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Showing results for tags 'Staff factors'.
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Content Article
Hospitals are in serious trouble (7 January2022)
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Blogs
Omicron is inundating a healthcare system that was already buckling under the cumulative toll of every previous surge, writes Ed Yong in an article for the Atlantic. When a healthcare system crumbles, this is what it looks like. Much of what’s wrong happens invisibly. At first, there’s just a lot of waiting. Emergency rooms get so full that “you’ll wait hours and hours, and you may not be able to get surgery when you need it,” says Megan Ranney, an emergency physician in Rhode Island. When patients are seen, they might not get the tests they need, because technicians or necessary chemicals are in short supply. Then delay becomes absence. The little acts of compassion that make hospital stays tolerable disappear. Next go the acts of necessity that make stays survivable. Nurses might be so swamped that they can’t check whether a patient has their pain medications or if a ventilator is working correctly. People who would’ve been fine will get sicker. Eventually, people who would have lived will die. This is not conjecture; it is happening now, across the United States. -
Content ArticleThe wellbeing of NHS staff is now recognised as a priority, as evidenced by the introduction of Wellbeing Guardians into the NHS. The NHS needs to appoint a National Wellbeing Guardian to provide a leadership role for the work of these guardians, and more generally to actively promote wellbeing in NHS staff, write Narinder Kapur, Christian Harkensee and Terry Skitmore in HSJ.
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Content ArticleThis study from Cho et al. examined the association of nurse staffing and education with the length of stay of surgical patients in acute care hospitals in South Korea. They found that nurse staffing and nurses’ education levels were significantly associated with the length of stay of surgical patients in South Korean hospitals. The findings from this study suggest that the South Korea healthcare system should develop appropriate strategies to improve the nurse staffing and education levels to ensure high-quality patient care in hospitals.
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Content ArticleClinical and nonclinical staff at the Rotterdam Eye Hospital have improved patient care and raised staff morale at a very modest cost: 10 minutes a day and a special deck of cards. At the start of every shift, the team members get together for a brief “team-start.” Each team member rates his or her own mood as green (I’m good), orange (I’m okay but I have a few things I’m concerned about) or red (I’m under stress). The rest of the team doesn’t need to know that you’re under stress because you’re having a dispute with your landlord or you are worried about your ill toddler. How you feel, however, is important because it affects how you should be treated. Next, the team leader asks if there is anything in particular the team needs to know to work more effectively together that shift: For example, “Is there a delay in public transport so we can expect patients to be late for their appointments?,” or “Is there a patient with some kind of special need coming in?” Sharing the answers or results generated by the card questions and activities with the group ensures that the insights stick.
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Content ArticleIt’s time to think more radically about the way we plan the healthcare workforce, says Alison Leary, professor of healthcare and workforce modelling at London South Bank University and the University of South Eastern Norway, in this BMJ Opinion article.
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Content ArticleClinician burnout in healthcare is a growing area of concern, especially as the COVID-19 pandemic stretches on. Research from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Regenstrief Institute looked at ways organisations can address burnout.
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Content ArticleRacially and ethnically minoritised healthcare staff groups disproportionately experience and witness workplace discrimination from patients, colleagues and managers. This is visible in their under-representation at senior levels and over-representation in disciplinary proceedings and is associated with adversities such as greater depression, anxiety, somatic symptoms, low job satisfaction and sickness absence. In the UK, little progress has been made despite the implementation of measures to tackle racialised inequities in the health services. Drawing on qualitative interviews with 48 healthcare staff in London (UK), Woodhead et al. identified how micro-level bullying, prejudice, discrimination and harassment behaviours, independently and in combination, exploit and maintain meso-level racialised hierarchies.
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Content ArticleStaff are pulling together to meet increasing demands in an overstretched health service; working more intense hours, routinely missing breaks and dealing with inadequate rest facilities. We know this is bad for staff and our patients. This charter from the BMA outlines simple steps that can be taken to improve facilities and reduce fatigue, so we can safely, effectively and efficiently care for our patients.
