Good working relationships: how healthcare system proximity influences trust between healthcare workers

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused largescale morbidity and mortality and a tremendous burden on the healthcare system. Healthcare workers (HCWs) require adequate protection to avoid onward transmission and minimize burden on the healthcare system. Moreover, HCWs can also influence the general public into accepting the COVID-19 vaccine. Therefore, determining COVID-19 vaccine intention among HCWs is of paramount importance to plan tailor-made public health strategies to maximize vaccine coverage. A structured questionnaire was administered in February and March 2021 among HCWs in Saudi Arabia using convenience sampling, proceeding the launch of the vaccination campaign. HCWs from all administrative regions of Saudi Arabia were included in the study. In total, 674 out of 1124 HCWs responded and completed the survey (response rate 59.9%). About 65 percent of the HCWs intended to get vaccinated. The intention to vaccinate was significantly higher among HCWs 50 years of age or older, Saudi nationals and those who followed the updates about COVID-19 vaccines (p < 0.05). The high percentage (26 percent) of those who were undecided in getting vaccinated is a positive sign. As the vaccination campaign gathers pace, the attitude is expected to change over time. Emphasis should be on planning healthcare strategies to convince the undecided HCWs into accepting the vaccine in order to achieve the coverage required to achieve herd immunity.

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Nano Silver Coated Surgical Apparels and Phaco Needles for Safety of Ophthalmic Surgeons in View of COVID-19 Pandemic

The Open Ophthalmology Journal ◽

10.2174/1874364102115010009 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 15 (1) ◽

pp. 9-12

Author(s):

Santosh Dnyanmote ◽

Jorge Alio ◽

Anuradha Dnyanmote

Keyword(s):

Healthcare System ◽

Healthcare Workers ◽

Respiratory Virus ◽

Hospital Staff ◽

Infected Person ◽

Source Of Infection ◽

Potential Source ◽

Corona Virus ◽

Co Morbidity ◽

Recent Outbreak

Background: In view of the recent outbreak of the pandemic caused by novel corona virus 19 (n-covid) which has thrown the overall healthcare system that has created fear, apprehension and anxiety amongst all surgeons. Ophthalmic surgeons are no exceptions. The new corona virus is a respiratory virus of the Coronoviridae family containing a single strand of RNA which spreads primarily through droplets generated when an infected person coughs or sneezes or through droplets of saliva or discharge from the nose. A person can get infected by the virus if the person is within 1 meter of a person with COVID 19 or by touching contaminated surface and then touching eyes, nose or mouth. Methods: Standard recommendations to prevent the spread of COVID-19 include frequent cleaning of hands using alcohol based hand rubs or soap and water. Covering the nose and mouth with a proper mask, covering skin, eyes, hair, hands and legs with proper apparel is important. Just like elderly members of the society, the healthcare workers who have some co-morbidity are susceptible to COVID-19 invasion. Asymptomatic carriers who may present with senile or pre-senile cataract can be a potential source of infection to other patients, hospital staff, surgeons and others. Conclusion: It is important that all the microsurgical instruments which will be used for phacoemulsification be properly sterilized. The surfaces of these instruments should remain free of contaminants as these instruments will be used multiple times in other patients as well.

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Healthcare workers’ legal liability and immunity during the COVID-19 pandemic

Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness ◽

10.1017/dmp.2020.449 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-8

Author(s):

Nasser Hammad Al-Azri

Keyword(s):

Public Good ◽

Healthcare System ◽

Disaster Response ◽

Healthcare Workers ◽

Healthcare Professionals ◽

Legal Liability ◽

Working Environment ◽

The Public ◽

Healthcare Workforce ◽

Healthcare Practice

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic is the most unprecedented crisis facing modern healthcare governance in a century. Many healthcare activities are attracting scrutiny from ethical and legal perspectives. Therefore, healthcare professionals are concerned about legal ambiguity regarding legal liability and immunity in their areas of practice. Law is a key response activity that promotes a sense of safety and security among healthcare workers. This article describes why it is important formally to address issues of altered operations in healthcare practice during emergencies. Furthermore, this article provides suggestions regarding solutions to the issue of legal liability during disasters. Implementing ethical and legal clarity during disaster response is a necessity for a strong healthcare system at every level from international to local in order to achieve a stable healthcare workforce operating for the public good within a safe and secure working environment.

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938Identification of High Risk Healthcare Workers with Latent Tuberculosis Infection (LTBI) in an Inner City Healthcare System

Open Forum Infectious Diseases ◽

10.1093/ofid/ofu052.646 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 1 (suppl_1) ◽

pp. S273-S273

Author(s):

Sorabh Dhar ◽

Anupama Neelakanta ◽

Jisha John ◽

Russell Grimshaw ◽

Jim Russell ◽

...

