Effectiveness of BNT162b2 and ChAdOx1 Vaccines against Symptomatic COVID-19 among Healthcare Workers in Kuwait: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Background: Estimating vaccine effectiveness (VE) against severe, acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) among healthcare workers (HCWs) is necessary to demonstrate protection from the disease. Between 24 December 2020 and 15 June 2021, we determined the factors associated with vaccine coverage and estimated VE against SARS-CoV-2 infection in HCWs at a secondary hospital in Kuwait. Methods: We extracted sociodemographic, occupational, SARS-CoV-2 infection, and vaccination data for eligible HCWs from the hospital records. Vaccine coverage percentages were cross-tabulated with the HCW factors. Cox regression was used to estimate hazard ratios in vaccinated versus unvaccinated. Results: 3246 HCWs were included in the analysis, of which 82.1% received at least one vaccine dose (50.4% only one dose of ChAdOx1, 3.3% only one dose of BNT162b2, and 28.3% two doses of BNT162b2). However, 17.9% of HCWs were unvaccinated. A significantly lower vaccination coverage was reported amongst female HCWs, younger age group (20–30 years), and administrative/executive staff. The adjusted VE of fully vaccinated HCWs was 94.5% (95% CI = 89.4–97.2%), while it was 75.4% (95% CI = 67.2–81.6%) and 91.4% (95% CI = 65.1–97.9%) in partially vaccinated for ChAdOx1 and BNT162b2, respectively. Conclusions: BNT162b2 and ChAdOx1 vaccines prevented most symptomatic infections in HCWs across age groups, nationalities, and occupations.

SERVQUAL Method as an “Old New” Tool for Improving the Quality of Medical Services: A Literature Review

The second half of the 20th century saw the development of a new trend in the management of medical services across Europe. Those shifts were associated with the transformation of various spheres of human life, both on professional and private levels. The service market then turned back to “quality”, already known in antiquity. According to Aristotle, “quality” is one of the basic categories of thought and reality of the human population. The research material was obtained from literature databases, including Scopus, Cochrane, Medline, and PubMed, as well as from literature reports, including monographs, research papers (e.g., doctoral dissertations), and others. The available literature was assessed with regards to the abovementioned objectives of our study and considering possible advantages from its implementation. Therefore, the applied research method was based on a bibliographic query and desktop data analysis. The adopted research methodology hinged on exploration, compilation, analysis, and processing of data and information from available sources, resulting in drawing up of summary conclusions. The obtained data were subjected to reciprocal confrontation with an attempt to evaluate new possibilities of using the method in other medical specialties. The Servqual method enables us to learn the patient’s expectations, while the service provider can identify irregularities and implement corrections. It allows the executive staff of medical facilities to change elements of medical procedures, which improves the quality of the service provided and thus increases the satisfaction and compliance of patients.

Current Trends in Journalism Education as Responding to Professional Journalistic Standards and Demands of Media Industry

In this study, we discuss the training of mass communication specialists in terms of competence approach and compliance with professional standards. The relevance of the topic of the study is due to changes in journalism education in Russia and abroad, the emergence of organizational innovations in higher education, and the development trends of the system of professional journalism. The study examined the formation of professional competencies, job responsibilities, knowledge, skills, and abilities in students as a result of mastering the basic educational curriculum for Bachelor's and Master's degree programs in journalism. The study was based on the educational standard and the basic educational program for Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Journalism at the Institute of Philology and Journalism of the National Research University Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod. The methodology allowed us to study effective strategies in contemporary media education and a comparative typological analysis of the types of professional journalistic activities. To evaluate the quality of education and the professional standing of future journalists on the labor market, journalism students of the Institute of Philology and Journalism of Lobachevsky University were asked to fill out a questionnaire. The survey participants were 2nd–4 year undergraduate students and first-year graduate students. The experience of the Institute of Philology and Journalism of Lobachevsky University in developing and implementing self-established educational standards illustrates one of the vectors of modernizing the basic educational program for Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Journalism, which represents a balanced combination of the needs of employers, the traditions of classical education, and an awareness of the social, cultural and educational role of journalism in society. The authors concluded that it is necessary to continuously work on improving the process of training future specialists in the field of mass communication, in accordance with the opportunities for further professional self-fulfillment of graduates. The results of this study may be of interest to the developers of educational programs in the field of journalism, the staff of educational and methodological commissions, and the executive staff of educational institutions of higher education.

Adoption to Online Newspaper Reading with the COVID-19 Pandemic: Case of Staff Members of the Rajarata University of Sri Lanka

The purpose of this study was to apprehend the adaption to online newspaper reading with COVID-19 pandemic by focusing to staff members of Rajarata University of Sri Lanka. Online newspaper is the easiest and best way to get news today. Online newspaper facilitators create new path for online newspaper readers. During this pandemic time, people face different difficulties such as lockdown, travel restriction, quarantine or isolation etc. Thus, most of them are at home and do works under the work from home concept meantime demand for online news is also increased harshly. Literature survey revealed that there is a handful of studies done in Sri Lankan context related to the present study. Accordingly, data were collected from total population of 291 academic and nonacademic executive staff members in the Rajarata University of Sri Lanka. The collected data were analyzed using statistical techniques; reliability test, descriptive analysis, Andrew F. Hayes moderation process analysis, correlation coefficient and regression analysis with SPSS. Respondents are from all six faculties and they who are in various age groups with different educational qualifications. However, even most of the staff members heard about online newspaper, online newspaper usage is low. Results of correlation and regression analysis confirmed that online habit, internet experience and social influence positively influence on adoption towards the online newspaper reading. Furthermore, moderating influence of gender, age and education were tested with Andrew F. Hayes moderation process analysis and revealed concerned demographic factors moderate only the relationships of internet experience and online habit with dependent variable. Study recommends and give insights to develop creative and effective future plan for online newspaper providers to increase the usage of online newspaper reading among online users.

