Allied Health Workers Research Articles

Challenges and policy opportunities in nursing in Saudi Arabia

BackgroundThe Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s (KSA) health sector is undergoing rapid reform in line with the National Transformation Program, as part of Saudi’s vision for the future, Vision 2030. From a nursing human resources for health (HRH) perspective, there are challenges of low nursing school capacity, high employment of expatriates, labor market fragmentation, shortage of nurses in rural areas, uneven quality, and gender challenges.Case presentationThis case study summarizes Saudi Ministry of Health (MOH) and Saudi Health Council’s (SHCs) evaluation of the current challenges facing the nursing profession in the KSA. We propose policy interventions to support the transformation of nursing into a profession that contributes to efficient, high-quality healthcare for every Saudi citizen. Key to the success of modernizing the Saudi workforce will be an improved pipeline of nurses that leads from middle and high school to nursing school; followed by a diverse career path that includes postgraduate education. To retain nurses in the profession, there are opportunities to make nursing practice more attractive and family friendly. Interventions include reducing shift length, redesigning the nursing team to add more allied health workers, and introducing locum tenens staffing to balance work-load. There are opportunities to modernize existing nurse postgraduate education, open new postgraduate programs in nursing, and create new positions and career paths for nurses such as telenursing, informatics, and quality. Rural pipelines should be created, with incentives and increased compensation packages for underserved areas.ConclusionsCritical to these proposed reforms is the collaboration of the MOH with partners across the healthcare system, particularly the private sector. Human resources planning should be sector-wide and nursing leadership should be strengthened at all levels.

Approach to Sample Collection, Transport and Processing of Suspected or Confirmed COVID-19 Patients for Biochemistry Investigations

During this global pandemic period of COVID-19, the health care system is the most affected area. Health care workers including clinicians, laboratory professionals, and other allied health workers pose a high threat for acquiring and transmission the disease. Apart from the diagnosis of disease by the RT-PCR, other laboratory investigations are equally essential in disease prognosis and monitoring. This biosafety guidance is intended to provide and insight to the clinicians, nurses, and laboratory professionals in handling the blood and other body fluid samples for biochemical investigations concerning the proper methods of sample collection, transport, processing, and disposal. Every day, the laboratory receives samples of the patient with confirmed and suspected cases of COVID-19 patients. This poses a high threat of contamination to the health professionals and thus, a proper risk assessment and standard precautions protocol must be followed to ensure safety, minimize the risk of contamination and disease transmission.

Q Kidney Risk Calculator- Useful Tool in Hospitals and Community

A kidney health check was conducted over a day in two private hospitals (Peninsula Private Hospital and Beleura Hospital) in 2017. 243 participants enrolled in this study. The study population were mobile inpatients, members from the public and health workers (nurses, doctors, allied health workers and administrative staff). Method: A Q risk calculator was used to assess the risk of developing moderate and severe chronic kidney disease (eGFR <60 mls/min) and end stage renal failure over the next 5 years. All participants consented prior to being involved in the study. Results: The majority was aged 65 to 75 years old (aged population). 18% of the participants were diabetic, 18% had cardiovascular disease, 37% were hypertensive, 5% were smokers, 28% of the participants were overweight and obesity was seen in 25%. Diabetic females are five times higher risk than non-diabetic females in developing chronic kidney disease stage 3 and 4. Male diabetics are three times more at risk than non-diabetic men in developing moderate to severe chronic kidney disease. However diabetic men are five times higher risk than normoglycaemic men in progressing into end stage renal failure Females with cardiovascular disease are five times higher risk than women with no cardiovascular disease in developing moderate to severe chronic kidney disease. Men with cardiovascular disease are three times higher risk than men with no cardiovascular disease in developing moderate to severe chronic kidney disease. Hypertensive women are ten times higher risk than normotensive women in developing moderate to severe chronic kidney disease. Interestingly hypertensive men are four times higher risk than normotensive male in developing end stage renal failure Obese men are three times higher risk than normal weight men in developing moderate to severe chronic kidney disease. Underweight females are three times at risk than normal weight females in developing moderate and severe chronic kidney disease. Summary: Qrisk questionaire is a quick and easy tool to assess risk of developing chronic kidney disease. Participants with diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease have a higher risk of developing moderate and severe chronic kidney disease over the next 5 years. Overweight (body mass index 25 to 29.99), obese patients (body mass index more than 30) and interestingly underweight females with body mass index 18.5 or less have a higher risk of developing moderate and severe chronic kidney disease.