Keyword(s):

High Risk ◽

Inner City ◽

Healthcare System ◽

Healthcare Workers ◽

Latent Tuberculosis Infection ◽

Latent Tuberculosis ◽

Tuberculosis Infection

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Trust and Positive Working Relationships among Teachers in Communities of Practice as an Avenue for Professional Development

Education Sciences ◽

10.3390/educsci10050136 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (5) ◽

pp. 136

Author(s):

Adeola Folasade Akinyemi ◽

Symphorosa Rembe ◽

Vuyisile Nkonki

Keyword(s):

Professional Development ◽

South Africa ◽

High Schools ◽

Communities Of Practice ◽

Mixed Methods Research ◽

Structured Interview ◽

Research Approach ◽

Working Relationships ◽

Strong Ties ◽

Good Working

This study explores trust and positive working relationships among teachers in communities of practice as an avenue for professional development in high schools in South Africa. A mixed methods research approach was employed for this study with the use of a semi-structured interview and semi-structured questionnaires as data collection instruments. Ten schools were purposively selected for this study and seventy-nine participants were selected as samples. The findings of the study show that teachers had good working relationships with their colleagues. The good working relationships they had enabled them to assist their colleagues, share their classroom challenges with them, confide in their colleagues, and they were able to get assistance from them. It was established from the study that a great number of teachers feel safe to be part of the communities of practice activities in the sampled high schools, thus, they engage in diverse of discussions with their colleagues and they were able to relate to their colleagues the difficulties they have in terms of their work. The study recommends that teachers should spend an adequate time in their meetings, see themselves as colleagues, interact as teams, and build strong ties to have good relationships and a strong level of trust among themselves.

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'I have developed good working relationships with my patients beyond their diagnosis' – a day in the life of a renal pharmacist

The Pharmaceutical Journal ◽

10.1211/pj.2020.20208415 ◽

2020 ◽

Keyword(s):

Working Relationships ◽

Good Working

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Re-Engineering Healthcare

Mechanical Engineering ◽

10.1115/1.2007-nov-1 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 129 (11) ◽

pp. 22-27 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ahmed Noor

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Healthcare System ◽

Healthcare Workers ◽

Medical Technology ◽

Rapid Change ◽

Medical Knowledge ◽

The United States ◽

Rapid Changes ◽

Pervasive Access ◽

Delivery Of Health Services

This article reviews a system that is in need of repair in the United States, and engineers are uniquely equipped to help fix it. Although the expenditure per capita on healthcare in the United States is higher than in any other country, the current US healthcare system cannot be sustained, and major improvements are needed. Lives unnecessarily lost each year in the United States due to medical errors are estimated to be as high as 98,000 and injuries over a million. The healthcare system is currently facing many problems and challenges, including rapid changes in medical technology and practice, severe shortages in skilled healthcare workers, and an aging population with increased incidence of disease and disability. The cyber infrastructure will facilitate technology-based, distributed delivery of health services, as well as training and lifelong learning for healthcare workers. It can evolve into an electronic care continuum with pervasive access to global, accurate, and timely medical knowledge for individuals about their health needs in an era of rapid change and expanding knowledge.

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Developing services for long Covid: lessons from a study of wounded healers

10.1101/2020.11.13.20231555 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Emma Ladds ◽

Alex Rushforth ◽

Sietse Wieringa ◽

Sharon Taylor ◽

Clare Rayner ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Healthcare System ◽