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Content Article
Special investigation: The voice of nursing on mute (1 December 2021)
Sam posted an article in Whistle blowing
The Nursing Times has carried out an investigation into nurses’ experiences of speaking out in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, revealing disturbing findings about the current state of openness in the NHS. -
Content ArticleIn this explainer from the Nuffield Trust, Billy Palmer and Lucina Rolewicz take stock of what is known and not known about the numbers of staff leaving NHS and social care roles, and the reasons given for moving on.
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Content ArticleThis review explores the experiences of international nurses recently recruited to the UK nursing workforce (1995–2007) and the implications for retention. Five main themes emerged from the review: motivation for migration, adapting to British nursing, experiences of first world healthcare, feeling devalued and deskilled, and vectors of racial discrimination. Although some positive experiences are described, significant numbers of nurses describe not feeling personally or professionally valued by the UK nursing establishment, common emotions expressed are disappointment and unmet expectations. This will have implications for job satisfaction and intention to leave or stay. If overseas nurses choose to leave the UK in large numbers, the health services could face a severe staffing shortage. It is important that we listen carefully to their experiences to help identify priorities for policy and practice aimed at improving job satisfaction for migrant nurses and articulating the value that they bring to UK nursing.
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Content ArticleAs the impact of Long Covid is still very new and we are continuing to learn more about the condition every day, these NHS guidelines have been drafted to help our NHS line managers and leaders understand what Long Covid is and how they can support colleagues who are experiencing its symptoms. These guidelines include information about what Long Covid is, advice on HR elements such as sick pay and how to record Long Covid-related absence, as well as practical tips on the benefits of having regular health and wellbeing conversations with your teams to talk about Long Covid and reasonable adjustments that might need to be made to support colleagues to return to work.
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Content ArticleThis is a video recording of a Health Service Journal (HSJ) Patient Safety Congress webinar, in association with BD, considering some of the key emerging patient safety issues for 2022. The panel discuss the legacy of the Covid-19 pandemic patient and staff safety, what needs to be done to ensure that patient safety is designed into elective care recovery plans and the important role for co-production as part of this.
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Content Article
RCM - Midwife number slumps (7 February 2022)
Patient-Safety-Learning posted an article in Maternity
In this blog, Stuart Bonar, Public Affairs Advisor at the Royal College of Midwives, looks at the growing midwifery workforce crisis in the UK. For the first time since records began, the number of midwives is falling year-on-year. The impact on those midwives who remain in the NHS is bigger workloads and decreasing wellbeing. The author calls on the government to pay attention to the situation, and suggests that an adequate pay rise for midwives and midwifery assistants should be part of the solution to falling staff numbers. -
Content ArticleAn article* from Ehi Iden, hub topic leader, discussing the Nigerian healthcare workforce crisis.
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Content ArticleRichard Murray, Chief Executive of The King’s Fund, comments on the NHS elective recovery plan.
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Content ArticleStaff retention is a significant issue for ambulance services across the globe. Exploratory research, although minimal, indicates that stress and burnout, in particular, influence attrition within the paramedic profession. These need to be understood if their impact on retention is to be addressed.
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Content ArticleThe single worst stressor on healthcare workers is the gap between what their patients need and what they can deliver. The covid-19 pandemic is making this divide wider than ever, writes Esther Choo in this BMJ article.
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Content ArticleThis study from West et al. explore the relationships between leader support, staff influence over decisions, work pressure and patient satisfaction. The results provide evidence that leader support influences patient satisfaction through shaping staff experience, particularly staff influence over decisions and work pressure. Patients’ care is dependent on the health, well-being, and effectiveness of the NHS workforce. That, in turn, is determined by the extent to which leaders are supportive in ensuring that work environments are managed in a way which protects the well-being of staff.
