Impact of long duty hours on education and well-being of diagnostic radiology residents: A national survey in Saudi Arabia

Objectives: The primary purpose of this study was to assess and report the perceived negative impact of long duty hours on education and personal well-being among medical trainees in the diagnostic radiology residency training program in Saudi Arabia. Methods: This cross-sectional study used a questionnaire (sent by email) with eight indicators related to the education and well-being of radiology residents in Saudi Arabia during the academic year 2019–2020. Participants were given a five-point Likert response format for each indicator. The relative importance index (RII) was calculated to rank the different indicators. Results: Our of 337 residents, 116 diagnostic radiology trainees completed the survey, with a response rate of 34.4%. A total of 102 (87.9%) indicated their preference for 16-hour shifts instead of the currently implemented 24-hour duty system. Using the RII, three items related to the post-duty day ranked at the top of the list. The negative impact on sleep rhythm during the post-call day ranked first (mean 4.23 ± 1.02, RII 0.84), followed by the impact on social life, family activities, and exercise during the post-call day (mean 4.09 ± 1.06, RII 0.81). The third highest ranking factor was missing academic activities on the post-call day (mean 3.91 ± 1.15, RII 0.78). There was no relationship between negative perception and gender (P > 0.05). Conclusion: The 24-hour duty system had a negative impact on radiology residents’ education and personal well-being, especially for items related to the post-call day. Reforming duty hours should be considered to promote residents’ well-being. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.38.3.4440 How to cite this:Alhasan AS, Alahmadi SM, Altayeb YA, Daqqaq TS. Impact of long duty hours on education and well-being of diagnostic radiology residents: A national survey in Saudi Arabia. Pak J Med Sci. 2022;38(3):---------. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.38.3.4440 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

MAKESHIFT HOSPITAL DURING COVID-19 NEED OF THE HOUR

As declared by WHO COVID-19 is a pandemic. Till date more than 34 million people are infected and more than 4.5 lakh died in India only. Such types of viral pandemics place us at a sustained demand of healthcare infrastructure for providing better health services to patients. Such demands lead to the development of situation where we need to be innovative and ready to work in limited resources setting for long duty hours. The purpose of makeshift COVID hospitals is to solve the severe shortage of hospital beds in India and providing good health care services to patients.

Depression, Anxiety and Stress among Police Personnel during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-sectional Study in North India

Background: COVID-19 pandemic has posed a public health threat to the whole world. The frontline line workers including police personnel involved in COVID-19 management and containment are at risk of mental health problems. Aims: To estimate mental health problems like stress, anxiety, and depression in police personnel and to determine their underlying drivers.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among police personnel of city Rohtak in April 2020. 8 police stations and 13 check-posts were selected randomly by lottery method. Depression, Anxiety and Stress-21 Scale was used. Statistical analyses were undertaken using MS Excel, Epi Info, and R software. Results: 298 policemen were screened for mental problems. Their mean age was 39 ± 9.7 years. 20.1%, 13.8%, and 3.4% had stress, anxiety, and depression respectively. 172 (57.7%) respondents were not satisfied with their COVID duty hours. 239 (80.2%) subjects believed that they are at risk of getting the infection due to their duties in COVID-19 containment zones. About 68.8% of participants believed that their families were at risk of getting the infection because of their COVID-19 duty. The study subjects who were not satisfied with their duty hours had 2.4 and 3.5 times more risk of stress and anxiety as compared with those who were satisfied with them. Conclusion: Policemen are at significant risk for stress, anxiety, and depression due to COVID related duties. Identifiable risk factors were number of working hours per day, dissatisfaction with duty hours, and risk of contracting corona infection due to COVID-19 duty.

Occupational Stress among Medical and Paramedical Staff in Tertiary Care Hospitals Based on Observational Study

Background: Occupational stress is a common concern among employees, particularly those working in tertiary care hospitals. In Pakistan, both medical and paramedical staffs face many stressors because of their high job demand, dealing with multiple patients, excessive duty hours, and strict rules and regulations. The objective of the study was to measure occupational stress among the tertiary care hospital employees of the Lahore District using different demographic and workplace determinants. Methods: It was a cross-sectional study. A total of 138 hospital employees recorded their responses, which included 71 medical staff/doctors and 67 paramedical staff members. Primary data was obtained through a detailed structured questionnaire based on the Likert scale with the stress level index ranging from 1-5. Results: In terms of the six staff designations, stress index from top to bottom was observed in house officers/ internees (3.47), medical officers/ postgraduate trainees (3.04), technicians (2.74), consultants/ specialists (2.73), emergency/ ward assistants (2.61) and nurses (2.46). Among all the employees, the most significant factors leading to stress bottom-down were justice/ fairness (3.30), tasks and roles (3.14), management (3.03), environment/ working conditions (3.01), decision-making autonomy (2.84), work schedule (2.62) and profession/ job entitlement (1.63). Analysis of demographic characteristics showed that males (2.99) faced greater stress than females (2.64) and people of young age group (? 30 years) showed the highest stress value (3.01) than other age groups. It was observed that moderately experienced (5-10 years) employees were more prone to occupational stress (3.03) than other groups. Furthermore, the employees of public hospitals (3.13) bear more stress than those of private hospitals (2.67). On the basis of locality, the locals showed slightly higher stress values (2.89) as compared to non-locals (2.77). Conclusion: The current study showed that occupational stress is a prevalent problem in hospitals, particularly among house officers and postgraduate residents. Several useful steps can be undertaken to improve the health and safety of hospital employees like alleviating duty hours, working in shifts, focusing on a single task, and motivating the employees in decision-making.

Introduction

This chapter unveils how the SS and policemen involved with the destruction of the European Jews experienced a twofold feeling of intoxication. First, these men went east in an imperial campaign of mass murder during which they exercised power over life and death. Second, the occupiers integrated drinking rituals into their daily routines in order to commemorate and celebrate masculine virtues of camaraderie and shared violence. The chapter discusses the promotion of a metaphorical intoxication among the German populace and how it extended to traditional holidays and massive Nazi rallies, parades, and ceremonies. It exposes the widespread practice of alcohol consumption and the horrific consequences of prohibitions on drinking during duty hours on the conquered peoples. While habitual drunkenness on duty by SS and policemen within the “old Reich” transgressed organizational norms and was punished, this chapter unfolds the testimonies given by witnesses, accomplices, and bystanders about the stories of perpetrators in the East who routinely drank on duty and whose brutality noticeably increased after their intoxication.