scholarly journals “Sometimes You Reach a Point Where You Feel Burnt Out”, Job Satisfaction and Psychosocial Well Being of COVID-19 Frontline Health Workers: a Qualitative Study in Two Ugandan COVID-19 Treatment Centres.

Author(s):  
Twinamasiko Nelson ◽  
Adelline Twimukye ◽  
Anna Maria Gwokyalya ◽  
Innocent Nakityo ◽  
Enock Wasswa ◽  
...  

Abstract BACKGROUND: COVID-19 has become a major global health challenge, with Uganda reporting over 25,000 cases. Frontline healthcare workers (HCWs) are the most at risk population for mental health disorders yet their well-being is key to combating the pandemic. We explored the psychosocial wellbeing and job satisfaction of COVID-19 Frontline HCWs in Uganda.METHODS: This was a qualitative study done at Entebbe regional Referral hospital (ERRH) and Mulago National Referral hospital (MNRH) in September 2020. Data collection was through 3 Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) with 5 participants for each FGD. 2 FGDs were at MNRH and 1 at ERRH. Participants included; doctors, nurses, laboratory personnels, hygienists and a security personnel. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed and analyzed thematically using Nvivo version 12 software.RESULTS: Despite the challenges HCWs faced, they were motivated to work when they saw patients recover and go home safely. Participants felt the Pandemic was unprecedented and as a result no person or government was fully prepared. Big unexpected patient crowds caused limited and/ or inconsistent medical supplies. Additionally, Poor Procurement lines affected sufficiency of medical supplies and equipment such as medical gowns, drugs, PPE, alcohol, beds, and COVID-19 testing kits. There was knowledge gap among the HCWs regarding COVID-19 management. This put the staff in a Panic situation hence practicing “trial and error” treatment. Poor remuneration in terms of low or delayed Salary, lack or delay of risk allowance caused dissatisfaction among staff and were affected mentally given that they were involved in risky work yet their families were suffering economically.CONCLUSION: HCWs were remarkably stressed, exhausted and burnt-out due to the heavy workload and inadequate personal protective Equipment. These findings depict a need of creating a conducive environment for these HCWs. Government and ministry should re-strategize on how well to take care of Covid 19 frontline HCWs to save lives.

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 248-53
Author(s):  
Jane Namakula Katende ◽  
Kizito Omona

Background: Tuberculosis and Human Immunodeficiency Virus epidemics in sub-Saharan Africa have been closely related and persistent, proving a considerable burden for healthcare provision. This has complicated utilization of services, with noted opinions on the integration of these services from both users and providers of the services. Objectives: To establish the users and the provider’s perspectives in overcoming the challenges of TB/HIV services inte- gration at Mulago National Referral Hospital. Methods: Descriptive cross-sectional design, with predominantly qualitative methods was used. Qualitative aspect adopted phenomenological design. Participants were randomly selected for FGDs and Key informants. An observation checklist collected quantitative data from the patients to measure level of services integration. Findings: Level of service integration of TB/HIV services was at 68% (below the acceptable 100% level). Opinions from the users pointed to; increasing number of work-days for TB/HIV service provision, strengthening sensitisation and health education and integrating other services like reproductive health services, among others. Health care providers opinions pointed to increasing trainings for health workers, increasing staffing and need for more support from Ministry of Health. Conclusion: Opinions from both users and providers were similar. These ranged from increasing awareness to the users and healthcare providers about the integration of services. Keywords: User - provider perspectives; TB/HIV service integration; Mulago National Referral Hospital.


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christiane Horwood ◽  
Lyn Haskins ◽  
Silondile Luthuli ◽  
Neil McKerrow

