Western Europe

In labour market policy and planning, it is important to understand the motivations of people to
continue in their current job or to seek other employment. Over the last decade, besides the increasingly medical
approach to pregnancy and childbirth and decreasing home births, there were additional dramatic changes and
pressures on primary care midwives and midwifery care. Therefore, it is important to re-evaluate the career plans
of primary care midwives and their intentions to leave their current job. [from abstract]

The aim of this article was to compare the advance of women with that of men and determine the differences between hierarchical status and professional recognition achieved by women in medicine. Methods A retrospective study was carried out in the Hospital Clinic Barcelona, Spain, of the period from 1996 to 2008. [from abstract]

The goal of this paper is to identify the frequency and intensity of the perception of adverse professional consequences and their association with burnout syndrome and occupational variables. [from abstract]

Although international scientific research on health issues has been dealing with the problem of aggression and violence towards those employed in health care, research activities in Germany are still at an early stage. In view of this, 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]

This paper describes the changes in transformational leadership and quality outcomes that occurred between 2008 and 2011 in a Finnish university hospital that is aiming to meet the Magnet standards. [from abstract]

Community health care services provide vital care out of hospital for millions of people. From children’s services to care for older people and end-of-life support, the community sector plays a key part in meeting the challenges facing our health and care system. This report presents findings from a small-scale study into how quality is managed in community services. It explores how community care providers define and measure quality and recommends important next steps to support better measurement and management of quality. [from introduction]

This interview study aimed to explore perceived facilitators and barriers influencing patient safety among nurses involved in the direct provision of care. Considering the importance of nurses with regard to patient safety, this knowledge could facilitate the development and implementation of better solutions. [from abstract]

Our analysis focused mainly on the Choose and Book system for outpatient referrals, introduced in 2004, which remained unpopular and little used throughout the period of our research (i.e. 2007–13). We identified four foci of resistance: to the policy of choice that Choose and Book symbolised and purported to deliver; to accommodating the technology’s sociomaterial constraints; to interference with doctors’ contextual judgements; and to adjusting to the altered social relations consequent on its use.

This study aims to design three future scenarios for Portuguese community pharmacists, recognizing the changing environment as an opportunity to develop the role that community pharmacists may play in the Portuguese health system. [from abstract]

Health and well-being services, in common with many public services, cannot be delivered by a single organisation and require co-ordination across several organisations in a locality. There is some evidence, mostly from other sectors, that middle managers play pivotal roles in this co-ordination by developing networks of relationships with colleagues in other organisations. These networks of relationships, established over time, provide contexts in which managers can, collectively, create the knowledge needed to address the challenges they encounter.

Using online discussion forums can have a positive impact on psychological well-being through development of shared group identity and validation of thoughts, feelings and experiences. This may be particularly beneficial to people with complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), who often become socially isolated, lack mobility and face threats to their sense of identity. We set up a peer-support online forum to identify the nature of support provided and to explore its development over time.

Physician dual practice, a combination of public and private practice, has attracted attention due to fear of reduced work supply and a lack of key personnel in the public system, increase in low priority treatments, and conflicts of interest for physicians who may be competing for their own patients when working for private suppliers. In this article, we analyze both choice of dual practice among hospital physicians and the dual practices’ effect on work supply in public hospitals. [from abstract]

The [National Health Service] is confronted by radically changing demographic pressures and hugely increasing demands. Alongside these is the need to build public confidence after several high-profile scandals, to increase productivity and to promote innovation in health and social care. This all comes as public sector financial cuts are implemented on a large scale. How can health care organisations respond effectively to these challenges? [from introduction]

The active recruitment of health workers from developing countries to developed countries has become a major threat to global health. In an effort to manage this migration, the 63rd World Health Assembly adopted the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel in May 2010. While the Code has been lauded as the first globally-applicable regulatory framework for health worker recruitment, its impact has yet to be evaluated.

As an alternative to categorical bans on recruitment from entire countries, we propose alternative frameworks for approaching recruitment regulation. We offer examples of these global lessons from the German context.

To evaluate the impact of free bus travel for young people in London on the public health. Specifically, to provide empirical evidence for the impact of this ‘natural experiment’ on health outcomes and behaviours (e.g. injuries, active travel) for young people; explore the effects on the determinants of health; identify the effects on older citizens of increased access to bus travel for young people and to identify whether or not the intervention represented value for money. [from abstract]

This study aims to investigate how NHS middle managers encounter, adapt and apply management knowledge in their working practices and to examine the factors [particularly organisational context, career background and networks of practice (NoPs)/communities of practice (CoPs)] which may facilitate or impede the acceptance of new management knowledge and its integration with practice in health-care settings. [from abstract]

This study focuses on how health and well-being managers collectively create knowledge. [from introduction]

This paper aims to explore the reasons for migration of health workers from sub-Saharan Africa to Belgium and Austria; European countries without a history of active recruitment in sub-Saharan Africa. [from abstract]

To address the degree of burnout in nursing managers in hospitals of Western Switzerland, including comparison with medical managers, and its relationship with personal, work-related, and organizational characteristics. [from abstract]

The unprecedented slowdown in the growth of NHS funding in England since 2010 required the NHS to pursue the most ambitious programme of productivity improvement since its foundation…But the strongest pressure has been applied and felt at the front line, by hospitals and other local service providers, faced with squeezing more and more value from every health care pound. [adapted from abstract]

Health systems in Europe face a number of increasingly complex challenges. Globalization, evolving health threats, an ageing society, financial constraints on government spending, and social and health inequalities are some of the most pressing. This policy summary aims to outline these needs and to consider measures and options towards meeting them. [adapted from summary]

This study aimed to evaluate an e-mental health approach to workers’ health surveillance targeting work functioning and mental health of healthcare professionals in a randomized controlled trial. [from abstract]

This qualitative study explored the impact and appropriateness of structured pro-active care reviews by practice nurses for patients with chronic or recurrent depression and dysthymia within a nationwide randomized controlled trial which compared usual general practitioner care with structured pro-active care involving 3 monthly review appointments with practice nurses over 2 years for patients with chronic or recurrent depression. [adapted from abstract]

Expectant mothers and mothers of young children are especially vulnerable to intimate partner violence. The nurse-family partnership is a home visitation program in the United States effective for the prevention of adverse child health outcomes, and this study evaluates the effectiveness of this health worker approach on reducing intimate partner violence in The Netherlands. [adapted from author]

This study evaluated the roles, contribution and impacts of community nursing assistants to the delivery of care and services for patients with chronic conditions and complex care needs. [adapted from author]

The objective of this study was to investigate to which extent general practitioners work alone in emergency primary care centers in Norway, and to estimate the prevalence of other preventive measures against workplace violence. [from abstract]

This study aimed to explore whether a participatory work-design intervention involving hospital physicians is effective in improving working conditions and quality of patient care. [from abstract]

The aim of this study was to evaluate job satisfaction of all staff working at a Finnish university hospital, identify differences in job satisfaction between staff groups, and explore the relationship between their self-evaluated quality of work and job satisfaction. [from abstract]

This exploratory study investigated general practitioners’ (GPs’) views and experiences of consulting with young people (aged 12–19 years) presenting with emotional distress in general practice. [from abstract]