Relationship between Organizational Culture and Employee Performance through Work Stress at the Regional Office of the East Java I Directorate General of Customs

This study aims to analyze the Relationship between Organizational Culture and Employee Performance through Work Stress at the Regional Office of the Directorate General of Customs and Excise, East Java I. This research method is an explanatory research, the analysis unit in this study is employees who work in the Directorate General of Customs and Excise Office. East Java I region, which consists of 80 structural officials, 79 functional officials and 1323 executive staff. The method of collecting research data using a questionnaire. The results showed that organizational culture affects the work stress of employees at the Regional Office of the Directorate General of Customs and Excise, East Java I, this shows that organizational culture is able to increase the work stress of employees of the Regional Office of the Directorate General of Customs and Excise, East Java. Organizational culture influences the performance of the employees of the Regional Office of the Directorate General of Customs and Excise, East Java I, this shows that with a good and appropriate organizational culture, it is able to increase the performance of the employees of the Regional Office of the Directorate General of Customs and Excise, East Java I. New organizational culture that also improves Employee stress, namely the imposition of input into daily work activity reports by employees in the daily logbook through an internet-based application with details on the types of activities, time norms, achievement targets and employee daily problems for all levels of employees, both structural, functional and executive.

The Role of Communication in Employee Retention and Its Effects on Organizational Performance in Mergers in Kenya: A Case of Quick Mart Limited

This research paper investigated the effect of communication on employee retention and its effects on organizational performance in mergers in Kenya. It involved a case study research design. It aimed at providing future merging organization with optimum employee retention strategies that can help in retaining competent, mission-critical, and highly valued employee through the merger process in order to achieve organizational performance after merger. The study's target population included 535 employees of Quick Mart Limited. They included managers, executive staff, supervisors, and subordinate staff of six supermarket branches located in Nairobi. Stratified sampling technique was used in the study. Sample population was 30% of the target population. A total of 161 respondents made up the sample population. Questionnaires were used as the data collection tools. Questionnaires were delivered to the respondent physically at the supermarket branches. The researcher collected qualitative data from the respondents which were analyzed to bring to light the reality of the subject matter. A pilot study was conducted through 10% of the sample population. A total of 16 questionnaires were distributed to a part of the sample population, analyzed, tested for validity and reliability, and then corrected before all the other questionnaires were issued to the sample population. Validity and reliability of this research were realized through eliminating bias and increasing the researcher's trustworthiness using triangulation. Descriptive data analysis was used in this study. Analysis of qualitative data was done through developing and applying codes, identifying themes, patterns, and relationships, and summarizing the data. The findings of the study were clearly presented through narrations, frequency tables, and charts. The researcher provided her conclusions on the study as well as recommendations for future research.

Getting to the Right Patient at the Right Time: An Interoperable Mobile App to Track the ED Journey in Hospital

The current legacy ICT framework structures in healthcare are often siloed and do not allow information to flow easily between business analytics and clinical systems, affecting critical decision making.Western Sydney Local Health District (WSLHD) has numerous electronic database systems for business analytics including tracking individual patients waiting for treatment in the emergency department (ED). Administrators of hospital business data report ED performance measures in a weekly static feedback report to clinical and executive staff due to current legacy systems and manual resource allocation processes. The remit of the project was to prototype a system that could integrate data sources from the current QlikSense Dashboard into an interoperable mobile app with the future intention of direct impact on clinical care decision making for the emergency department. A series of meetings between business analytics unit and clinical staff were used to inform a set of requirements for information workflow systems integration to be used on the project. Stimulated patient data that matched typical data feeds from the system was used to develop a prototype interoperable HL7 messaging mobile app that would report waiting patients in their triage categories in near real time. This working protype with synthetic scenarios and data will inform a future deployable production system with information for the patient journey from the ED waiting room into available hospital beds. As most applications are either designed for business analytics or clinical workflows, integrating information data sources into one mobile application that could meet the needs of both clinical and business performance was novel and integral. This proof of concept project successfully integrated the information systems necessary for both purposes and informs future requirements for an interoperable and deployable cross-platform mobile app.

Healing the Healer: Exploring Barriers and Solutions to Supporting Workers in the Domestic Violence Sector

Individuals who work with Domestic Violence (DV) survivors are often exposed to traumatic events that can leave them feeling overwhelmed, distressed, and susceptible to experiences of trauma themselves. The purpose of this exploratory study was to understand the health and wellbeing of staff in the DV sector to build capacity around providing safe and supportive working environments. A focus group was conducted with 40 members of a local domestic violence collective while surveys were completed by 61 professionals within the DV sector. Thematic analysis of focus group discussions and descriptive analysis of survey data highlighted primary barriers to supportive and safe organizational cultures including the work environment, leadership, and supervision. Specifically, supervisors and organizational culture play a significant role in contributing to employee health and wellness. Results suggest the need for increased importance on the role that senior/executive staff must take in protecting their staff from trauma-related harms, including focusing on trauma-informed supervision, structure, self-care, education and training, agency policies and the safety of the work environment. Future research could explore the impact of prioritizing the role of senior and executive staff in creating a safe working environment while informing new policies and strategies for mitigating staff burnout.