Abstract Background There is a high global burden of neonatal mortality, with many newborn babies dying of preventable and treatable conditions, particularly in low and middle-income countries. Improving quality of newborn care could save the lives of many thousands of babies. Quality of care (QoC) is a complex and multifaceted construct that is difficult to measure, but patients’ experiences of care are an important component in any measurement of QoC. We report the findings of a qualitative study exploring observations and experiences of health workers (HWs) and mothers of babies in neonatal units in South Africa. Methods A qualitative case study approach was adopted to explore care of newborn babies admitted to neonatal units in district hospitals. Observation data were collected by a registered nurse during working hours over a continuous five-day period. Doctors and nurses working in the neonatal unit and mothers of babies admitted during the observation period were interviewed using a semi-structured interview guide. All interviews were audio recorded. Observation data were transcribed from hand written notes. Audiotapes of interviews were transcribed verbatim and, where necessary, translated into English. A thematic content analysis was used to analyse the data. Results Observations and interviews were conducted in seven participating hospitals between November 2015 and May 2016. Our findings highlight the importance of information sharing between HWs and mothers of babies, contrasting the positive communication reported by many mothers which led to them feeling empowered and participating actively in the care of their babies, with incidents of poor communication. Poor communication, rudeness and disrespectful behaviour of HWs was frequently described by mothers, and led to mothers feeling anxious, unwilling to ask questions and excluded from their baby’s care. In some cases poor communication and misunderstandings led to serious mismanagement of babies with HWs delaying or withholding care, or to mothers putting their babies at risk by not following instructions. Conclusion Good communication between mothers and HWs is critical for building mothers’ confidence, promoting bonding and participation of mothers in the care of their baby and may have long term benefits for the health and well-being of the mother and her baby.


2015 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 374-394 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincenza Capone ◽  
Giovanna Petrillo

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the structure, reliability, construct validity, and group invariance of the Italian version of the Bohn Organizational Efficacy Scale (OES), a self-report questionnaire for organizational efficacy assessment in the business context. Design/methodology/approach – The first study included Italian employees of a pasta factory (n=120) to test divergent, convergent, and discriminant validity of the OES with existing instruments. The second study combined three hospital (n=180 Italian health workers) to confirm the structure of the scale. Findings – Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses confirmed the three-factor solution (collaboration, sense of mission and future, and sense of resilience), and that the structure of the scale was the same across employees of hospital and pasta factory. Results revealed a high internal reliability. The OES correlated positively with corresponding aspects of organizational functioning, well-being, and job satisfaction. The scale did not correlate with measures of general self-efficacy and personal empowerment. Levels of job satisfaction and well-being resulted higher among people with moderate/high organizational efficacy than among adults with low organizational efficacy. Research limitations/implications – Because of the chosen research approach could lead to common method variance issues: it will be important to determine the associations of OES with non-self-report assessments of the same construct. Practical implications – The OES can be applied optimally in the empirical study of factors influencing organizational setting and used in training aiming at strengthening employees’ collective skills. Originality/value – The OES is a valid instrument to measure organizational efficacy. Findings highlighted a strong relationship between collective efficacy, job satisfaction and well-being.


2007 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heidi Probst ◽  
Sue Griffiths

AbstractHigh therapist vacancy rates and an unsatisfied workforce reduce the opportunity to meet waiting time targets or maintain high standards of care. Current vacancy rates may conceal true staff shortages because of financial pressures. Levels of job satisfaction among the therapy radiographer workforce are presently unknown. A multi-phase study to investigate job satisfaction of therapy radiographers in the United Kingdom is under way. Phase I was an interpretive grounded theory study and, as interviews progressed, a review of the literature on job satisfaction was warranted (in line with the principles of grounded theory). The purpose of this article is to evaluate the literature on job satisfaction as a way to inform the development of retention strategies within the radiotherapy profession. The discussion is focused under the following three themes identified from our phase I study: job design, leadership and organisational governance, stress and burnout. A number of models within the wider literature can inform retention strategies for radiotherapy managers. In particular, the job characteristics model and the model for job-specific well-being adequately identify factors that are relevant to the work of a therapy radiographer. Ensuring mental challenge through job design and continuing professional development opportunities is vital to retaining staff. Support from immediate managers is also a crucial aspect of workers development of intentions to leave. Manager support can moderate experiences of job stress, limiting job dissatisfaction and reducing leaving intentions. Stress and burnout have been cited as significant in reducing job satisfaction in health workers. In the United States, high levels of emotional exhaustion among radiation therapists highlight the potential for the development of burnout within the UK therapy workforce. The discussion looks at the importance of these characteristics within a general retention strategy and recommends future areas of study.


