Occupational Health & Safety

Social and Cultural Dimensions of Hygiene in Cambodian Health Care Facilities

This report provides some insights on the social and cultural factors that shape hygiene practices in Cambodian health care settings that need to be considered when designing interventions to improve infection control practices. [adapted from abstract]

Positive Practice Environments in Morocco

This report examined the main problems faced by health care professionals in Morocco. In particular the report focuses on working environments, recruitment and staff retention. This report is an essential tool and resource to guide a response to the needs and concerns of health care professionals and drive improvements within healthcare working environments. [adapted from author]

Compliance with Infection Prevention Guidelines by Health Care Workers at Ronald Ross General Hospital Mufulira District

This study aimed to determine the level of health-care workers’ compliance with infection prevention guidelines and identify factors that influence compliance at Ronald Ross General Hospital, Mufulira District. [from abstract]

Occupational Health of Health Workers

This issue of GOHNET deals with the ongoing activities of institutions around the world with respect to work in the health worker sector. This focus is closely related to devising and implementing policy instruments on workers’ health of the WHO Global Plan of Action on Workers’ Health (2008-2017). [from author]

Joint WHO ILO UNAIDS Policy Guidelines for Improving Health Workers' Access to HIV and TB Prevention, Treatment, Care and Support Services

Despite being workers on the front line responding to the public’s HIV and TB care needs, health workers themselves often do not have access to HIV and TB services. These guidelines aim to protect, retain and empower health workers in dealing with the dual threat of HIV and TB and reinforce good practicies for health workers who are living with HIV and/or TB. [adapted from introduction]

Exploring Health Workforce Inequalities: Case Studies from Three Countries

With the aim of arriving at a better understanding of specific dimensions of health workforce inequalities in their national contexts, three case studies are presented from Ethiopia, Brazil and Mexico. [from introduction]

How to Create an Attractive and Supportive Working Environment for Health Professionals

This policy brief considers policy approaches that can be employed to help create positive work environments, thus improving the recruitment and retention of health professionals and contributing to the achievement of high quality health services. [from author]

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]

Positive Practice Environments in Uganda: Enhancing Health Worker and Health System Performance

This paper aims to explore the current key issues facing Uganda’s health human resource climate with particular attention to practice environments including recruitment, retention and productivity of its health workforce, to identify the HR solutions that are being or have been employed to address these main challenges. The paper will also help in identifying knowledge gaps for future in-depth research and recommendations for future strategies. [from introduction]

Zambia Country Case Study on Positive Practice Environments (PPE): Quality Workplaces for Quality Care

This desk review has put together a situation analysis of the professional practice environment in Zambia today, bringing out a picture of unhealthy, unproductive work environments. [from summary]

Sleep and Recovery in Physicians on Night Call: a Longitudinal Field Study

The aim of the present study was to examine whether a 16-hour night-call schedule allowed for sufficient recovery in anaesthesiologists compared with other physician specialists handling less life-threatening conditions, when on call. [from abstract]

Not All Coping Strategies are Created Equal: a Mixed Methods Study Exploring Physicians' Self Reported Coping Strategies

The primary goal of this paper is to use interview data to explore physicians’ self reported coping strategies. In addition, questionnaire data is utilized to explore the degree to which the coping strategies are used and are associated with feelings of emotional exhaustion, a key symptom of burnout. [from abstract]

Monitoring the Newly Qualified Nurses in Swede: the Longitudinal Analysis of Nursing Education (LANE) Study

The LANE study aims to longitudinally examine a wide variety of individual and work-related variables related to psychological and physical health, as well as rates of employee and occupational turnover, and professional development among nursing students in the process of becoming registered nurses and entering working life. The aim of this paper is to present the LANE study, to estimate representativeness and analyse response rates over time, and also to describe common career pathways and life transitions during the first years of working life. [adapted from abstract]

Sector Specific Components that Contribute to Positive Work Environments and Job Satisfaction for Nurses/Issues in Long-Term Care and Community Care

This study explored sector specific components that contribute to positive work environments and job satisfaction for nurses working outside of the acute care sector. Specifically, this study examined the recruitment and retention initiatives being implemented by nursing employers in the community, public health and long-term care sectors in various geographic areas of Ontario. [from summary]

Can Interprofessional Collaboration Provide Health Human Resources Solutions? A Knowledge Synthesis

Evidence indicates that lack of communication and collaboration between health providers can seriously harm patients. To solve these issues, we need to change how health services are delivered and how providers interact with each other. This project examined interprofessional interventions and how they impact the health workforce and workplace quality. [adapted from summary]

Caring for the Carers: Wellness Centers for Health Care Workers and Their Families

Very few innovations look at providing services for health care workers and the creation of wellness centres is a real innovation. The centres have opened the door to improved retention practices, better health and an increased sense of being valued for African health workers, who toil daily on the front lines of the battle against HIV and AIDS, TB and other infectious diseases. [from author]