Challenges of Allied Healthcare Professionals in India–Establishing the Council is Need of the Hour

There is a supply-demand gap of about 65 lakh allied health professionals in India. With India facing aheavy burden of disease with many challenges as achieving millennium development goals, shortage ofskilled manpower will be a great hurdle for the health care delivery system. In such a situation, AlliedHealth workers can play a major role in providing holistic health services to the community. Though manyinstitutions or Universities in India are generating allied healthcare professionals, there is no uniformityin the outcome of such professionals. There is no standardization of this professional till date. Hence, toestablish a Centralized council is a need of an hour so that all such programs will come under a commonplatform and generated manpower will be able to provide the necessary services to the community. Inthis article, some suggestions are provided to improve the quality of AHPs, like estimation of workforceaccording to WHO requirement, uniformity in curricula, common nomenclature for all programs, creatingjob opportunities in private and public sectors etc.

Sustainable implementation of advance care planning in Asia: An interpretive-systemic framework for national development.

A qualitative interpretive-systemic focus group study was conducted to examine the developmental and implementational underpinnings of Asia's first national Advance Care Planning (ACP) programme constituted in Singapore. 63 physicians, nurses, medical social workers, and allied health workers who actively rendered ACP were purposively recruited across seven major public hospitals and specialist centers. Framework analysis revealed 19 themes, organized into 5 categories including Life and Death Culture, ACP Coordination, ACP Administration, ACP Outcomes, and Sustainability Shift. These categories and themes formed an Interpretive-Systemic Framework of Sustainable ACP, which reflects the socio-cultural, socio-political, and socio-spiritual contexts that influence ACP provision, highlighting the need to adopt a public health strategy for enhancing societal readiness for end-of-life conversations. The Interpretive-Systemic Framework of Sustainable ACP underscores the importance of health policy, organizational structure, social discourse, and shared meaning in ACP planning and delivery so as to support and empower care decision-making among terminally ill Asian patients and their families facing mortality.

Abstract A36: Assessment of knowledge, attitude, and practice and associated factors towards palliative care among health care providers to the pediatric oncology patients in southern Philippines

Abstract Background: Palliative care in the Philippines is categorized as 3A, considered to have localized hospice care provision; however, lack of education and awareness are dismal and accounted as the biggest challenges for the health care providers and for their patients. Other barriers like access and referral to palliative care specialist were not even equitable for all, especially in the Southern Philippines. The pervasive stigma of what palliative care means to the health care provider remains the major problem for accessing palliative programs, particularly in pediatric oncology patients. Objectives: This study aimed to assess the level of knowledge, attitude, and practice of health care providers towards pediatric palliative care. It intended to discover the associated factors that limit the pediatric oncology patients to receive palliative care, and to identify the barriers in providing palliative care by the cancer centers to the pediatric oncology patients. Method: A cross-sectional study design was used to carry out the research study in the 500 respondents (100 oncology doctors, 250 medical nurses, and 150 allied health workers) using a systematic random sampling method at the 13 tertiary care hospitals that offer palliative care to pediatric oncology patients in the Southern Philippines. Structured questionnaire was circulated to identify the barriers of palliative care, and assess the knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) of health care providers using a systematic random sampling method. The data were entered, cleaned, and analyzed using Excel and SPSS version 19.0 software. The chi-square test was employed to assess the association between variables. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results: From the total of 508 health care providers selected, a response rate of 500 (98.4%) was registered. Among the respondents, 287 (57.4%) had good knowledge and 259 (58.1%) had favorable attitude towards pediatric palliative care. In contrast, the level of practice showed that the majority, 384 (76.8%) of health care providers, had poor practice towards palliative care. Results showed that 94% to 99% of health care providers believed that the inadequate research evidence base to guide and measure the quality of life and lack of staff training in pediatric palliative care were the major barriers in providing palliative care by the cancer centers to the pediatric oncology patients. In addition, 100% of health care providers affirmed that the ignorance and lack of awareness about the existing program and resources of palliative care were the major factors that limit the pediatric oncology patients in receiving pediatric palliative care in Southern Philippines. Conclusions: The health care providers had poor training and knowledge aspect of practice, but their attitude towards palliative care was favorable. Recommendations are the need to be incorporated in the Department of Health through Continuing Professional Development to promote regular training for palliative care. Citation Format: Jayson Cagadas Pasaol, Jashin Rosal, Jansen Marcos Cambia, Jin Kyoung Oh. Assessment of knowledge, attitude, and practice and associated factors towards palliative care among health care providers to the pediatric oncology patients in southern Philippines [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Environmental Carcinogenesis: Potential Pathway to Cancer Prevention; 2019 Jun 22-24; Charlotte, NC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Can Prev Res 2020;13(7 Suppl): Abstract nr A36.

