Opinions Of Health Care Workers Research Articles

Assessment of selected elements of healthcare in the opinion of healthcare workers

The healthcare system is an important part of the functioning of any country. A special role in this system is played by the personnel — especially medical, but also non-medical personnel, who perform their tasks based on the available resources. The article considers the opinions of healthcare workers about selected elements of this system proposed by Zgliczyński. The opinions of employees regarding the current healthcare system compared to the one in 2019 are also included, highlighting the nature of these changes. Bearing in mind the relatively limited literature in the field of the considerations undertaken in this article, they can be regarded as important, up-to-date, and filling the research gap in this respect. The aim of the study was achieved using a critical analysis of the literature on the subject and a diagnostic survey. Empirical data were obtained from fieldwork conducted among staff of public and/or private sector healthcare facilities.

Using the Experiences and Perceptions of Health Care Workers to Improve the Health Care Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

We sought the opinions of health care workers (HCWs) at a designated COVID-19 facility receiving the first cases to identify workplace modifications and inform effective changes to maximize health and safety at the onset of a crisis. A cross-sectional study utilized open- and close-ended questions gathered demographic and work details, experiences and perspectives on infection control, communication, support, and the workplace. Qualitative data were analyzed thematically and quantitative were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Of 340 HCWs, most approved of the organization's response to minimizing risk (81.0%), infection control training (81.1%), and supplies (74.3%). Key actions included up-to-date guidelines (93.6%) and specialized infectious diseases clinics (94.9%). Conclusions: HCWs rated the organization's adaptive changes highly, noting areas for improvement such as transparency and timeliness of communication. Incorporating input from HCWs when responding to health crises was beneficial to maximize staff health and safety and consequently that of patients.

Telehealth Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Analysis of Health Care Workers' Opinions.

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdowns for controlling the spread of infection have led to a surge in telehealth adoption by many health care organizations. It is unclear how this pandemic has impacted health professionals’ view about telehealth. The analysis of textual data, such as comments posted on a discussion forum, can uncover information that may not be captured by a structured survey.ObjectiveThis study aims to examine the opinions of health care workers about telehealth services during the time frame of March 2013-December 2020.MethodsComments about telehealth posted by health care workers from at least 46 countries were collected from an online discussion forum dedicated to health professionals. The analysis included the computation of sentiment scores from the textual data and the use of structural topic modeling to identify the topics of discussions as well as the factors that may be associated with the prevalence of these topics.ResultsThe analysis of the comments revealed positive opinions about the perceived benefits of telehealth services before and during the pandemic, especially the ability to reach patients who cannot come to the health facility for diverse reasons. However, opinions about these benefits were less positive during the pandemic compared to the prepandemic period. Specific issues raised during the pandemic included technical difficulties encountered during telehealth sessions and the inability to perform certain care routines through telehealth platforms. Although comments on the quality of care provided through telehealth were associated with a negative sentiment score overall, the average score was less negative during the pandemic compared to the prepandemic period, signaling a shift in opinion about the quality of telehealth services. In addition, the analysis uncovered obstacles to the adoption of telehealth, including the absence of adequate legal dispositions for telehealth services and issues regarding the payment of these services by health insurance organizations.ConclusionsEnhancing the adoption of telehealth services beyond the pandemic requires addressing issues related to the quality of care, payment of services, and legal dispositions for delivering these services.

Perceptions of healthcare workers on road traffic injuries in Namibia: an untapped source of expertise

Background Road traffic injuries (RTIs) are a major problem worldwide. Namibia is one of the worst affected countries globally; however, there has been very little research on RTIs. When RTIs are discussed, the focus usually is on statistics, and healthcare workers (HCWs) are rarely asked to share their experiences and insights on the impact of RTIs on the healthcare system in which they work. Methods In this study, we investigated the experiences and opinions of HCWs concerning RTIs in Namibia. In our survey, we asked them to reflect on RTIs as a public health issue, and on how they view national road safety efforts. Results HCWs were knowledgeable about RTIs and the related burden of injury, and problems with road safety in Namibia, including the lack of a coordinated multi-sectoral approach. Despite this and being often very involved with care, HCWs are rarely or never consulted by the Namibian government or ministries that deal with road safety and related matters. Conclusions It is suggested these findings will contribute to discussions about how HCWs can contribute to addressing and improving the care provided to people injured in RTIs in Namibia and other low and middle income countries with similar contexts. Implications for rehabilitation Road traffic injuries (RTIs) are a major global public health challenge with over 1.2 million deaths and a high burden of disability. Namibia is one of the worst affected countries globally. Despite being involved in a national programme specifically targeting victims of RTIs, healthcare workers (HCWs) in Namibia are rarely included in road safety programming and policy making. Our study shows HCWs were knowledgeable about RTIs and the related problems and their inclusion in policy making has potential benefits.