Aggression and Violence Against Health Care Workers in Germany: a Cross Sectional Retrospective Survey

The aim of this study was to examine the frequency and consequences of aggressive behaviour towards nurses and health care workers in different health sectors in Germany and to assess the need for preventive measures. [from abstract]

Medicine in Australia: Balancing Employement and Life (MABEL) Longitudinal Survey: Protocol and Baseline Data for a Prospective Cohort Study of Australian Doctors' Workforce Participation

While there is considerable research on medical workforce supply trends, there is little research examining the determinants of labour supply decisions for the medical workforce. The MABEL study investigates workforce participation patterns and their determinants using a longitudinal survey of Australian doctors. It aims to generate evidence to support developing effective policy responses to workforce issues such as shortages and maldistribution. This paper describes the study protocol and baseline cohort, including an analysis of response rates and response bias. [from abstract]

Challenges Facing the Tanzanian Health Workforce in the Era of HIV/AIDS

The need for documenting how the AIDS epidemic is affecting the health care personnel has long been recognized. In the specific case of Tanzania which already has a Health Sector HIV/AIDS Strategy it is imperative to have information on how the health system and the health personnel who are expected to spearhead the implementation of that strategy are being affected. This can guide preventive and remedial measures to ensure that the capacity of the system and its personnel for the effective implementation of the Strategy is not unduly compromised. [from author]

Referrals for Positive Tuberculin Tests in New Health Care Workers and Students: a Retrospective Cohort Study

Documentation of test results for latent tuberculosis infection is important for health care workers and students before they begin work. A negative result provides a baseline for comparison with future tests. A positive result affords a potential opportunity for treatment of latent infection when appropriate. This study sought to evaluate the yield of the referral process for positive baseline tuberculin tests, among persons beginning health care work or studies. [from abstract]

Effectiveness of a Training Programme to Improve Hand Hygiene Compliance in Primary Healthcare

The main objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of a training program on hand hygiene for the reduction of healthcare-associated infections for primary healthcare workers. [adapted from author]

Physician Wellness: a Missing Quality Indicator

When physicians are unwell, the performance of health-care systems can be suboptimum. Physician wellness might not only benefit the individual physician, it could also be vital to the delivery of high-quality health care. We review the work stresses faced by physicians, the barriers to attending to wellness, and the consequences of unwell physicians to the individual and to health-care systems. [from summary]

Preventing the Spread of Influenza A H1N1 to Health-Care Workers

This article relects on influenza transmission and how best to reduce the risk of infection among health-care workers. [adapted from author]

Workplace Violence and Gender Discrimination in the Health Sector in Rwanda

As the Capacity Project has worked to strengthen HRH systems to implement quality health programs in developing countries, it has systematically focused on how differences and inequalities affect women’s and men’s opportunities for education, training and occupational choice. In Rwanda, the Project helped the government follow through on its national policy commitments to gender equality by conducting a study of workplace violence and gender discrimination as barriers to workforce participation. [from author]

Factors Predicting Team Climate and Its Relationship with Quality of Care in General Practice

Quality of care in general practice may be affected by the team climate perceived by its health and non-health professionals. This study aimed to explore individual and practice factors that were associated with team climate, and to explore the relationship between team climate and quality of care. [from abstract]

Physicians' Working Conditions and Job Satisfaction: Does Hospital Ownership in Germany Make a Difference?

This study’s purpose is to compare how physicians, working for both public and privatized hospitals, rate their respective psychosocial working conditions and job satisfaction. [from abstract]

Participant Observation of Time Allocation, Direct Patient Contact and Simultaneous Activities in Hospital Physicians

This article details the results of a preliminary study on the activity patterns, time allocation and simultaneous activities of hospital physicians. [adapted from abstract]

Burnout and Use of HIV Services Among Health Care Workers in Lusaka District, Zambia: a Cross-Sectional Study

Well-documented shortages of health care workers in sub-Saharan Africa are exacerbated by the increased human resource demands of rapidly expanding HIV care and treatment programmes. The successful continuation of existing programmes is threatened by health care worker burnout and HIV-related illness. This article details the results of a study conducted among health providers in the Lusaka public health sector. [adapted from abstract]

Safer Place Self-Audit Tool: Combating Violence Against Social Care Staff

This self-audit tool can be used at any management level and is designed to help employers make a quick judgement about whether an organization’s framework for management and practice minimizes the potential for workers to be subject to violence and abuse. The tool also enables a supportive response if incidents occur. [adapted from description]

Study on Workplace Violence within the Health Sector in Rwanda: Final Report

A study on workplace violence within the health sector in Rwanda was conducted in 2007 in order to determine the type, impact, context, consequences and prevention strategies of workplace violence in Rwanda; to assist the Ministries of Health, Public service and Labor (MIFOTRA) as well as other stakeholders in developing a political, legal and programmatic response to improve providers’ safety, satisfaction and retention. This study also explored the characteristics of gender-based violence, including gender-based discrimination and its relation to workplace violence. [adapted from foreword]