Link of Patient Care Outcome to Occupational Differences in Response to Human Resource Management: A Cross-Sectional Comparative Study on Hospital Doctors and Nurses in China.

This study assessed the link of patient care outcome to occupational differences in response to human resource management. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in three large regional hospitals in China. A total of 700 questionnaires were distributed to doctors, nurses, allied health workers, and managers and 499 (71%) were completed. Data were analyzed using a final sample of 193 doctors and 180 nurses. Quality of patient care was rated by the participants using a modified version of the Victorian Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire. Human resource management was measured on seven aspects: job security, recruitment, training, transformational leadership, information sharing, job quality, and teams. The differences between doctors and nurses in response to the human resource management practices and their associations with quality of care were compared through independent samples t-tests, correlational analyses, and moderator regressions. Doctors gave a higher rating on quality of patient care than their nurse counterparts. ‘Training’, ‘transformational leadership’, and ‘information sharing’ were more likely to be associated with higher ratings on quality of patient care in nurses. By contrast, a greater association between ‘teams’ and quality of patient care was found in doctors. Although doctors and nurses in China are exposed to the same hospital management environment, professional differences may have led them to respond to management practices in different ways.

Local actions to health risks of heatwaves and dengue fever under climate change: Strategies and barriers among primary healthcare professionals in southern China

Climate change and extreme weather poses significant threats to community health, which need to be addressed by local health workforce. This study investigated the perceptions of primary healthcare professionals in Southern China on individual and institutional strategies for actions on health impacts of climate change and the related barriers. A mixed methodological approach was adopted, involving a cross-sectional questionnaire survey of 733 primary healthcare professionals (including medical doctors, nurses, public health practitioners, allied health workers and managers) selected through a multistage cluster randomized sampling strategy, and in-depth interviews of 25 key informants in Guangdong Province, China. The questionnaire survey investigated the perceptions of respondents on the health impacts of climate change and the individual and institutional actions that need to be taken in response to climate change. Multivariate logistic regression models were established to determine sociodemographic factors associated with the perceptions. The interviews tapped into coping strategies and perceived barriers in primary health care to adapt to tackle challenges of climate change. Contents analyses were performed to extract important themes. The majority (64%) of respondents agreed that climate change is happening, but only 53.6% believed in its human causes. Heat waves and infectious diseases were highly recognized as health problems associated with climate change. There was a strong consensus on the need to strengthen individual and institutional capacities in response to health impacts of climate change. The respondents believed that it is important to educate the public, take active efforts to control infectious vectors, and pay increased attention to the health care of vulnerable populations. The lack of funding and limited local workforce capacity is a major barrier for taking actions. Climate change should be integrated into primary health care development through sustainable governmental funding and resource support.

Bureaucracies and power: Examining the Medical Council of India and the development of emergency medicine in India.