The impact of various factors related to the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of healthcare workers in the Republic of North Macedonia

Since December 2019, the world has been facing an unprecedented infection caused by a new strain of coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2. The COVID-19 pandemic, in addition to affecting every aspect of daily life, further affects the already high levels of stress, anxiety and depression faced by healthcare workers (HCWs) globally. Protecting the mental health of HCWs should be recognized as an imperative during a pandemic. This paper aims to examine, by means of an anonymous survey, the attitudes and opinions of HCWs regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as their mental health condition and the causes of mental disabilities. The survey encompassed HCWs (doctors, nurses/technicians and pharmacists) engaged in COVID-19 centers at the University Clinical Center „Majka Tereza“, Skopje. The results of the conducted research indicate that during the engagement in the COVID-19 centers, the HCWs faced the burnout syndrome, fear of infecting primarily family members, colleagues or negative patients, isolation etc. Most of the participants never sought psychological help, sometimes thought about how they could no longer endure the situation, and often experienced problems sleeping, but they didn’t use sleeping or calming pills. Almost half of the participants felt that they were not adequately protected in the workplace. The negative consequences of mental health are more pronounced in HCWs who are directly engaged in the treatment of patients with COVID-19. This research contributes to a better understanding of the mental health of HCWs and the need for interventions by the system in the form of education and care. Keywords: COVID-19, healthcare workers, risks, measures, mental health

Unvaccinated children as community parasites in National Qualitative Study from Turkey

BackgroundThis national qualitative study explores (1) the experiences, observations, and opinions of health care workers (HCWs) about beliefs, socioeconomic, cultural, and environmental characteristics of parents refusing vaccination and (2) regional differences in the identified risk factors; (3) recommended solutions to improve vaccine acceptance in each of 12 regions in Turkey.MethodsIn total, we carried out 14 individual semi-structured in-depth interviews and 10 focus group discussions with 163 HCWs from 36 provinces. A thematic analysis was performed to explore HCWs’ observations about the parents’ decisions to reject vaccination and possible solutions for vaccine advocacy.ResultsWithin the analyzed data framework, vaccine refusal statements could be defined as vaccine safety, the necessity of vaccines, assumptions of freedom of choice, health workers’ vaccine hesitancy, lack of information about national vaccination schedule and components, not trusting the health system, anti-vaccine publications in social media and newspapers, and refugees. Suggestions based on the HCWs suggestions can be summarized as interventions including (1) creating visual cards with scientific data on vaccine content and disease prevention and using them in counseling patients, (2) writing the vaccine components in a way understandable to ordinary people, (3) highlighting the national quality control and production in the vaccine box and labels, (4) conducting interviews with community opinion leaders, (5) training anti-vaccine HCWs with insufficient scientific knowledge and (6) reducing the tax of parents whose children are fully and punctually vaccinated.ConclusionsThe solution to vaccine rejection begins with the right approaches to vaccination during pregnancy. Prepared written and visual information notes should present the information as “vaccination acceptance” rather than “vaccination refusal”. Further studies on vaccine refusal rates should be carried out in various regions of the world so that region-specific actions are implemented to decrease the anti-vaxxer movement and to prevent an outbreak of infectious diseases.

The opinions of health care workers on the inclusion of dental hygienists in the category of medical personnel

The opinions of health care workers on the inclusion of dental hygienists in the category of medical personnel

Seasonal influenza vaccination among Chinese health care workers.

We conducted a study to examine the knowledge, attitudes, and opinions of health care workers (HCWs) and the factors associated with receipt of influenza vaccination in HCWs during August 2015 in 3 hospitals in Jiangsu Province, China. Among the 173 doctors and 220 nurses included in this study, the proportions who received vaccination for the 2014-2015 season were 14% and 13%, respectively. Ninety-eight percent of doctors and 99% of nurses maintained their vaccination practice over 4 seasons.

