China

Effort-Reward Imbalance and Quality of Life of Healthcare Workers in Military Hospitals: A Cross-Sectional Study

This study investigates the association between job stress, psychological morbidity and quality of life in healthcare workers in three military hospitals in Taiwan. [from abstract]

Knowledge, Attitude and Behavior about Public Health Emergencies and the Response Capacity of Primary Care Medical Staffs of Guangdong Province, China

The main objective of this study is to explore the knowledge, attitudes, behaviors and the response capacity of primary care medical staff related to public health emergencies in Guangdong Province, China. [adapted from abstract]

Revisting Current Barefoot Doctors in Border Areas of China: System of Services, Financial Issue and Clinical Practice Prior to Introducing Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI)

This study aimed at assessing the current situation of the health system of rural health care and evaluating the clinical competency of village doctors in management of childhood illnesses prior to implementing IMCI program in remote border rural areas. [from abstract]

Factors and Symptoms Associated with Work Stress and Health-Promoting LIfestyles among Hospital Staff: A Pilot Study in Taiwan

Healthcare workers including physicians, nurses, medical technicians and administrative staff experience high levels of occupational stress as a result of heavy workloads, extended working hours and time-related pressure. The aims of this study were to investigate factors associated with work stress among hospital staff members and to evaluate their health-promoting lifestyle behaviors. [from abstract]

Nurse Staffing, Direct Nursing Care Hours and Patient Mortality in Taiwan: The Logitudinal Analysis of Hospital Nurse Staffing and Patient Outcome Study

This study aimed to provide an overview of the research which has clarified the relationship between nurse staffing and patient mortality of acute care hospital wards under a universal health insurance system and attempted to provide explanations for some of the phenomena that are unique in Taiwan. [from abstract]

Factors Associated with Job Satisfaction among Chinese Community Health Workers: A Cross-Sectional Study

This study aims to clarify the level of job satisfaction of Chinese community health workers between a metropolitan and a small city in Liaoning province and explore its associated factors. [from abstract]

Relationship between Job Satisfaction, Burnout, and Turnover Intention among Physicians from Urban State-Owned Medical Institutions in Hubei, China: a Cross-Sectional Study

This study aimed to analyze the relationship between job satisfaction, burnout, and turnover intention, and further to determine whether occupational burnout can serve as a mediator among Chinese physicians from urban state-owned medical institutions. [from abstract]

Patient Self-Management and Pharmacist-Led Patient Self-Management in Hong Kong: a Focus Group Study from Different Healthcare Professionals' Perspectives

The objectives of this study are to understand the perspectives of physicians, pharmacists, traditional Chinese medicine practitioners, and dispensers on self-management of patients with chronic conditions, in addition to exploring the possibilities of developing pharmacist-led patient self-management in Hong Kong. [from abstract]

Evaluation of a Community-Based Randomized Controlled Prenatal Care Trial in Rural China

The purpose of this paper is to describe implementation and impact of a community-based prenatal care trial on the utilization of prenatal care and perinatal outcomes in China. [adapted from abstract]

Need for Continual Education about Disaster Medicine for Health Professionals in China: a Pilot Study

Disaster medicine training is not included in medical education curriculum in China, even though the country has suffered various disasters annually. This article intended to assess the need for continual education regarding disaster management for health professionals in China.

Decentralization of the Provision of Health Services to People Living with HIV/AIDS in Rural China: the Case of Three Counties

This study assesses the new decentralized service provision system for people living with HIV/AIDS in rural populations in China. [from abstract]

Measuring Health Workforce Inequalities: Methods and Application to China and India

This study proposes methods for measuring inequalities in the distribution of health workers in a country by adapting techniques from the economics literature on income inequality to the measurement of health workforce distribution across geographical units. [from summary]

Infection Control and the Burden of Tuberculosis Infection and Disease in Health Care Workers in China: a Cross-Sectional Study

Hospitals with inadequate infection control are risky environments for the emergence and transmission of tuberculosis (TB). This study evaluated TB infection control practices, and the prevalence of latent TB infection and TB disease and risk factors in health care workers in TB centers in Henan province in China. [from abstract]

Exploring the Impact of Mentoring Functions on Job Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment of New Staff Nurses

This research aimed at examining the effects of mentoring functions on the job satisfaction and organizational commitment of new nurses in Taiwan’s hospitals.

Analysis of Factors Influencing the Outpatient Workload at Chinese Health Centers

Although the community health service system is now established in China, the utilisation of the community health service institutions is low due to the lack of a gate-keeping role of the primary health service providers and referrals among the three-tiered health service institutions. This study focuses on the question of how to increase the utilisation of Chinese community health centres. [from abstract]

Job Satisfaction and Its Modeling among Township Health Center Employees: A Quantitative Study in Poor Rural China

The purpose of this study was to measure job satisfaction level of township health centers employees in poor rural China and to identify relevant features in order to provide policy advice on human resource development of health service institutions in poor regions.

