Western Europe

The aim of the study was to assess whether HIV screening with rapid testing in Belgium neighborhoods with a significant African community was feasible and acceptable to both general practitioners and patients, and to determine the number of new HIV infections diagnosed among tested patients. [from introduction]

This paper presents the results of a study of current mobility trends of health professionals along the borders between Portugal and Spain. The objective was to describe the profile of mobile physicians and nurses; to elicit the opinions of employers on mobility factors; to describe incentive policies to retain or attract health professionals; and to collect and analyse employers’ opinions on the impact of this mobility on their health services. [from abstract]

This study tested a workforce projection model in the Netherlands by comparing the ex-post projected number of general practitioners with the observed number of general practitioners between 1998 and 2011. [adapted from abstract]

This survey aimed to consolidate practices for identifying and processes for managing students who fail communication assessments designed to test a doctor’s ability to communicate effectively (with patients, relatives, advocates and healthcare colleagues) across all UK medical schools. [adapted from abstract]

This study evaluated the impact of a brief educational intervention in cardiovascular prevention in primary care physicians’ prescribing behavior regarding statins beyond their participation in a randomized controlled trial. [from abstract]

This article studied the relation between medical student participant learning styles and participation in live and distance education and the value that participants place on these two methodologies. [adapted from abstract]

This randomized trials was conducted to test the effectiveness of patient feedback on quality improvement of nursing care in English hospitals. [adapted from abstract]

The objective of this study was to examine the prevalence and impact of bullying behaviours between staff in the National Health Service (NHS) workplace, and to explore the barriers to reporting bullying. [from abstract]

This study focuses on general practioner (GP) turnover and the determining factors for this in the Netherlands. For two time periods, the authors analysed work perception, objective workload and reasons for leaving, and related these with the probability that GPs would leave general practice at an early age. [adapted from abstract]

This article reports on a comprehensive assessment of the quality of training at a large postgraduate psychiatry training institute using non-anonymised face-to-face interviews with trainees and their trainers, which successfully elicited strengths and weakness of the program and may well provide important information to allow for targeted improvement of health training in general. [adapted from abstract]

This study involves an evaluation of a quality-improvement programme for the long-term care in The Netherlands and deals with seven quality-improvement collaboratives focusing on patient safety and client autonomy in order to explore whether differences between collaboratives with respect to type of topic, type of targets and measures (systems) are also reflected in the degree of effectiveness. [adapted from author]

This article describes the rationale for the UK to learn from Brazil’s scaled-up Community Health Worker primary care strategy, starting with a pilot project in North Wales. [from abstract]

To portray the different possible developments in the supply of nursing professionals, the authors projected the supply of formally trained nurses and the potential supply of persons who are able to work in a nursing professioncalculated on the basis of empirical information on occupational mobility from a national census. [adapted from abstract]

This paper seeks to address a gap in the empirical literature in understanding the organisational challenges and benefits of introducing peer worker roles into mental health service teams. [from abstract]

The aim of the study was to examine individual and organizational factors associated with evidence-based practice activities as a tool to increase the quality of care and patient safety activities among registered nurses 2 years post-graduation. [adapted from abstract]

This study examined the role of blood based interferon-gamma release assays versus the tuberculin skin test for health workers exposed to tuberculosis. [adapted from abstract]

The need for effective training of primary care physicians in the prevention, detection and handling of intimate partner violence (IPV) has been widely acknowledged, given its frequency in daily practice. The current intervention study aimed to measure changes in the actual IPV knowledge, perceived knowledge, perceived preparedness and detection ability of practicing general practitioners and general practice residents, following an intensive IPV training program. [from abstract]

This report describes the steps taken by a Greek medical school to establish and maintain a rural primary health care teaching network in order to implement community oriented primary health care and general practice for undergraduate medical education. [adapted from abstract]

The intention of this study was to explore nurses’ and supervisors’ perceptions of nurse managers’ leadership styles. [from abstract]

This paper describes the development of the Kuopio University Hospital Job Satisfaction Scale and the results of the survey. The scale was developed through a systematic literature review, and its validity and reliability were assessed using several psychometric properties including expert evaluation, a pilot survey, and exploratory factor analysis. [from abstract]

This study examines the association between self-assessed deficits in medical skills and knowledge and the feeling of preparedness of junior doctors in order to determine which aspects of medical education need to be addressed in more detail in order to improve the quality of this transition phase and in order to increase patient safety. [from abstract]

This study explored the nurses’ and physicians’ acceptance and experiences with a pre-induction checklist implemented in an anaesthetic department. [adapted from author]

The study examines the relationship between work hours and self rated health in two national samples of hospital doctors. [from abstract]

This cross-section study evaluates the effectiveness of training programs to build the local capacity and capability of health workers in root cause analysis (RCA), used to investigate patient safety incidents and facilitate organizational learning. [adapted from abstract]

Increased demand for nurses means that the organisations that provide employee-friendly policies will gain a competitive edge in attracting and retaining a quality nursing workforce. This publication provides guidance on the issues affecting work-life balance to influence employers and policy-makers on workplace policies. [adapte from author]

The purpose of the study was to survey experiences of occupational stress and perceived work environment among nurses working on acute psychiatric wards in Finland. In addition, nurses’ use and attitudes towards information technology were analyzed. [from abstract]

This article aimed to examine the impact of nursing practice environments, nurse staffing and nurse education on nurse reported intention to leave the hospital; and to provide understanding of which best practices in the organization of nursing care are being implemented to provide sound practice environments and to retain nurses. [from abstract]

Nursing educators need rigorously developed instruments to assess competency in evidence based practice (EBP) at undergraduate level. This study aims to develop a psychometric test of the EBP competence questionnaire among undergraduate nursing students. [adapted from abstract]

Medical simulation is considered to bridge the gap between the classroom and clinical environment, and it enables learners, from novice to expert to practice and develop clinical skills without any fear of harm to patients. This study evaluated the effectiveness of simulation training in developing clinical skills in pre-clinical medical students. [adapted from author]

The aim of this study was to explore nursing students’ perceptions of the usefulness of supplementary biology podcasts for their learning. [from abstract]