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Content ArticleThis qualitative study in Antimicrobial Resistance & Infection Control aimed to identify institutional actions, strategies and policies related to healthcare workers’ safety perception during the early phase of the Covid-19 pandemic at a tertiary care centre in Switzerland. The authors interviewed healthcare workers from different clinics, professions, and positions. The study identified transparent communication as the most important factor affecting healthcare worker's safety perceptions during the first wave. This knowledge can be used to help hospitals better prepare for future infectious disease threats and outbreaks.
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Content ArticleIn this blog, a patient who experienced life-changing surgical complications describes the process of reconciliation between medical staff and patients when harm has occurred in healthcare. She highlights the need for both the patient and healthcare professional to be engaged and open in the process. She also looks at how different human factors can negatively impact on the duty of candour process, and why they need to be acknowledged. These factors include lack of communication, distraction, lack of resources, stress, complacency, lack of teamwork, pressure, lack of awareness, lack of knowledge, fatigue, lack of assertiveness and norms.
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Content ArticleThis report by The Health Foundation looks at the relationship between debt problems and health, and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on increasing the burden of debt that UK households experience. The authors highlight the two-way relationship between debt burden and health issues, with poor health likely to cause an increase in debt, and debt having an impact on health and wellbeing. Those most exposed to deprivation are more likely to experience a higher burden of debt, adding to health inequalities. The report also demonstrates that the pandemic has particularly affected those on low incomes and the self-employed, in terms of debt burden, and public sector debt collection has added to debt pressures for many. They argue that resilience to future financial shocks has been reduced for a significant proportion of the population and that taking action to offset the impact of rising energy bills should be an immediate priority.
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News Article
US Patients can order ‘don’t weigh me’ cards to take to doctors
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Patients in the US are able to order “don’t weigh me” cards to take to the doctors in a move aimed at reducing anxiety and stress on a visit. The US group behind the initiative said being weighed and talking about weight “causes feelings of stress and shame for many people”. The cards say: “Please don’t weigh me unless it is (really) medically necessary.” It adds: “If you really need my weight, please tell me why so that I can give you my informed consent”. On the other side, it explains why the patient may not want to be weighed, including “when you focus on my weight I get stressed” and “weighing me every time I come in for an appointment and talking about my weight like it’s a problem perpetuates weight stigma”. It also says most health conditions can be addressed without knowing the patient’s weight. Public Health England guidance to health and care professionals says they are in a “unique position to talk to patients about weight management to prevent ill-health” and recommends brief interventions. It says the first step in a brief intervention over a patient’s weight is to weigh and measure them. “You should view this as a normal part of a routine consultation,” it says. Read full story Source: The Independent, 23 December 2021 -
Content Article
COVID Nursing and PTSD (December 2021)
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Blogs
In an article for the Patient Safety Journal, Cassandra Alexander, a nurse, shares what it is like on the front lines and the toll it has taken on her mental health—a deeply personal and painful story, yet a traumatic experience shared by many nurses around the United States. -
News Article
Republic of Ireland: Most HSE staff felt negative change at work during pandemic
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The vast majority of HSE staff in the Republic of Ireland felt supported during the COVID-19 pandemic but more than half felt there has been a negative change in their working environment, a new survey has found. Staff across the health service were asked about their work, and responses from almost 13,000 staff showed a mixed impact since the pandemic with staff saying they were more enthusiastic about their job than in 2018 but were less optimistic about their future in the health service. Three in 10 said they had been subject to assault from the public in the past two years. One in three felt more positively towards the HSE since before the pandemic began. The survey found there had been an increase in the satisfaction with the level of care delivered since 2018 but almost 4 in 10 felt the service delivered was deteriorating. There was a strong sense of job security among staff, but satisfaction levels have fallen back on the previous survey three years ago. A third said they were dissatisfied at present. Despite the fact that an anti-bullying taskforce was set up after the previous survey, the same number of staff reported experiences of being bullied by a colleague as in 2018. Three in 10 said they had experienced bullying or harassment at work from a manager, team leader or other colleagues. Read full story Source: The Irish Times, 6 December 2021- Posted
