Load-shedding and the Declining Energy Availability Factor: A Case Study of a South African Power Station

Through a mixed methods study, which included a survey among a stratified sample of 70 employees and interviews with 11 managers, this paper reports on the factors which led to a decline in power generation by Eskom’s Camden Power Station. The impact of the declining energy available factor (EAF) was significant, primarily on economic activities, employment, revenue loss due to load-shedding, and corporate social responsibility. The main causes of the declining EAF included leadership instability, financial constraints, inadequate plant maintenance, process-related challenges, bottle necks in the procurement of replacement parts, poor quality spare parts, high staff turnover, poor employee morale, poor workmanship and poor quality coal.It is recommended that funding for EAF related projects be prioritized, the performance of the acting managers needs to closely managed, sources of coal be streamlined, the training of quality control personnel and contract supervisors be improved and staff morale be urgently addressed. Received: 7 September 2021 / Accepted: 7 October 2021 / Published: 5 November 2021

Leadership Rounding to Improve Patient Satisfaction in Pediatric Ambulatory Care

Practice Problem: Low patient satisfaction has been linked to poor treatment compliance, patients leaving the practice, staff decreased job satisfaction, and high staff turnover (Haskard Zolnierek & DiMatteo, 2009; Prakash, 2010). Magnet reporting has identified wide discrepancies in ambulatory clinics, with some clinics reporting below benchmark patient satisfaction ratings. PICOT: In pediatric ambulatory and primary care services, how will the implementation of leader-led customer service rounding, compared to current practice, increase family and/or patient satisfaction over 4 weeks? Evidence: Key findings are that the rounding needs to be population-specific, intentional, and swiftly followed up when problems are identified. The body of evidence suggests that implementing leadership rounding in a setting such as pediatric ambulatory care could benefit the patients served by building trust and communication. Intervention: Implementation of a leadership rounding survey modified from current hospital rounding tools on patients and families by nursing leaders. Outcome: While post-data results did not have a statistically significant change from the pre-data results, several identified needs for the clinics were discovered. Clinical significance, in this project, addresses the family-identified needs for change, which will impact future care. Conclusion: Rounding on families in pediatric ambulatory care is an integral part of the care that can identify patient satisfaction needs and practice differences between clinics, leading to more consistency in patient satisfaction in the future.

System of Consumer Services for Population of Western Section of BAM Construction Areas (1974—1989)

The article is devoted to the history of the organization of consumer services for the population in the areas of construction of the BAM western section in 1974—1989. The features of the material and technical support of the household service, the problems of staffing, the structure and dynamics of services in cities and townships of builders are considered. It is noted that the network of consumer services enterprises was designed in a temporary version for the period of construction of the main railway. It is shown that the lag in the development of the public services system was caused by the sectoral mechanism of construction management, adjustments to design estimates, and a reduction in funding for civil construction. It is emphasized that, unlike other objects of the social sphere, which received the support of the all-Union ministries, the organization of the welfare service was under the territorial jurisdiction. In consumer services for the population of the construction site, such problems as a lack of production space, materials and components, an insignificant degree of mechanization and automation of labor, and a high staff turnover have been identified. Summing it up, the author comes to the conclusion that attempts to reform the industry in the second half of the 1980s could not significantly increase the efficiency of the household service in connection with the completion of the BAM construction and the simultaneous crisis of the Soviet system.

Documenting Behavioral Health Needs in an Urban Setting

Most local communities lack the capacity to conduct behavioral health needs assessments. The purpose of this paper is to describe a mixed-methods approach to estimate the behavioral health needs in St. Louis, MO. Data were drawn from multiple sources including local and state government prevalence estimates, medical records, and key informant interviews. The most prevalent behavioral conditions were depression, alcohol, and drug abuse. Priority populations were residents with co-occurring disorders, youth transitioning into the adult behavioral system, and homeless individuals with behavioral health needs. Treatment rates for behavioral health conditions were low, relative to identified needs. There are significant provider shortages and high staff turnover, which extend wait times, diminish the quality of care, and contribute to the use of emergency departments for behavioral health care. The data and methods described in this paper could be helpful to other municipalities that are looking to conduct behavioral health needs assessments.

Implementation of the Principle of Decent Wages in Russian Education: Economic and Statistical Study

The article presents the results of economic and statistical study assessing the implementation of the principle of decent wages for employees in general education. According to the author, at present, determining the amount of funding for teachers’ salaries is caught in the trap of using the basic criterion defined as the «average salary in the region», which does not allow a significant part of specialists to receive decent remuneration for their work and provokes a high staff turnover. In order to eliminate negative trends, the author proposed adjusting the principle for payment of salaries for school teachers, with an emphasis on increasing the minimum wage rather than the average wage. The study proposes a modified method for calculating the leading coefficient. This indicator makes it possible to correlate the growth rates of teachers' salaries with the basic (starting) conditions prevailing in the regions at the beginning of the implementation of the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 597 of 7 May 2012 «On Measures for the Implementation of State Social Policy» and also takes into account the uneven distribution of the salary fund for school teachers (by comparing the achievement of the May decree target in regions with the number of specialists receiving a minimum salary or less). The modified methodology was tested on statistical data for 83 constituent entities of Russia. The approbation showed that in 2019 11 constituent entities of the Russian Federation could not provide even the minimum conditions for a decent salary for all school teachers (in 2015, they included 3 territories, in 2017 – 13). All the necessary conditions for the implementation of the principle of decent salaries are created only in three constituent entities of the Russian Federation. The conclusion summarizes possibilities of practical use of regional experience in the implementation of the «All included» model (based on the establishment of a single salary for all professional activities in the school) to improve the planning of teachers' salaries in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

Time to Ensure Sufficient Nursing Home Staffing and Eliminate Inequities in Care

The overwhelming nursing home resident infection and death rates from the COVID-19 pandemic has led to the question: What policies can best protect nursing home residents now and in the future? In this article we present data that inadequate nurse staffing levels and high staff turnover rates are the fundamental underlying causes of poor quality care in many nursing homes.