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Content Article
A case study in denial (Roger Kline, 3 February 2022)
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Culture
A recent highly critical NHSEI External Review of The Christie NHS Foundation Trust was prompted by whistleblowers. The Review was provided with detailed evidence that there were very significant (and distressing) problems with the Trust’s approach to race discrimination, bullying and the response when concerns were raised. The External Review (Paragraph 2.2.6.) states In this blog, Roger Kline considers whether the Trust’s own data supports the assertions in the Trust Chair’s email to staff in response to the Review. He considers how the NHSEI Review addressed the issues. He suggests that the Trust’s response; the shortcomings of the NHSEI Review response to the issue of race discrimination; and the NHSEI response to the Review once published mean that further scrutiny of the Trust and NHSEI’s response is required if staff are ever again to risk raise legitimate concerns in this Trust – or rely on NHSEI to support staff who do so. -
Community PostAbout 1000 angry nurses and doctors have rallied outside Perth Children’s Hospital in Australia following the death of seven-year-old Aishwarya Aswath, demanding vital improvements to the state’s struggling health system. The Australian Nurses Federation was joined by the Australian Medical Association for the rally, with staff from hospitals across Perth attending. Many people held signs that read “We care about Aishwarya”, “Listen to frontline staff”, “Report the executive — not us” and “Please don’t throw me under the bus”. Aishwarya developed a fever on Good Friday and was taken to Perth Children’s Hospital the next day, but had to wait about two hours in the emergency department before she received treatment. She died soon after from a bacterial infection. An internal report into the tragedy made 11 recommendations — including improvement to the triage process, a clear way for parents to escalate concerns and a review of cultural awareness for staff — but Aishwarya’s parents said the report raised more questions than it answered. The family wants a broader independent inquiry to look at all 21 near-misses in the past 15 months – not just their daughter’s case. Some people have been referred to medical authorities, while Child and Adolescent Health Service chair Debbie Karasinski resigned after the report.' I am encouraged to see the way healthcare staff reacted to this tragedy. Imagine a similar event in England, would nurses protest outside the hospital and stand up to authority like this? I doubt it very much, which is very sad reflection on the prevailing culture and health leadership in England. What do others think? Source: The Australian. 9 July 2021 Picture: Picture: 9 News
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Content ArticleFollowing the Lucy Letby case, letters to the Times discuss workplace rights and safety in hospitals. Keith Conradi, former chief investigator, Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch, highlights a current NHS workforce too frightened to raise safety concerns, working in a toxic and bullying culture, where the predominance of HR approaches undermine the culture of safety. And Andrew Harris, professor of coronial law, William Harvey Research Institute, Queen Marys University London, writes that there is a duty on medical practitioners to report the circumstances of a death and not to limit disclosure to avoid investigation. In his letter he questions whether medical examiners across the country are acting independently of their trusts and properly notifying such cases.
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Content ArticleIn the early 21st century, the patient safety movement began to talk about system safety. Recognising that people are inherently fallible, advocates for patient safety proposed that it was wrong to blame individual clinicians for poorly designed systems that were full of error traps. However, in a 2013 BMJ editorial, Kaveh G Shojania and Mary Dixon-Woods argue that we must also take seriously the performance and behaviours of individual clinicians if we are to make healthcare safer for patients. They draw on research showing that ‘bad apples’—individuals who repeatedly display incompetent or grossly unprofessional behaviours—clearly exist. This is never more evident than today, when we read about the conviction of nurse Lucy Letby.
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Content ArticleThe Maternity Survey 2022, run by Ipsos on behalf of the Care Quality Commission, looked at the experiences of women and other pregnant people who had a live birth in early 2022. In this article Anita Jefferson from Ipsos looks at the results of this and considers what they tell us about experiences of maternity services.
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Content ArticleNew research from Healthwatch shows that people are currently facing multiple cancellations or postponements of care which are having a significant impact on their lives and symptoms, while further increasing health inequalities. Healthwatch cmmissioned a survey of 1084 people who have seen their NHS care either cancelled or postponed this year to understand the extent of disruption to care amid rising waiting lists, workforce issues, and industrial action, and other pressures on the NHS.
