Reasonable suspicion in reporting child maltreatment: a survey among German healthcare professionals

Abstract Background With regular contacts to the general child population, healthcare professionals could play an important role in the detection of child maltreatment. However, a majority of child maltreatment cases go unnoticed by the healthcare system. Child protection legislations usually offer terms like “reasonable suspicion” to corner a threshold that warrants reporting to child protection services (CPS) is defined as. The indistinct legal terminology leads to marked differences in the interpretation of this threshold. Therefore, we aimed to systematically assess the understanding of reasonable suspicion and subsequent handling of cases in the German context. Methods A cross-sectional online survey was conducted among 2485 physicians and psychotherapists working with children and adolescents. Field access was gained by German professional associations. Via case vignettes, predictors of thresholds for reporting were assessed. Results The probability of a report to CPS increased positively with the degree of suspicion for maltreatment. However, even if participants were certain that child maltreatment occurred, 20% did not chose to report to CPS. Training in child protection lowered the professionals’ threshold for reasonable suspicion; experience with child protection cases and good knowledge of the legal framework increased the likelihood to report an alleged situation of child maltreatment to CPS. Conclusion Our data show that a significant proportion of health care professionals are uncertain about estimating reasonable suspicion and on how to proceed when there are strong indications for child maltreatment Therefore, data point towards the relevance of training in child protection among healthcare professionals in order to improve detection and adequate handling of cases of child maltreatment.

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Attitudes of Healthcare Professionals and General Population Toward Vaccines and the Intention to Be Vaccinated Against COVID-19 in Spain

Frontiers in Public Health ◽

10.3389/fpubh.2021.739003 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 ◽

Author(s):

Isabel Iguacel ◽

Aurelio Luna Maldonado ◽

Aurelio Luna Ruiz-Cabello ◽

Eva Samatán ◽

Judith Alarcón ◽

...

Keyword(s):

General Population ◽

Health Care Professionals ◽

Online Survey ◽

Healthcare Professionals ◽

Herd Immunity ◽

Natural Immunity ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Negative Attitudes ◽

Present Sample ◽

Positive Attitudes

Background: To achieve herd immunity, the acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine by the population, especially healthcare professionals, plays a key role. The objective of the present paper is to address the differences in attitudes among Spanish healthcare professionals compared with the general population regarding COVID-19 vaccination.Methods: This cross-sectional study included data from 2,136 adults (n = 664 healthcare professionals) from an online survey conducted from May 6 to June 9, 2021. The Vaccination attitudes examination scale was used to measure the negative attitudes toward vaccines. Four subscales: mistrust of vaccine benefit, worries about the unforeseen future effect, concerns about commercial profiteering, and preference for natural immunity were calculated. Generalized linear mixed models were conducted to study these associations.Results: Between 10.2 and 22.6% of the subjects showed high levels of negative attitudes toward vaccines. However, only 1.5% of our sample (2.1% among healthcare professionals) refused to get the COVID-19 vaccine when it was offered because they chose otherwise. Retired people showed the lowest concerns and the highest trust in vaccines. No statistically significant effects were found between working in a healthcare field and having higher positive attitudes toward vaccines.Conclusion: Low levels of rejection against the COVID-19 vaccine were identified in the present sample. However, despite being at a higher risk, health care professionals did not show higher positive attitudes toward vaccines. Furthermore, refusal percentage to vaccination was higher among healthcare professionals compared with non-healthcare professionals. Developing a strategy to increase positive attitudes against the COVID-19 vaccine should be an objective for public health policy.

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Burnout Determinants among Nurses Working in Palliative Care during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18073358 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (7) ◽

pp. 3358

Author(s):

José Vítor Gonçalves ◽

Luísa Castro ◽

Guilhermina Rêgo ◽

Rui Nunes

Keyword(s):

Palliative Care ◽

Health Care Professionals ◽

Online Survey ◽

Three Dimensions ◽

Linear Regression Models ◽

Perceived Health Status ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

National Network ◽

Work Related ◽

High Level

Nurses working in palliative care are at risk of burnout. The Copenhagen Burnout Inventory was used to determine burnout levels of nurses working in the Portuguese national network of palliative care. We evaluated the contribution of personal, work, and COVID-19 variables in three burnout subclasses: personal, work, and patient-related. A cross-sectional, exploratory, and quantitative design was employed and participants were sampled using convenience and snowball technique. An online survey was conducted and 153 nurses participated in our study. Socio-demographic characterization was conducted, levels of burnout and determinants were explored through multiple linear regression models for its three dimensions. High levels of personal, working, and patient burnout were present in 71 (46%), 68 (44%), and 33 nurses (22%), respectively. Most of them agreed that COVID-19 had an impact on their activities. Significant personal and work related burnout factors found were specialization in palliative care, self-perceived health status, unit type, weekly hours of work, and allocation to COVID-19 units. Gender was found to be a significant factor in patient-related burnout. There is a high level of burnout among nurses working in the Portuguese national network of palliative care. Measures for identification and mitigation of burnout are necessary to protect health care professionals.