Digital Management Systems in Academic Health Sciences Laboratories: A Scoping Review

Good laboratory practices (GLP) increase the quality and traceability of results in health sciences research. However, factors such as high staff turnover, insufficient resources, and a lack of training for managers may limit their implementation in research and academic laboratories. This Scoping Review aimed to identify digital tools for managing academic health sciences and experimental medicine laboratories and their relationship with good practices. Following the PRISMA-ScR 2018 criteria, a search strategy was conducted until April 2021 in the databases PUBMED, Web of Sciences, and Health Virtual Library. A critical appraisal of the selected references was conducted, followed by data charting. The search identified twenty-one eligible articles, mainly originated from high-income countries, describing the development and/or implementation of thirty-two electronic management systems. Most studies described software functionalities, while nine evaluated and discussed impacts on management, reporting both improvements in the workflow and system limitations during implementation. In general, the studies point to a contribution to different management issues related to GLP principles. In conclusion, this review identified evolving evidence that digital laboratory management systems may represent important tools in compliance with the principles of good practices in experimental medicine and health sciences research.

Interventions to treat post-traumatic disorder (PTSD) in vulnerably housed populations and trauma-informed care: A scoping review

Objectives: The goals of this study are to identify and analyse interventions that aim to treat Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and complex PTSD in individuals who are vulnerably housed and to describe how these treatments have been delivered using trauma-informed care. Design: Scoping review Search strategy: We searched electronic databases including MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, CINAHL, the Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and PTSDpubs for published literature up to March 2020 for any studies that examined the treatment of PTSD in adults who were vulnerably housed. Websites of relevant organizations and other grey literature sources were searched to supplement the electronic database search. The characteristics and effect of the interventions were analyzed. We also explored how the interventions were delivered and the elements of trauma-informed care that were described. Results: 26 studies were included. We identified four types of interventions: (1) trauma focused psychotherapies; (2) non-trauma psychotherapies; (3) housing interventions; and (4) pharmacotherapies. The trauma-informed interventions were small case series and the non-trauma focused therapies included four randomized controlled trials, were generally ineffective. Of the ten studies which described trauma-informed care the most commonly named elements were physical and emotional safety, the experience of feeling heard and understood, and flexibility of choice. The literature also commented on the difficulty of providing care to this population including lack of private space to deliver therapy; the co-occurrence of substance use; and barriers to follow-up including limited length of stay in different shelters and high staff turnover. Conclusions: This scoping review identified a lack of high-quality trials to address PTSD in the vulnerably housed. There is a need to conduct well designed trials that take into account the unique setting of this population and which describe those elements of trauma-informed care that are most important and necessary.

Perception of Malaria Chemoprevention Interventions in Infants and Children in Eight Sub-Saharan African Countries: An End User Perspective Study

Preventive chemotherapy interventions have been identified as key tools for malaria prevention and control. Although a large number of publications have reported on the efficacy and safety profile of these interventions, little literature exists on end-user experience. The objective of this study was to provide insights on the perceptions and attitudes towards seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC) and intermittent preventive treatment of infants (IPTi) to identify drivers of and barriers to acceptance. A total of 179 in-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with community health workers (CHWs), health center managers, parents of children receiving chemoprevention, and national decision makers across eight countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The transcribed verbatim responses were coded and analyzed using a thematic approach. Findings indicate that, although SMC is largely accepted by end users, coverage remained below 100%. The main causes mentioned were children’s absenteeism, children being sick, parents’ reluctance, and lack of staff. Regarding IPTi, results from participants based in Sierra Leone showed that the intervention was generally accepted and perceived as efficacious. The main challenges were access to water, crushing the tablets, and high staff turnover. SMC and IPTi are perceived as valuable interventions. Our study identified the key elements that need to be considered to facilitate the expansion of these two interventions to different geographies or age groups.

Just doing their job: the hidden meteorologists of colonial Hong Kong c.1883–1914

This article investigates the contribution made by indigenous employees to the work of the Hong Kong Observatory from its inception and into the early twentieth century. As has so often been the case in Western histories of science, the significance of indigenous workers and of women in the Hong Kong Observatory has been obscured by the stories of the government officials and observatory director(s). Yet without the employees, the service could not have functioned or grown. While the glimpses of their work and lives are fleeting, often only revealed in minor archival references, this article seeks to interrogate these sources to make these workers’ lives visible and to offer an examination of everyday working relationships at this place and point in time. It focuses on three areas. First, an exploration of who these workers were, and the role they played at the observatory. Second, an investigation of their contribution to the nascent science of meteorology. Third, an examination of available evidence – levels of high staff turnover, complaints, instances of foot dragging, or working to rule, as well as the tenacity to continue for years under difficult working conditions – to demonstrate the ability of workers to reject or to negotiate with colonial/patriarchal authority. In profiling their stories, this article will add to the literature examining the lives of scientific workers and their contributions to science, the everyday cultural and social contexts of colonial meteorology, and the role of ordinary men and women in producing meteorological knowledge at this time.