Realignment of Incentives for Health-Care Providers in China

This review shows how lessons that have been learned from international experiences have been improved further in China by realignment of the incentives for providers towards prevention and primary care, and incorporation of a treatment protocol for hospital services. [from summary]

Hepatitis B and Liver Cancer Knowledge and Practices among Healthcare and Public Health Professionals in China: a Cross-Sectional Study

Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is the leading cause of liver disease and liver cancer and a major source of health-related discrimination in China. To better target HBV detection and prevention programs, it is necessary to assess existing HBV knowledge, educational resources, reporting, and preventive practices, particularly among those health professionals who would be responsible for implementing such programs. [from abstract]

Mobility of Primary Health Care Workers in China

Rural township health centres and urban community health centres play a crucial role in the delivery of primary health care in China. The limited availability and low qualifications of human resources in health are among the main challenges facing lower-level health facilities. This paper aims to analyse the mobility of health workers in township and community health centres. [from abstract]

China's Barefoot Doctor: Past, Present and Future

This document discusses China’s long struggle with rural coverage for health care through the barefoot doctors program, which was introduced as a national policy focused on quickly training paramedics to meet rural needs. [adapted from author]

China’s Human Resources for Health: Quantity, Quality, and Distribution

This paper analyzes China’s current health workforce in terms of quantity, quality, and distribution. Unlike most countries, China has more doctors than nurses. Doctor density in urban areas was more than twice that in rural areas, with nurse density showing more than a three-fold difference. Over the past decade there has been a massive expansion of medical education, with an excess in the production of health workers over absorption into the health workforce.

HIV-Related Stigma in Health Care Settings: a Survey of Service Providers in China

We examined how individual and institutional factors in health care settings affected discrimination toward persons with HIV/AIDS. A representative sample of 1101 Chinese service providers was recruited in 2005, including doctors, nurses, and laboratory technicians. [from abstract]

Potential of China in Global Nurse Migration

The purpose of this paper is to examine what is known about the nurse workforce and nursing education in China in order to assess the likely potential for nurse migration from China in the future. [from abstract]

Prevalence of Workplace Violence Against Nurses in Hong Kong

To objective of this article was to determine the prevalence and nature of workplace violence against nurses, how nurses deal with such aggression; and to identify the risk factors related to violence in the hospital environment. [author’s description]

Stigmatization and Shame: Consequences of Caring for HIV/AIDS Patients in China

Using a representative sample of 478 doctors, nurses, and lab technicians working with people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA), a cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the impact of the AIDS epidemic on medical care systems and service providers in China. The study findings suggest that improved institutional support for AIDS care at the facility level and HIV-related stigma reduction intervention are crucial to maintain a high quality performance by the workforce in the health care system. [from publisher’s description]

Village Doctors in Different Ownership Clinics in China's Countryside

This study examines the relationship between medical practice and type of clinic ownership in HeBei province in the People’s Republic of China. The objective was to find out whether the kind of clinic ownership affects health care delivery patterns and access to health care. The study was carried out between 1995 and 2000 by a team of researchers from China, Israel and the Netherlands. [from preface]

Forecasting the Human Resource for Health Requirement in China by the Year 2015

This document report on the trends of HRH during past fifty years including the issues of unqualified doctors in rural areas, geographical differences in HRH, and the increase in medical school graduates. It also forecasts HRH needs for fifteen years from 2000 to 2015.

Dual Practice by Public Health Providers in Shandong and Sichuan Provinces, China

There are four types of health providers at present in China. These are defined in terms of differences in ownership. Private practice in the health sector was reintroduced from 1980, when China began its economic reform from a planned economy to a market economy. Dual practice (DP) is quite common and a major concern from the point of view of health policy-making as little is known about it. The aim of this study was to describe policies and regulations of DP, the current situation, its impact on access to services and physician behaviour, and to provide evidence for future policy decisions.

How Health Workers Earn a Living in China

The Chinese government has found it impossible to maintain uniform pay levels, particularly in the face of a radical devolution of its own financial management. Health workers have increasingly resorted to informal methods of earning an income. The government considers this to be unprofessional behavior and has used a combination of moral pressure and loss of professional privileges to discourage it.

Effect of Performance-Related Pay of Hospital Doctors on Hospital Behaviour: A Case Study From Shandong, China

With the recognition that public hospitals are often productively inefficient, reforms have taken place worldwide to increase their administrative autonomy and financial responsibility. Reforms in China have been some of the most radical: the government budget for public hospitals was fixed, and hospitals had to rely on charges to fill their financing gap. Accompanying these changes was the widespread introduction of performance-related pay for hospital doctors, termed the “bonus” system. While the policy objective was to improve productivity and cost recovery, it is likely that the incentive to increase the quantity of care provided would operate regardless of whether the care was medically necessary.