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Knowledge, attitudes and behaviours towards vaccination: a survey of university students in Europe

European Journal of Public Health ◽

10.1093/eurpub/ckaa166.1404 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽

Author(s):

A Callegaro ◽

L Chinenye Ilogu ◽

O Lugovska ◽

S Mazzilli ◽

A Prugnola ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Medical Students ◽

Health Care Professionals ◽

Online Survey ◽

Educational Interventions ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

High Level ◽

Coverage Rates ◽

The University ◽

Vaccination Knowledge

Abstract Background Immunisation programs are still facing substantial challenges in achieving target coverage rates. This has been attributed to the growing negative individual vaccination attitudes and behaviours. Most of the current studies assessing vaccination knowledge, attitude and beliefs targets adults. However, young people represent future parents and health care professionals. The objective of this study was to investigate vaccination knowledge attitudes and behaviours among university medical and non-medical students in Europe. Methods We performed a cross-sectional online survey between April and July 2018. The study participants were students attending different faculties at the University of Antwerp, Belgium and the University of Pisa, Italy. We described sample characteristics. The effect of risk factors was tested with univariate and multivariate logistic regressions. Results A total of 2079 participants completed the survey including 873 medical students and 1206 from other faculties. The average of vaccination knowledge, attitudes, and confidence was respectively 5.51 (SD: 1.41), 4.66 (SD: 0.14) and 5.28 (SD: 0.57) on the 6-points scale. Our respondents demonstrated a high level of awareness with respect to their vaccination history. In total, 67.7% (n = 1407) reported to have received at least one vaccine in the previous five years; only 6.0% (n = 35) did not receive any vaccine in the previous 10 years. According to logistic regression analysis Italian students had significantly higher knowledge, attitude and confidence scores than Belgium respondents. Students of medicine scored significantly higher compared to non-medical students. Conclusions In order to reduce the gaps in vaccinations knowledge between non-medical and medical students we should plan educational interventions. In this way the number of future sceptical parents could be decreased. Further studies are required to explain the differences between countries. Key messages Young adults are the parents and the health care professionals of the future, for this reason their vaccination knowledge attitudes and behaviours should be carefully monitored. European non-medical students have lower vaccinations knowledge, attitudes and confidence compared with medical student. In order to fill these gaps, we should plan educational interventions.

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Electronic Health Use in the European Union and the Effect of Multimorbidity: Cross-Sectional Survey (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.7299 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Francisco Lupiáñez-Villanueva ◽

Dimitra Anastasiadou ◽

Cristiano Codagnone ◽

Roberto Nuño-Solinís ◽

Maria Begona Garcia-Zapirain Soto

Keyword(s):

Health Care Professionals ◽

Online Survey ◽

New Technologies ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Health Problems ◽

Exploratory Research ◽

The European Union ◽

Cross Sectional Survey ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Electronic Health

