: Shaiban AS is the sole author of this paper.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the Science and Research Office of College of Dentistry, King Khalid University.
Informed consent statement: All study participants, or their legal guardian, provided informed written consent prior to study enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: There are no conflicts of interest to report.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement-checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement-checklist of items.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Amal S Shaiban, BDS, Saudi Endodontic Board, Assistant Professor, Department of Restorative Dental Science, College of Dentistry, King Khalid University, No. 960 P.O. Box, Abha 61471, Saudi Arabia. ashiban@kku.edu.sa
Received: October 22, 2023
Peer-review started: October 22, 2023
First decision: December 6, 2023
Revised: December 8, 2023
Accepted: January 9, 2024
Article in press: January 9, 2024
Published online: February 6, 2024
Processing time: 94 Days and 15.2 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Accreditation processes are extensively employed to guarantee the quality of higher education institutions. However, this process can potentially generate a stressful atmosphere for staff, thus impacting their ability to perform optimally under pressure.

AIM

To examine the knowledge of the National Commission for Academic Assessment and Accreditation (NCAAA) and its effects on perceived stress among dental college staff before and after the program accreditation process.

METHODS

The present cross-sectional questionnaire-based study included 300 employees from three dental colleges. The same employees had to fill out the questionnaire 1 mo after the NCAAA process.

RESULTS

Approximately 51.33% of the included employees believed that NCAAA is essential to attract quality students to join the program before and after the program. A total of 44.67% felt that their stress was high before, and 31.33% had low stress levels before and after NCAAA. These findings were statistically significant (P ≤ 0.05).

CONCLUSION

NCAAA raised the prestige of the institution and specific programmes and increased prospects to attract better students, staff, and money, according to the employees. In addition to their needed teaching, research, and other service responsibilities, this work requires a tremendous amount of faculty effort and may cause them stress.

Keywords: National Commission for Academic Assessment and Accreditation; Accreditation process; Perceived stress; Staff

Core Tip: National accreditation raised the prominence and prestige of the institution and specific programmes and increased prospects to attract better students, staff, and money, according to the employees. The concept of accreditation has evolved into a culture that emphasises ongoing enhancement through the utilisation of standards-based approaches and data-driven decision-making. In addition to their required teaching, research, and other service responsibilities, this work requires a tremendous amount of faculty effort and may cause them stress. Sufficient provisions must be taken at the university level.