Healthcare Workers ◽

Care Pathway ◽

Service Design ◽

Quality Standards ◽

Service Development ◽

Rehabilitation Service ◽

List Type ◽

Support Design ◽

Persistent Symptoms

AbstractPersistent symptoms lasting longer than 3 weeks are thought to affect 10-20% of patients following Covid 19 infection. No formal guidelines exist in the United Kingdom for treating ‘long Covid’ patients and services are sporadic and variable, although additional funding is promised for their development.In this study narrative interviews and focus groups are used to explore the lived experience of 43 healthcare professionals with long Covid. These individuals see the healthcare system from both professional and patient perspectives thus represent an important wealth of expertise to inform service design.We present a set of co-designed quality standards highlighting equity and ease of access, minimal patient care burden, clinical responsibility, a multidisciplinary and evidence-based approach, and patient involvement and apply these to propose a potential care pathway model that could be adapted and translated to improve care of long Covid patients.Summary boxWhat is known?▪Persistent symptoms (“long Covid”) occur after Covid-19 in 10-20% of sufferers▪Services to manage and rehabilitate patients with long Covid are not yet optimal▪UK healthcare workers experience at least a threefold greater risk of Covid-19 infection and face significant occupational exposure▪Healthcare workers with long Covid can offer important insights into service design and developmentWhat is the question?▪What are the experiences of healthcare workers with long Covid and what are the implications from these for service development?What was found▪Healthcare workers experienced a confusing novel condition that imposed high levels of uncertainty and a significant personal and professional impact.▪Using professional contacts, patient- and professional Mindlines, support groups and Communities of Practice all helped to minimize this uncertainty and high quality therapeutic relationships were essential to cope with it.▪Many experienced a lack of compassion during interactions with the healthcare system and were frustrated by challenges accessing, or absence of, appropriate services.▪Suggestions for improvement included an integrated, multi-disciplinary assessment and rehabilitation service; a set of clinical quality standards; and co-created research and service development.What is the implication for practice now?▪This study supports and extends the principles outlined in recently-developed NHS long Covid quality standards and will inform and support design of dedicated long Covid services.

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Diversity Checkup: A Study of Multicultural Medicine

10.21203/rs.3.rs-573391/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Jordan Hammock ◽

Sarina Saturn

Keyword(s):

High School ◽

High School Students ◽

Healthcare System ◽

Healthcare Workers ◽

Online Survey ◽

Community Perceptions ◽

School Students ◽

Patient Centered ◽

Professional Programs ◽

Equity And Inclusion

Abstract The failure to provide quality, patient-centered healthcare has been directly associated with a lack of cultural diversity within the healthcare system itself (Scherman, 2017). The present study aims to capture community perceptions related to the lack of diversity in the Oregon healthcare system in an effort to determine what steps can and should be taken to promote more culturally sensitive healthcare. A total of 767 healthcare workers, high school students, college students, and patients completed an online survey of attitudes on diversity in healthcare. The findings of these surveys have identified current attitudes on healthcare diversity, areas of discrimination and bias, and identified areas that can be changed to address the challenges associated with the lack of diversity in the healthcare system. The results can be used to advance pre-health professional programs for students and to further the diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts of health systems.

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Battling the COVID-19 Pandemic: Is Bangladesh Prepared?

10.1101/2020.04.29.20084236 ◽

2020 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Hasinur Rahaman Khan ◽

Tamanna Howlader ◽

Md. Mazharul Islam

Keyword(s):

At Risk ◽

Spatial Distribution ◽

Healthcare System ◽

Healthcare Workers ◽

Polynomial Regression ◽

Spatial Cluster ◽

Short Term ◽

Hospital Capacity ◽

Order Polynomial ◽

Frontline Healthcare Workers

Following detection of the first few COVID-19 cases in early March, Bangladesh has stepped up its efforts to strengthen capacity of the healthcare system to avert a crisis in the event of a surge in the number of cases. This paper sheds light on the preparedness of the healthcare system by examining the spatial distribution of isolation beds across districts and divisions, forecasting the number of ICU units that may be required in the short term and analyzing the availability of frontline healthcare workers to combat the pandemic. As of May 2, COVID-19 cases have been found in 61 of the 64 districts in Bangladesh with Dhaka District being the epicenter. Seventy-one percent of the cases have been identified in 6 neighboring districts, namely, Dhaka, Narayanganj, Gazipur, Narsingdi, Munsiganj and Kishoreganj, which appear to form a spatial cluster. However, if one takes into account the population at risk, the prevalence appears to be highest in Dhaka, followed by Narayanganj, Gazipur, Kishorganj, Narsingdi and Munshiganj. These regions may therefore be flagged as the COVID-19 hotspots in Bangladesh. Among the eight divisions, prevalence is highest in Dhaka Division followed by Mymensingh. The number of cases per million exceeds the number of available isolation beds per million in the major hotspots indicating that there is a risk of the healthcare system becoming overwhelmed should the number of cases rise. This is especially true for Dhaka Division, where the ratio of COVID-19 patients to doctors appears to be alarmingly high. Mymensingh Division also has a disproportionately small number of doctors relative to the number of COVID-19 patients. Using second order polynomial regression, the analysis predicts that even if all ICU beds are allocated to COVID-19 patients, Bangladesh may run out of ICU beds soon after May 15, 2020. We conclude that in spite of a significant increase in hospital capacity during 2005-15 and a 57 % rise in the number of doctors during the same period, the healthcare system in Bangladesh and Dhaka Division in particular, may not be fully prepared to handle the COVID-19 crisis. Thus, further steps need to be taken to flatten the curve and improve healthcare capacity.

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