BACKGROUND Multimorbidity is becoming increasingly common and is a leading challenge currently faced by societies with aging populations. The presence of multimorbidity requires patients to coordinate, understand, and use the information obtained from different health care professionals, while simultaneously striving to distinguish the symptoms of different diseases and self-manage their sometimes conflicting health problems. Electronic health (eHealth) tools provide a means to disseminate health information and education for both patients and health professionals and hold promise for more efficient and cost-effective care processes. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to analyze the use of eHealth tools, taking into account the citizens’ sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, and above all, the presence of multimorbidity. METHODS Cross-sectional and exploratory research was conducted using online survey data from July 2011 to August 2011. Participants included a total of 14,000 citizens from 14 European countries aged 16 to 74 years, who had used an eHealth tool in the past 3 months. The variables studied were sociodemographic variables of the participants, the questionnaire items assessing the frequency of using eHealth tools, the degree of morbidity, and the eHealth adoption gradient. Chi-square tests were conducted to examine the relationship between the sociodemographic and clinical variables of participants and the group the participants were assigned to according to their frequency of eHealth use (eHealth user group). A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) allowed for assessing the differences in the eHealth adoption gradient average between different groups of individuals according to their morbidity level. A two-way between-groups ANOVA was performed to explore the effects of multimorbidity and age group on the eHealth adoption gradient. RESULTS According to the eHealth adoption gradient, most participants (68.15%, 9541/14,000) were labeled as rare users, with the majority of them (55.1%, 508/921) being in the age range of 25 to 54 years, with upper secondary education (50.3%, 464/921), currently employed (49.3%, 454/921), and living in medium-sized cities (40.7%, 375/921). Results of the one-way ANOVA showed that the number of health problems significantly affected the use of eHealth tools (F2,13996=11.584; P<.001). The two-way ANOVA demonstrated that there was a statistically significant interaction between the effects of age and number of health problems on the eHealth adoption gradient (F4,11991=7.936; P<.001). CONCLUSIONS The eHealth adoption gradient has proven to be a reliable way to measure different aspects of eHealth use. Multimorbidity is associated with a more intense use of eHealth, with younger Internet users using new technologies for health purposes more frequently than older groups with the same level of morbidity. These findings suggest the need to consider different strategies aimed at making eHealth tools more sensitive to the characteristics of older populations to reduce digital disadvantages.

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Role of Psychosocial Factors In Vicarious Traumatization: A Comparative Study

Journal of Gandhara Medical and Dental Science ◽

10.37762/jgmds.9-1.172 ◽

2022 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 53-57

Author(s):

Nazia Mustafa ◽

Hina Iqbal

Keyword(s):

Psychosocial Factors ◽

Health Care Professionals ◽

Healthcare Professionals ◽

Vicarious Traumatization ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Personal History ◽

Vulnerable Group ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

History Of

OBJECTIVES: The present study aimed at investigating the role of psychosocial factors such as, gender, marital status, profession, and personal history of trauma in vicarious traumatization (VT). METHODOLOGY: Cross sectional study was conducted at various hospitals in Rawalpindi and Islamabad over the period of 6 months from January 2018 to June 2018. A sample of 170 healthcare professionals (doctors=39, psychiatrists=27, psychologists=36, nurses=30 and others=38) (men=67, women=103) was taken from various hospitals in Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Data were collected by using the Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale. RESULTS: Results revealed significant differences have been found among various groups of healthcare professionals (doctors, psychiatrist, psychologists, nurses and others) in whom psychiatrists are the most vulnerable group for vicarious traumatization and psychologists are the least vulnerable group. Moreover, healthcare professionals who are married and have personal history of trauma are more vulnerable for vicarious traumatization as compared to those who are unmarried and without personal history of trauma. No significant gender differences have been found among health care professionals on vicarious traumatization. CONCLUSION: The findings of present research have emphasized that vicarious traumatization must be addressed and identified in a health setting.

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ATTITUDE AND PRACTICING BEHAVIOUR AMONG HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS REGARDING HANDWASHING:A TOOL TO PREVENT EMERGING AND RE-EMERGING INFECTIONS.

10.36106/ijsr/5813050 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-3

Author(s):

Syed Waseem Tahir ◽

Sahila Nabi ◽

Shazia Javaid

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Hand Hygiene ◽

Health Professionals ◽

Health Care Professionals ◽

Healthcare Professionals ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Hand Washing ◽

Emerging Infections ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Attitude And Practice