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News ArticleThe vast majority of front-line clinical support staff are reporting moderate to extreme burnout, and nearly two-thirds have considered quitting, a new US survey found. "While much has been reported on doctor and nurse burnout, less attention has been paid to the front-line clinical support staff who have been working tirelessly throughout the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure high-quality patient care was maintained," Meg Aranow, senior vice president and platform evangelist for patient experience vendor Well Health, told Fierce Healthcare. "We recognize the critical role clinical support staff play in provider organizations—this study further validates the cascading impact clinical support staff have on the patient experience and so many facets of our healthcare system," Aranow said. Well Health surveyed 320 clinical support staff who are primarily responsible for communicating and coordinating with patients, mostly through phone calls, which can be time-consuming. According to the survey results, the patient-communication coordination process is overwhelming staff to the point of wanting to quit, with 82% saying that contacting and coordinating with patients about their appointments, follow-ups and health issues via phone, email, text or live chat is a direct cause of their burnout. The survey found that 58% of clinical support staff believe their burnout has negatively affected a patient’s quality of care, and 60% report poor or ineffective patient communication has negatively affected a patient’s health outcomes. Read full story Source: Fierce Healthcare, 20 October 2021
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News Article
Burnt out staff ‘triggered’ by ‘it’s OK’ messaging from ministers
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Frontline staff are being ‘triggered’ by ministers playing down the ‘overwhelming’ pressures facing the health service with “a ‘move along, no story here’-type attitude”, a royal college president has warned. The Royal College of Emergency Medicine’s Katherine Henderson said the intentions of those making such comments may be “well meaning” but that it was important ministers and NHSE leaders were “humble and transparent about the scale of the problem [facing the NHS] at the moment”. Katherine Henderson said: “The scale of the problem feels quite overwhelming, and the kind of ‘move along, no story here’-type attitude I think is not great for the people working in healthcare. They need to feel heard.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 24 November 2021- Posted
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- Organisational culture
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News Article
GPs say shortage of doctors puts safe care at risk
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
GPs in England are finding it "increasingly hard to guarantee safe care" as the number of doctors falls and demand surges, a senior medic said. Prof Martin Marshall, chair of the Royal College of GPs, told the Guardian GP numbers had fallen by 4.5% despite an ageing population with an increased need for care. GPs feared making serious mistakes due to excessive workloads, he said. Prof Marshall also defended the continued use of remote consultations. Prof Marshall said the demand for services from GPs, including more complex consultations and the vaccination programme, on top of this decline in numbers was putting family doctors under strain. "The fact that general practice is under such enormous pressure means it can't deliver the patient-centred services that it wants to. Many GPs are even finding it challenging to maintain a safe service," he said. He said family doctors were more likely to make a mistake if they were working 11- or 12-hour days, seeing 50 or 60 patients. "GPs are finding it increasingly hard to guarantee safe care to their patients," he said. "The chances of making a mistake in a diagnosis or a mistake in a referral decision or a mistake in prescribing are all greater when you're under stress." Read full story Source: BBC News, 11 September 2021- Posted
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Content ArticleThis report produced by the American Medical Association details action steps that can be taken by an organisation before, during and after a crisis to reduce psychosocial trauma among healthcare workers.
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Content ArticleThe European Biosafety Network (EBN) commissioned a survey to understand whether, why and how there has been a change in the number, type and location of sharps injuries as a result of the COVID pandemic. The survey, conducted by Ipsos MORI in March/April 2021, included 80 of the largest hospitals in Europe, in Spain, France, Germany, Poland and Italy, covering more than 300,000 healthcare workers. Findings showed that the number of sharps injuries has risen significantly as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, with an average reported increase of 23% over the last year (an estimated increase of 276,000 sharps injuries). This presentation highlights several contributing factors including: Increased pressure/stress Lack of safety devices PPE Covid vaccination rollout. You can access the full presentation summarising the research by downloading the attached document.