In many countries, professional councils are mandated to oversee the training and conduct of health professionals, including doctors, nurses, pharmacists and allied health workers. The proper functioning of these councils is critical to overall health system performance. Yet, professional councils are sometimes criticized, particularly in the context of low- and middle-income countries, for their misuse of power and overtly bureaucratic nature. The objective of this paper is to understand how professional councils use their bureaucratic power to shape health policy and systems, drawing upon the recent development of emergency medicine in the context of the former Medical Council of India. We undertook a qualitative case study, conducting 87 interviews, observing 6 meetings and conferences, and reviewing approximately 96 documents, and used the Framework method to analyze our data. The passive exercise of bureaucratic power by the Council resulted in three challenges - 1) Opaque policy processes for recognizing new medical specialties; 2) Insular, non-transparent training policy formulation; 3) Unaccountable enforcement for regulating new courses. The Council did not have the requisite technical expertise to manage certain policy processes, and further, did not adequately utilize external expertise. In this time period, the Council applied its bureaucratic power in a manner that negatively impacted emergency medicine training programs and the development of emergency medicine, with implications for availability and quality of emergency care in India. The successor to the Council, the National Medical Commission, should consider new approaches to exercising bureaucratic power in order to meet its objectives of strengthening medical education in India and ensuring access to high-quality services. Future studies should also explore the utilization of bureaucratic power in the health sectors of low- and middle-income countries in order to provider a deeper understanding of institutional barriers to improvements in health.

Supportive care in cancer-a MASCC perspective.

The term 'supportive care' arose from the medical oncology literature predominantly in the context of managing the toxicities of cancer treatment but embraces all symptom management through treatment and survivorship. Supportive care should be patient-centred with good communication which includes family and carers and applies across the cancer experience from diagnosis, treatment, survivorship to end of life care. Supportive care encompasses physical and functional, psychological, social and spiritual well-being to improve the quality of life. Supportive care must be evidence-based and thus further research is essential. Supportive care requires screening for some symptoms and tools for patients to report their outcomes. Supportive care has to accommodate new physical toxicities, emotional distress as well as financial toxicity. Supportive care is often delivered by medical oncologists but any organ-related specialist, geriatrician, palliative care clinician, pain specialist, nutritionist, psycho-oncologist, social worker, physiotherapist, nurse or allied health worker who is required to relieve a patient's symptoms or side effects may be involved in a multidisciplinary way. The field is evolving to embrace technology such as eHealth and mHealth capabilities which will enhance integrated care.

Student nurses' ethical views on responses to the severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak.

Fifteen years have passed since the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome in Hong Kong. At that time, there were reports of heroic acts among professionals who cared for these patients, whose bravery and professionalism were highly praised. However, there are concerns about changes in new generation of nursing professionals. We aimed to examine the attitude of nursing students, should they be faced with severe acute respiratory syndrome patients during their future work. A questionnaire survey was carried out to examine the attitude among final-year nursing students to three ethical areas, namely, duty of care, resource allocation, and collateral damage. This study was carried out in accordance with the requirements and recommendations of the Central Research and Ethics Committee, School of Health Sciences at Caritas Institute of Higher Education. Complete responses from 102 subjects were analyzed. The overwhelming majority (96.1%) did not agree to participate in the intubation of severe acute respiratory syndrome patients if protective measures, that is, N95 mask and gown, were not available. If there were insufficient N95 masks for all the medical, nursing, and allied health workers in the hospital (resource allocation), 37.3% felt that the distribution of N95 masks should be by casting lot, while the rest disagreed. When asked about collateral damage, more than three-quarters (77.5%) said that severe acute respiratory syndrome patients should be admitted to intensive care unit. There was sex difference in nursing students' attitude toward severe acute respiratory syndrome care during pregnancy and influence of age in understanding intensive care unit care for these patients. Interestingly, 94.1% felt that there should be a separate intensive care unit for severe acute respiratory syndrome patients. As infection control practice and isolation facilities improved over the years, relevant knowledge and nursing ethical issues related to infectious diseases should become part of nursing education and training programs, especially in preparation for outbreaks of infectious diseases or distress.