Background: Hand hygiene is one of the most effective ways to control health care related infection. Every year millions of patients around the world are affected by infections that are transmitted by the health-care professionals(HCPs).(2)(3). Rationale: Nurses and physicians are the main health care workers contacting with patients, representing the vector in the chain of infection. Thus, assessing their knowledge, attitude and practice regarding hand hygiene is very important to decrease the incidence of health care related infection and to improve quality of care. Objective: The objective of our study was to assess the knowledge, attitude and practices of handwashing among healthcare professionals of Kashmir Division. Methods: This study was an institutional based cross sectional study, conducted in various healthcare institutions of Kashmir Division which were selected randomly. A predesigned questionnaire was used to collect the data from the participants. The questionnaires contained questions about four different parts which included sociodemographic characteristics, knowledge of hand washing, attitude and practice of hand washing among healthcare professionals. The questionnaires were distributed to various healthcare professionals working in wards, emergency department, laboratories, outpatient departments, injection and dressing rooms, EPI unit and others. The distributed questionnaires were then collected back. Results: A total of 110 participants were included. Out of total 110 participants,53% were male ,36% were nurses 36% of health professionals were working in IPD (In Patient Department). 89% of the participants agreed that, direct or indirect contacts are the most important routes for transmission of hospital-acquired infections,97% agreed that  proper and consistent hand washing prevents infections in health facilities,100% agreed that health professionals should always wash their hands immediately when they arrive at health institutions,98% said that they knew steps of handwashing(WHO)/rules of hand hygiene,91% agreed that hand washing is the single most effective mechanism to prevent spread of infection and 95% agreed that wearing jewellery, artificial fingernails, damaged skin and regular use of hand cream are associated with increased likelihood of colonisation of hands with harmful germs. 83% of the participants said that they are committed to the proper rules of hand hygiene all the time,78% said they comply with rules of hand hygiene even in emergencies,80% said that they think when they are wearing gloves it is not necessary to wash hands,92% feel irritated when others don’t follow hand hygiene rules,95% advice others to follow the rules of hand hygiene and 97% said it is easy for you to follow rules of hand hygiene. 40%(each) of the participants said that they always and usually wash hands before touching a patient,100% of the participants said that they always wash hands before performing aseptic and clean procedures, 100% of the participants said that they always wash hands after being at risk of exposure to body fluids and 95% of patients said that they wash hands after coming to and before leaving the hospital. DISCUSSION In this study we had a total of 110 participants. Health professionals had a satisfactory knowledge of hand hygiene but some lacunae are still there as is evident in the result part. Thus from this study we conclude adherence to handwashing is lacking among health professionals, so we need to have regular handwashing sessions for health professionals which will regularly sensitize them, also we need to address the reasons of this poor adherence both at the administrative and personal level. We also recommend to conduct more studies in this field so as to highlight the shortcomings in hand hygiene and then to improve upon them.

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Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices of Healthcare Professionals on COVID-19 and Risk Assessment to Prevent the Epidemic Spread: A Multicenter Cross-Sectional Study from Punjab, Pakistan

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph17176395 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (17) ◽

pp. 6395 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Usman Rashid Malik ◽

Naveel Atif ◽

Furqan Khurshid Hashmi ◽

Fahad Saleem ◽

Hamid Saeed ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Risk Assessment ◽

Online Survey ◽

Healthcare Professionals ◽

Assessment Tool ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

World Health ◽

Primary Role ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Attitudes And Practices ◽

Novel Coronavirus

In the current outbreak of novel coronavirus (COVID-19), healthcare professionals (HCPs) have a primary role in combating the epidemic threat. HCPs are at high risk of not only contracting the infection but also spreading it unknowingly. It is of utmost importance to evaluate their knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) and the ability to assess the risks associated with the outbreak. A cross-sectional online survey involving physicians, pharmacists, and nurses was conducted. A 39-itemed questionnaire based on the World Health Organization (WHO)COVID-19 risk assessment tool was shared with healthcare professionals in three purposively selected key divisions of Punjab province. Out of 500 healthcare professionals, 385 responded to the survey. The majority (70%) were aged 22–29 years; 144 (37.4%) physicians, 113 (29.4%) nurses, and 128 (33.2%) pharmacists completed the survey. Overall, 94.8% of healthcare professionals scored adequately (>14) for COVID-19-related knowledge; 97.9% displayed an optimistic attitude (>42) and 94.5% had an adequate practice score (>28). Kruskal–Wallis and Jonckheere–Terpstra tests showed significant differences (p < 0.05) in KAP and risk assessment scores among groups; physicians and nurses scored higher as compared to pharmacists. Further research and follow-up investigations on disaster management and risk assessment can help policy-makers better tackle future epidemics.

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When is it acceptable to allow a terminal patient to die? Pharmacy students’ views from a London University

Journal of Oncology Pharmacy Practice ◽

10.1177/1078155220921546 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 107815522092154

Author(s):

Beth V Clayton ◽

Shereen Nabhani-Gebara

Keyword(s):

Online Survey ◽

Healthcare Professionals ◽

Response Rate ◽

Pharmacy Students ◽

Patient Factors ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Factors Affecting ◽