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Content ArticleThis list, produced by the Health and Safety Executive, bullet points the job, person and organisation factors that influence human performance.
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News Article
Staff at UK GP surgeries facing abuse and ‘tsunami of demand’
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
NHS staff at GP surgeries are facing unprecedented abuse and aggression from patients, while stressed doctors are increasingly suffering from mental illness, because of an appointments system “in meltdown”, family doctors’ leaders have revealed. The scale of the deep crisis in GP surgeries was revealed in an emergency summit of more than 60 NHS doctors, dentists and administrative staff in Salford, which the Guardian attended, triggered by a recent rise in verbal abuse. "Patients are short-tempered and not happy waiting for anything … They want letters. The latest one was a request to speak to a GP because he needs a letter to confirm anxieties that cause him a problem in long queues – because he wants to take his son to [Southport amusement park] Pleasureland and does not want to queue," says Jan Crowshaw, a GP manager It comes after a recent poll by the body representing GP surgery staff across the UK found that 75% of them face abuse every day, including assaults, threats, racism and sexism. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 28 May 2021- Posted
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Content ArticleIt will take years to unpack how badly the pandemic damaged our collective mental health. But what we know now is no one is immune. Healthcare providers, grocery store workers, executives, stay-at-home parents, food service workers: We’re all suffering in some way. In 2019, 10.8% of adults in the United States reported symptoms of anxiety or depression. By December 2020, that number had skyrocketed to 42.4%. Regina Hoffman, Director of Patient Safety Authority, talks about the importance of self-care and gives her top three tips.
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EventCOVID-19 has been incredibly stressful—personally and professionally—and has profoundly affected everyone in healthcare, including those of us in patient safety, quality, and risk management. Join this Patient Safety Association's virtual round table to decompress and share your experiences. Some of your colleagues have offered to discuss their coping strategies, and please feel free to do the same. Resources from professionals trained to handle stress will be provided. Register
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News Article
NHS faces exodus of doctors after Covid pandemic, survey finds
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Thousands of UK doctors are planning to quit the NHS after the Covid pandemic because they are exhausted by their workloads and worried about their mental health, a survey has revealed. Almost one in three may retire early while a quarter are considering taking a career break and a fifth are weighing up quitting the health service to do something else. Long hours, high demand for care, the impact of the pandemic and unpleasant working environments are taking their toll on medics, the British Medical Association findings show. Dr Chaand Nagpaul, the leader of the BMA, said the high numbers of disillusioned doctors could worsen the NHS’s staffing problems and leave patients waiting longer for treatment. “It’s deeply worrying that more and more doctors are considering leaving the NHS because of the pressures of the pandemic – talented, experienced professionals who the NHS needs more than ever to pull this country out of a once-in-a-generation health crisis,” Nagpaul said. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 2 May 2021 -
Content Article
Working under pressure: Performance infographics
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Good practice
Core Cognition have produced some helpful infographics for staff working under pressure, including fatigue and cognitive performance, cognitive biases and diagnostic error and8 tools to improve communication under pressure,- Posted
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Content ArticleThe purpose of this study from Roberts et al. was to explore anxiety, worry, and posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) in parents of children with food allergies, and to evaluate whether these three psychological outcomes could be predicted by allergy severity, intolerance of uncertainty, and food allergy self-efficacy. The study highlights the need for greater awareness of mental health in parents of children with food allergy.