Integrating pharmacists into care teams: a qualitative systematic review protocol.

This review will systematically examine the qualitative literature reporting on strategies that have been used (or could be developed) by health care services to integrate pharmacists into a multidisciplinary health care team. Delivery models of pharmaceutical care have been developed, trialed and refined since this concept was first defined more than 30 years ago. Delivery models that integrate pharmacists within a multidisciplinary team allow pharmacists to play a pivotal role in improving health outcomes for patients and contributing to patient self-management. Systematic reviews clearly demonstrate the effectiveness of these models; however, the attitudes, beliefs, expectations, understandings, perceptions and experiences of these multidisciplinary teams is less clear. The populations of interest in this review are health care providers, including hospital specialists, general practitioners, nurses, health workers, pharmacists, allied health workers, aged care workers, Indigenous health workers and health promotion workers. The phenomena of interest are attitudes, beliefs, expectations, understandings, perceptions and experiences of the populations of interest arising from experiencing, developing or implementing strategies that have or could support the integration of pharmacists into multidisciplinary health care teams. The databases to be searched include PubMed, Cochrane, EBSCO (CINAHL), Embase, MedNar, Trove and Australian Indigenous Health Infonet. Studies published from 2011 onwards and in English will be considered for inclusion. Selected studies will be assessed for methodological quality by two independent reviewers, using standardized critical appraisal instruments. Where possible, qualitative research findings will be pooled. Where textual pooling is not possible, the findings will be presented in narrative form.

Applicability of smart phones in identification and transferring the static images of oral mucosal lesions by allied health workers- A feasibility study

Background: Recent years have witnessed an enormous increase in the use of smart phones by almost the entire population. These phones are devices which use satellite communication and computation which can be hand held and used at point of service delivery. Aim: This pilot study aims at training allied health workers in identifying and locating people with oral mucosal lesions using smart phone technology. Methodology: This pilot project was designed and conducted amongst allied health workers in Sullia Taluk of Dakshina Kannada District for identification and transferring the static images of oral mucosal lesions for further diagnosis and follow up. A total of six of the ten PHC’s in Sullia Taluk were selected using simple random sampling method. Allied health workers who met our inclusion criteria were included in this study. Results: Preliminary analysis of the images obtained through smartphones revealed benign lesions in 14 images (7 pairs) potentially- malignant lesions in 34 images (17 pairs) and malignant lesions in 14 images (7 pairs). Conclusion: Health care delivery using Smartphone technology can be used as a promising tool in monitoring, diagnosing of diseases and referral of patients.

Disaster management in rural and remote primary healthcare settings: a scoping review protocol.

This scoping review aims to systematically identify and map the roles of primary healthcare professionals in rural and remote areas during natural, man-made and pandemic disasters. Disasters can be caused by natural events, man-made incidents or infective agents resulting in a pandemic. Healthcare practitioners working in primary care settings have important roles during disaster prevention, preparedness, response and recovery. When rural and remote settings are affected by disasters, there are unique challenges for healthcare professionals. This review will aim to contribute to disaster management knowledge within rural and remote primary health care, and assist in the development of practice-based disaster preparedness and future policy discussion. This review will consider studies that include primary healthcare professionals, defined as having first-level contact with patients in the community, in rural or remote areas only. The role of the healthcare professional will also be discussed within the paper. Research from Australia, Canada, the USA, New Zealand and the UK will be included. Databases to be searched include CINAHL (EBSCOhost), PubMed, Scopus and Embase (Elsevier), as well as gray literature within Trove, MedNar and OpenGrey. The search will be limited to articles written in English and published from 1978 to the present. Titles and abstracts will be screened by two independent reviewers, and full-text studies will be retrieved and assessed against the inclusion criteria. Results will be recorded in a Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) diagram. Data will be extracted and presented as a tabular summary with supporting narratives and figures.