Patient Request ◽

Medical Organisation ◽

Controversial Topic

Accompanied suicide is a controversial topic with varying practice across Europe; therefore, there is very little guidance on how healthcare professionals should be educated on accompanied suicide. This study implemented an anonymous, cross-sectional online survey to discover the perceptions of final-year MPharm students on accompanied suicide and the factors affecting one’s views, with the aim of investigating the knowledge, awareness and opinions of pharmacy students regarding accompanied suicide, as well as education to pharmacy students. Surveys were disseminated to final-year pharmacy students at Kingston University between January and March 2019. The survey comprised of three sections: Section A consisting of definitions – to determine knowledge of pharmacy students. Section B including case studies – to understand the opinions of pharmacy students and identify influential patient factors. Section C involving demographics – to discover the influential participant factors. An ethics application was submitted and approved prior to conducting this study. The data yielded a total of 111 responses out of a possible 139 (80% response rate); 77.5% participants were unable to correctly define each term given, with many also agreeing their lack of knowledge affected their views. Overall, most pharmacy students disagreed with accompanied suicide, regardless of the patient factors. Additionally, religious participants were more likely to disagree with the patient request ( p < 0.03). Three recommendations were concluded to improve the education of pharmacy students: (1) an approved medical organisation to specifically define terminology, (2) include accompanied suicide in the pharmacy syllabus and (3) include lesser known terminal illnesses on the pharmacy syllabus.

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Assessing, Consulting, Reporting Heuristics in Professional Decision-Making Regarding Suspected Child Maltreatment in Community Healthcare Services

Child Maltreatment ◽

10.1177/1077559520937351 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 107755952093735

Author(s):

Guy Enosh ◽

Ravit Alfandari ◽

Hani Nouman ◽

Lilach Dolev ◽

Hagit Dascal-Weichhendler

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Child Maltreatment ◽

Community Health ◽

Child Protection ◽

Healthcare Professionals ◽

Health Management ◽

Survey Design ◽

Healthcare Services ◽

Community Health Services ◽

Community Healthcare

This study investigated child protection decision-making practices of healthcare-professionals in community-health-services. We examined the effect of heuristics in professional judgments regarding suspected maltreatment, as affected by the child’s ethnicity, gender, and family socioeconomic-status, as well as the healthcare-worker’s workload-stress, and personal and professional background. Furthermore, we examined how these variables influence judgments regarding suspected maltreatment and intentions to consult and report child-maltreatment. We used an experimental survey design including vignettes manipulating the child’s characteristics. Data was collected from 412 professionals employed at various community-health-service-clinics of the largest health-management organization in northern Israel. Findings show that all subjective factors have a significant effect on suspected child-maltreatment assessment, which appears as a significant predictor of later decisions regarding consultation and reporting. This study lends support to prior research indicating that healthcare-professionals’ decisions may incorporate biases, and suggests how the effects of these biases’ are mediated through a sequence of decisions. Recommendations focus on providing regular consultation opportunities for practitioners.

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Prevalence and Determinants of Bullying Among Health Care Workers in Portugal

Workplace Health & Safety ◽

10.1177/2165079916666545 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 65 (5) ◽

pp. 188-196 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

Pedro Norton ◽

Viviana Costa ◽

Joel Teixeira ◽

Ana Azevedo ◽

António Roma-Torres ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Health Care Professionals ◽

Significant Proportion ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Management Policy ◽

Hard Copy ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Employment Contracts ◽

Digital Format ◽

Violent Behaviors

Bullying is defined as systematic exposure to humiliation as well as hostile and violent behaviors against one or more individuals. These behaviors are a serious, growing problem, which affects a significant proportion of health care professionals. To support the hospital’s risk management policy, a cross-sectional study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of bullying in this institution and identify the determinants of bullying. Bullying was measured using the Negative Acts Questionnaire–Revised, Portuguese version (NAQ-R), a self-administered tool. The questionnaire was made available in digital format on the hospital’s internal network (Intranet) and in hard copy; questionnaires were returned via nonidentified internal mail addressed to the occupational health unit or deposited in suggestion boxes located throughout the hospital. Multiple questionnaire delivery methods guaranteed data anonymity and confidentiality. The prevalence of bullying in this hospital was 8% (95% confidence interval [CI] = [6.2, 10.2]). Reported bullying was predominantly vertical and more frequently occurring among nurses, clerical staff, and health care assistants (12.5%, 7.6%, 6.4%, respectively; p = .005). After adjusting for gender, age, occupation, type of contract, and work schedule, only type of contract was significantly associated with bullying in the workplace; the risk of bullying was twice as high among government employees compared to workers with indefinite duration employment contracts ( p = .038). This study identified a high prevalence of bullying among health professionals; hence a program to prevent and control this phenomenon was implemented in this institution.

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