Australian Healthcare Workers Research Articles

Perception, attitudes and knowledge regarding the 2009 swine‐origin influenza A (H1N1) virus pandemic among health‐care workers in Australia

To determine the perceptions, attitudes and knowledge of Australian health-care workers (HCWs) regarding the novel, swine-origin influenza A (H1N1) virus (S-OIV) outbreak that reached the country in early May 2009. Self-administered, anonymous Web-based survey conducted during the early stages of the S-OIV pandemic. Participants comprised hospital- and community-based medical and nursing staff, medical students, allied health professionals, laboratory staff and administrative personnel. Of the 947 participants surveyed, 59.4% were not convinced that Australia was sufficiently prepared for an influenza pandemic. Only 17.6% of the participants stated they were prepared to work unconditionally during a pandemic; 36.5% stated they would work if they had access to antiviral treatment; 27.9% would if provided with antiviral prophylaxis; and 7.5% would refuse to work. In addition, 37.5% of the participants responded they would refuse or avoid being involved in screening suspected cases. A total of 47.7% admitted to possessing a personal supply of antivirals or having considered this option. Only 48.0% provided a realistic estimate of the mortality associated with an influenza pandemic at a population level. HCWs overestimating the mortality risk and HCWs believing the efficacy of antiviral prophylaxis to be low were significantly less likely to be prepared to work (P= 0.04 and P= 0.0004, respectively). To ensure adequate staffing during an influenza pandemic, preparedness plans should anticipate significant levels of absenteeism by choice. Interventions aimed at increasing staff retention during a pandemic require further evaluation.

Attitudes amongst Australian hospital healthcare workers towards seasonal influenza and vaccination.

Background Amongst healthcare workers (HCWs), compliance rates with influenza vaccination are traditionally low. Although a safe and effective vaccine is available, there is little Australian data on reasons for poor compliance, especially amongst allied health and ancillary support staff. Methods Cross‐sectional investigation of a sample of clinical and non‐clinical HCWs from two tertiary‐referral teaching hospitals in Sydney, Australia was conducted between June 4 and October 19, 2007. The self‐administered questionnaire was distributed to hospital personal from 40 different wards and departments. The main outcome measures were personal beliefs about influenza vaccination and self‐reported vaccination status. Results Respondents (n = 1079) were categorized into four main groups by occupation: nurses (47·5%, 512/1079), physicians (26·0%, 281/1079), allied health (15·3%, 165/1079) and ancillary (11·2%, 121/1079). When asked whether they felt the influenza vaccine was safe or effective, 81% (879/1079) and 68% (733/1079), respectively, replied in the affirmative. Participants felt that it was more important to get vaccinated to protect patients (74%, 796/1079) than family (68%, 730/1079) or self‐protection (66%, 712/1079). However, only 22% (241/1079) of the HCWs who replied reported receiving the vaccine the year the survey was conducted. Conclusions Although HCWs had an adequate level of knowledge towards influenza vaccination, only 22% of them were vaccinated. The approach to improving influenza vaccination rates amongst HCWs and to tackling misconceptions must be multifaceted, adaptable and must evolve regularly to increase coverage.

Longitudinal trends of alcohol and tobacco consumption among Australian physicians and nurses, 1989–2005

Aim: This study examined alcohol and tobacco consumption trends among a national sample of Australian health care workers between 1989 and 2005.Method: Alcohol and tobacco smoking data specific for physicians and nurses was obtained during four national health surveys. Data were analysed by alcohol consumption level, tobacco smoking status, job category and year of study. The relative risk of substance use between physicians, nurses and the general Australian population was also evaluated.Results: The proportion of Australian physicians and nurses with risky alcohol consumption habits appears to have fluctuated over time, particularly among nurses. Although tobacco smoking among Australian nurses has declined in recent years, the relatively low proportion of physician smokers remained fairly stable over the same time period. Both professional groups were considerably less likely to use tobacco when compared with the general population.Conclusion: This study provides one of the first clear insights into longitudinal substance use trends among Australian health care workers during the past 17 years. A sustained reduction in alcohol and tobacco use must continue in future, so that they remain exemplars at the forefront of anti‐substance abuse programmes in the community.

Disciplining the feminine: The reproduction of gender contradictions in the mental health care of women with eating disorders

This paper provides insights into the way gendered assumptions operate within health care interventions for women with eating disorders. A multidisciplinary sample of Australian health care workers were interviewed about their approaches to treatment, and discourse analysis was used to uncover the discursive dynamics and power relations characterising their accounts of intervention. The paper demonstrates a contradictory positioning of anorexic patients in relation to autonomy and control within the two common psychiatric interventions of bed rest intervention and psychotherapy. The paper argues that this is based on gendered assumptions about selfhood and femininity in eating disorders that are reproduced in the therapeutic relationship through the operation of a gendered parent-child dynamic, with the health care worker as father or mother, and the anorexic patient as daughter. One of the main effects of this is to re-inscribe rather than challenge the discursive ‘double bind’ of femininity that has been widely implicated by post-structural feminists in producing eating disorders in the first place. The paper also considers the widely acknowledged problem of resistance to treatment in anorexia as a function of controlling treatments, and discusses psychiatrists’ perspectives on addressing this dilemma. Finally, the paper examines the potential of feminist-informed understandings of eating disorders for overcoming the gendered dilemmas inherent within the dominant psycho-medical treatment paradigm.

Australian Health Care Workers Use of a Telephone Advice Line

An evaluation of the Health Resource Line (HRL), a telephone information service for use by General Practitioners and Area Health employees in Northern and Central Sydney Area Health Services, was conducted following an eight month pilot. This evaluation found that no more than half of the target population were aware of the service, and that fewer than a third of these had trialed the service. This is consistent with the experience in other published trials of this kind. The experience of health care providers using the service was generally positive, but despite this, overall levels of use were low and declined after an initial peak. The low level of use brings into question the cost effectiveness of such a service and the need for possible alternatives.