Identification and Impact of Motivational Factors on Job Satisfaction and Job Performance of Health Workers of Punjab Government Health Department

Motivation of an employee plays a very important role in all departments of every organization. Organizations cannot think of achieving its goals or objectives without motivating or encouraging their employees. The main objective of this research is to determine the impact of motivational factors (intrinsic and extrinsic) on employees' job satisfaction and their performance particularly in health field workers in Punjab. In this study, a questionnaire is prepared, consisting 4 parts where questions in part one are for the personal information of the respondents, questions in part two are prepared for variables of motivational factors as play a very important role for motivating the health workers, part three for Job Satisfaction and part four for health worker’s performance. 190 health field workers were taken to distribute the questionnaire (nurse staff and allied health workers) of Punjab health department. Out of 190 health field workers, 171 filled the questionnaire properly. Data was gathered through questionnaire and personal interviews. Correlation, regression and reliability analysis were used to analyze the data. This research study has made an attempt to determine the motivational factors and their impact on worker's job satisfaction and their performance. The result of study reveals that the health worker’s motivational factors affect their satisfaction and performance in the organization.

Barriers and enablers that influence guideline-based care of geriatric fall patients presenting to the emergency department

BackgroundGeriatric patients commonly present to the ED after a fall. Recent evidence suggests that ED physicians are poorly adherent to published ED-specific geriatric fall guidelines. This study applied a theoretical...

Prevalence of female sexual dysfunction in allied health workers: a cross-sectional pilot study in a tertiary hospital in Singapore

BackgroundFemale sexual dysfunction (FSD) is increasingly being identified as a problem around the world. Women can have problems in various parts of the sexual cycle - desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm or they may experience pain related to sexual activity. The only study involving Singapore with regard to sexual dysfunction in women, the Asian Global Studies of Sexual Attitudes and Behaviours in 2002, reported that Singapore had one of the lowest age-standardised sexual dysfunction rates of 32% compared with other Asian countries. This pilot study aims to evaluate the prevalence of female sexual dysfunction and to investigate the independent significant risk factors among allied health workers in a tertiary hospital in Singapore.MethodsA cross-sectional study where an anonymous questionnaire which included 19 questions in the FSFI (Female Sexual Function Index) was distributed to all allied health workers in a tertiary hospital in Singapore aged between 18 to 70 years old.ResultsThree hundred thirty completed questionnaires were involved in analysis. 56.0% of women were found to have sexual dysfunction. A significant difference was found in the prevalence of FSD when comparing nurses to other allied health staff, where nurses had a decreased risk of developing FSD. Age was not found to be a significant risk factor in our study. Respondents below 40 years of age had significantly lower satisfaction scores than those above 40. Indians and Filipinos were found to have lower scores than the Chinese and Malay respondents in the lubrication (p = 0.02) and pain domains (p = 0.02).ConclusionA significant proportion our female allied health workers suffer from sexual dysfunction. In this study, we found that the overall prevalence was independent of age, race and marital status. Nurses had a lower risk of developing FSD. We will need further studies to assess the prevalence of female sexual dysfunction in the general population, to evaluate the independent significant risk factors for developing FSD, in addition to classical risk factors, as well as to assess the psychological impact of this condition and whether people would be willing to seek help for such problems.

Healthcare workers’ perception of their awareness, skills and attitudes towards clinical quality and patient safety in an acute care hospital in Singapore

Objective: Healthcare institutions have taken efforts to communicate to their healthcare workers (HCWs) about the concepts and importance of clinical quality and patient safety (CQPS). However, implementing interventions to promote pro CQPS behaviour without fully evaluating the factors that direct such behaviour may be costly and counter-productive. This study aimed to investigate HCWs’ perception of their competence and attitudes towards CQPS. It also looked into their perceived behaviour pattern to unsafe practices and usefulness of the different avenues to improve CQPS behavior in the hospital.Methods: A survey was conducted among doctors, nurses and allied health workers over two months in 2017. Paper surveys were distributed during departmental staff meetings. Participation was strictly voluntary, and responses were de-identified and kept confidential. Responses were measured using a five-point Likert scale. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics.Results: The participation rate was 90.2% (541/600). Of the respondents, 88.0% and 85.6% agreed that CQPS was important and relevant to their work respectively. However, when asked if they execute a series of pro-CQPS behaviour, results showed a knowledge-behaviour disconnect. Only 36.2% will intervene when they see unsafe practice and 27.2% see the importance of reporting near miss events.Conclusions: While respondents are generally aware of the importance and relevance of CQPS, this is not reflected in their behaviour as they are unmotivated and show disinterest in practising pro-CQPS behaviour. Further studies are needed to address the factors associated with this knowledge-behaviour disconnect.

Knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to breast cancer screening among female health care professionals: a cross sectional study

BackgroundIncidence of breast cancer in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has increased in recent years. Screening helps in early detection of cancer and early diagnosis and timely treatment of breast cancer lead to a better prognosis. Women in the healthcare profession can have a positive impact on the attitudes, beliefs, and practices of general public. Therefore, it is important that the healthcare workers themselves have adequate knowledge and positive attitudes. We conducted a study to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to breast cancer screening among female healthcare professionals.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted on female health professional of KFMC (King Fahad Medical City). Data was collected using a pre-designed, tested, self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire included specific sections to test the participants’ knowledge, attitude, and practices related to cervical cancer and its screening. Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics.ResultsA total of 395 health care workers participated in this study. The mean age of the participants was 34.7 years. Participants included physicians (n = 63, 16.0%), nurses (n = 261, 66.1%), and allied health workers (n = 71, 18.0%). Only 6 (1.5%) participants had a good level of knowledge of breast cancer and 104 (26.8%) participants demonstrated a fair level of knowledge. Overall, 370 (93.7%), 339 (85.8%), and 368 (93.2%) participants had heard of breast self-examination, clinical breast examination, and mammography, respectively. A total of 295 (74.7%) participants reported practicing breast self-examination, 95 (24.1%) had undergone clinical breast examination, and 74 (18.7%) had ever undergone mammography.ConclusionThe knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to breast cancer screening were found to be lower than expected. Active steps are required to develop educational programs for the health care staff, which might empower them to spread the knowledge and positively influence the attitudes of female patients in the hospital.

Conceal or reveal? Patterns of self-disclosure of long-term conditions at work by health professionals in a large regional Australian health service

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to describe the patterns of self-disclosure of long-term conditions at work by health professionals in a large regional health service. Recent research by the authors has reported on the self-reported long-term conditions of nursing, medical and allied health staff within a large regional hospital and health service in North Queensland, Australia. Data regarding self-disclosure of health information were gathered during those two previous studies, but has yet to be reported. This current study thus offers the opportunity to explore and describe patterns of self-disclosure by a multi-disciplinary cohort of health professionals within that regional health service.Design/methodology/approachThis current study was a component of two larger studies, reported elsewhere, which explored long-term conditions among health professional staff at a large regional health service in North Queensland, Australia. A cross-sectional survey design was used.FindingsDecision-making associated with self-disclosure of long-term conditions by health professional staff in the workplace is multifactorial, and affected by considerations of age, gender, workplace circumstances and nature of the health condition. It also differs according to professional grouping. The medical profession were less likely than nurses and allied health workers to disclose to their work colleagues. Respondents with a mental health condition were more cautious and selective in their disclosures, and alone in being more likely to disclose to their supervisor than to colleagues; they were also most likely to value the sympathy and understanding of their colleagues and managers.Research limitations/implicationsThis study was conducted across only one large regional health service; a fuller picture of patterns of self-disclosure of long-term conditions by health professional staff would be gained by expanding the number of sites to include metropolitan hospitals, smaller rural or remote health services and non-hospital settings.Practical implicationsHealthcare organizations need to develop support strategies and communication processes so that staff with one or more long-term condition, particularly those that have associated stigma, are empowered to disclose information to line managers and colleagues without fear of discrimination, ostracism, incivility or bullying.Originality/valueThere is a paucity of evidence about self-disclosure of long-term conditions by health professionals and this study therefore makes an important contribution to the extant literature. The findings raise important questions about the culture and dynamics of health care organizations in respect to the patterns of self-disclosure of health professional staff.