2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. e001376 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raymond Tweheyo ◽  
Catherine Reed ◽  
Stephen Campbell ◽  
Linda Davies ◽  
Gavin Daker-White

BackgroundAchieving positive treatment outcomes and patient safety are critical goals of the healthcare system. However, this is greatly undermined by near universal health workforce absenteeism, especially in public health facilities of rural Uganda. We investigated the coping adaptations and related consequences of health workforce absenteeism in public and private not-for-profit (PNFP) health facilities of rural Uganda.MethodsAn empirical qualitative study involving case study methodology for sampling and principles of grounded theory for data collection and analysis. Focus groups and in-depth interviews were used to interview a total of 95 healthcare workers (11 supervisors and 84 frontline workers). The NVivo V.10 QSR software package was used for data management.ResultsThere was tolerance of absenteeism in both the public and PNFP sectors, more so for clinicians and managers. Coping strategies varied according to the type of health facility. A majority of the PNFP participants reported emotion-focused reactions. These included unplanned work overload, stress, resulting anger directed towards coworkers and patients, shortening of consultation times and retaliatory absence. On the other hand, various cadres of public health facility participants reported ineffective problem-solving adaptations. These included altering weekly schedules, differing patient appointments, impeding absence monitoring registers, offering unnecessary patient referrals and rampant unsupervised informal task shifting from clinicians to nurses.ConclusionHigh levels of absenteeism attributed to clinicians and health service managers result in work overload and stress for frontline health workers, and unsupervised informal task shifting of clinical workload to nurses, who are the less clinically skilled. In resource-limited settings, the underlying causes of absenteeism and low staff morale require attention, because when left unattended, the coping responses to absenteeism can be seen to compromise the well-being of the workforce, the quality of healthcare and patients’ access to care.


2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 85
Author(s):  
Midori Matsushima ◽  
Hiroyuki Yamada ◽  
Yasuharu Shimamura ◽  
Nguyen Minh Tam

To achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly to promote healthy living and well-being for all ages, we must ensure a high quality of healthcare services at primary facilities. However, the shortage of healthcare workers in primary facilities is a problem in many countries, including Vietnam. Despite concerns about the low job satisfaction of health workers and value of altruism in this field, no existing research has thus far addressed its effect on job satisfaction. This study thus contributes to the body of knowledge on healthcare workers’ job satisfaction by observing the role of altruism.We conducted a quantitative analysis by using data collected from healthcare workers employed at primary facilities in central Vietnam in 2014. The survey administered to healthcare workers (n=241) included a hypothetical dictator game questionnaire to elicit their level of altruism. We then used an ordered probit model to examine the factors associated with healthcare workers’ job satisfaction, focusing particularly on altruism by controlling for both individual-level attributes and the condition of their workplaces.We found that a higher level of altruism is associated with lower job satisfaction. Further analysis revealed that more altruistic workers are also likely to have a stricter self-evaluation of healthcare quality, including the availability of drugs. Altruistic healthcare workers may be frustrated when working in environments in which resources are constrained and workers cannot perform to their full ability despite a wish to help others.


Scientifica ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiwei Chen ◽  
Lan Yang ◽  
Qiming Feng ◽  
Scott S. Tighe

Background. Township hospitals in China provide rural communities with basic but much needed critical health care services. The doctors working in these hospitals often feel unsatisfied when considering their work schedules and financial rewards. Method. To explore job satisfaction of health workers in a township hospital, a qualitative study was conducted of 39 doctors from five township hospitals in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The goal was to understand the level of job satisfaction of doctors and to make recommendations for improvements. Results. About 75% (28/39) of the doctors expressed negative attitudes related to their work conditions. Slightly more than half (22/39) mentioned they should receive greater compensation for their work and more than one were seriously considering other options. Many participants (35/39) showed their satisfaction about the achievement of serving as a doctor. Conclusion. Their main concerns related to job satisfaction included working conditions, financial rewards, and the doctor’s relationships with patients. Increasing the incomes and fringe benefits of healthcare workers, improving their work conditions, and providing training and continuing education opportunities would help rural clinics retain doctors and eliminate the current unsatisfactory conditions. The findings also highlight the need for the government to increase financial support of township hospitals.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanifa Maher Denny ◽  
Yudhy Dharmawan ◽  
Praba Ginandjar ◽  
Bagoes Widjanarko ◽  
Ayun Sriatmi ◽  
...  

AbstractMedical rehabilitation for person with disability in Indonesia is still an issue. This research aimed to explore Inclusive medical rehabilitation for persons with disability due to leprosy, lymphatic filariasis, and diabetes mellitus in three regions in Indonesia. The qualitative study was employed to gather data from disability patients, health workers in PHCs, medical rehabilitation services for leprosy, DM, and LF in hospitals.The results indicated that the gap on medical rehabilitation for person with disability due to leprosy, lymphatic filariasis and diabetes mellitus in three regions were due to some differences in their geographical aspects, availability of referral hospital for treating leprosy and filariasis, supervision, human resource competencies.


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