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News Article
End NHS staff shortages now, Boris Johnson told
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Doctors, nurses and NHS bosses have pleaded with Boris Johnson to spend billions of pounds to finally end the chronic lack of staff across the health service. The strain of working in a perpetually understaffed service is so great that it risks creating an exodus of frontline personnel, they warn the prime minister in a letter published on Wednesday. They have demanded that the government devise an urgent plan that will significantly increase the size of the workforce of the NHS in England by the time of the next general election in 2024. Their intervention comes after the latest NHS staff survey found that growing numbers of them feel their work is making them sick and that almost two-thirds believe they cannot do their jobs properly because their organisation has too few people. NHS poll shows rising toll of work stress on staff health The letter has been signed by unions and other groups representing most of the NHS’s 1.4 million-strong workforce, including the Royal College of Nursing, British Medical Association and Unison. NHS Providers and the NHS Confederation, which both represent hospital trusts, have also endorsed it, as has the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, a professional body for the UK’s 240,000 doctors. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 21 April 2021- Posted
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EventuntilCOVID-19 has been incredibly stressful—personally and professionally—and has profoundly affected everyone in healthcare, including those of us in patient safety, quality, and risk management. Grab a cup of coffee or tea and join this virtual round table to decompress and share your experiences. Some of your colleagues have offered to discuss their coping strategies, and please feel free to do the same. We will also be providing resources from professionals trained to handle stress. Register
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News ArticleWith the latest UK government figures showing that there have been nearly 150,000 deaths where COVID-19 was mentioned on the death certificate, it’s understandable why some people compare the pandemic with a war. Indeed, daily life in the NHS is now peppered with military language: the frontline, gold command calls, redeployment, buddy systems and 'moral injury' Moral injury can be defined as the distress that arises in response to actions or inactions that violate our moral code, our set of individual beliefs about what is right or wrong. In the medical literature, moral injury has historically been associated with the mental health needs of military personnel, arising from their traumatic experiences during active service. Moral injury is generally thought to arise in high-stakes situations so it’s no surprise that the term has gained traction in healthcare settings over the course of the pandemic, given that healthcare staff have been faced with extreme and sustained pressure at work. In many ways, working in the NHS over the past year has felt like being some sort of circus acrobat, contorting ourselves to balance various competing realities: the desire to provide high-quality care for all our patients in the context of limited resources, looking after our own health needs alongside those of our patients, trying to make peace with the responsibility we feel towards our loved ones while still upholding our duty of care to patients. If we fail to deliver, particularly in high-stakes situations where we think things should have been done differently, it can shake us to our core. Our moral code transcends the relatively superficial responsibilities of our professional role: it gets to the heart of who we are as human beings. If we feel like our core values have been attacked, it can leave us feeling devastated and disillusioned. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 12 April 2021
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Content ArticleThis Joint Committee International handbook offers checklists for healthcare staff to keep themselves safe from chemical and physical hazards, infectious agents, workplace violence, ergonomic problems, work-related stress, and more. The book also includes managers’ checklists to ensure that the right administrative controls and processes are in place to safeguard health care staff. All checklists are based on authoritative, evidence-based sources that have proven valuable. All the checklists are straightforward and easy to use and understand and cover the key areas of risk for health care workers. Each section of checklists is introduced by compelling statistics that show how dangerous working in the healthcare environment can be, without proper precautions. The checklists provide the procedures or must-do activities to ensure that health care workers are as safe as can be.
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News ArticleMaternity services are at risk because demoralised midwives are planning to quit the NHS, healthcare leaders have warned. A new report, carried out by the Institute for Public Policy Research, suggests 8,000 midwives may depart due to the “unprecedented pressure” of the coronavirus pandemic. Researchers, who surveyed about 1,000 healthcare professionals from around the country in mid-February, discovered that two-thirds reported being mentally exhausted once a week or more. Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Independent, 31 March 2021
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Content ArticleThe COVID-19 pandemic is placing unprecedented pressure on a nursing workforce that is already under considerable mental strain due to an overloaded system. Convergent evidence from the current and previous pandemics indicates that nurses experience the highest levels of psychological distress compared with other health professionals. Nurse leaders face particular challenges in mitigating risk and supporting nursing staff to negotiate moral distress and fatigue during large-scale, sustained crises. This paper from Sriharan et al. aims to (1) synthesise existing literature on COVID-19-related burnout and moral distress among nurses and (2) identify recommendations for nurse leaders to support the psychological needs of nursing staff.
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