Abstract TP334: The Cultural Appropriateness of the National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) in Singapore: a Survey on Healthcare Workers’ Opinions

Introduction: The National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) is the most utilized scale for neurological deficits of stroke, assessing various components including dysphasia and dysarthria. However, some non-Western countries have found certain components in the NIHSS to be inappropriate due to cultural differences, but no studies have been conducted in Singapore. We sought the opinions of healthcare workers in Singapore who are involved in stroke care on the cultural appropriateness of the NIHSS. Hypothesis: The NIHSS contains components which are considered culturally inappropriate by healthcare workers in Singapore. Methods: We surveyed 79 healthcare workers who care for stroke patients (24 doctors, 40 nurses, 15 speech therapists), on cultural appropriateness of the dysphasia and dysarthria components of the NIHSS in Singapore, using a standardized questionnaire. Results: The majority of respondents (84%) found ≥1 objects tested for dysphasia culturally inappropriate, with 33% substituting with another picture, 29% skipping the object and 32% using a physical object. Most (86%) opined that ≥1 dysphasia objects should be changed, specifically the hammock (67%) and cactus (51%). The dysphasia phrases and kitchen scene were reported as culturally inappropriate by 49% and 29% of the respondents respectively. For the dysarthria component, 58% found ≥1 word culturally inappropriate and 75% reported adjusting the acceptability of responses by patient demographics. Conclusions: The dysphasia objects, dysphasia phrases and dysarthria phrases of the NIHSS are culturally inappropriate in Singapore. There are inconsistencies in handling these issues and responses are commonly being adjusted to patient’s demographics. Thus we aim to modify the standard NIHSS based on response to this survey and to develop a NIHSS version that is culturally suitable in Singapore.

Beliefs and Opinions of Health Care Workers and Students Regarding Influenza and Influenza Vaccination in Tuscany, Central Italy.

Immunization of health care workers (HCWs) against influenza has been associated with improvements in patient safety. The aim of this study is to assess the beliefs, attitudes, and knowledge of HCWs and health profession students regarding influenza. An anonymous questionnaire was distributed to HCWs in three local Florentine healthcare units, at Careggi University Teaching Hospital, and to students in health profession degree programs. A total of 2576 questionnaires were fully completed. A total of 12.3% of subjects responded that they were “always vaccinated” in all three of the seasonal vaccination campaigns studied (2007–2008 to 2009–2010), 13.1% had been vaccinated once or twice, and 74.6% had not received vaccinations. Although the enrolled subjects tended to respond that they were “never vaccinated,” they considered influenza to be a serious illness and believed that the influenza vaccine is effective. The subjects who refused vaccination more frequently believed that the vaccine could cause influenza and that it could have serious side effects. More than 60% of the “always vaccinated” group completely agreed that HCWs should be vaccinated. Self-protection and protecting family members or other people close to the respondent from being infected and representing potential sources of influenza infection can be considered motivating factors for vaccination. The results highlight the importance of improving vaccination rates among all HCWs through multi-component interventions. Knowledge of influenza should be reinforced.

Connaissances, opinions et pratiques des professionnels concernant l’information des patients sur les infections nosocomiales : évaluation en milieu psychiatrique

French legislation makes mandatory for healthcare providers the disclosure of hospital infection (HI) risk and actual occurrence to the patient. Given the specific diseases encountered in psychiatry, some difficulties may be expected in practical application of this regulation. The aim of our study was to describe the knowledge, declared practices and opinions of healthcare workers (HCW) in psychiatry concerning information for patients about HI. We randomly selected doctors, nurses and head nurses from four hospitals with psychiatric activity in Normandy. The HCW were asked to self-complete an anonymous questionnaire, including data describing the responding HCW and questions aiming at describing his/her knowledge, attitude in routine daily practice and opinion about information to patients about HI. One hundred and forty-one HCW were initially selected, of which 114 (80.9%) eventually agreed to complete the questionnaire. Only eight HCW (7.0%) were considered to have a correct overall knowledge of legal obligations. Main errors concerned the obligation to inform the patient of the HI risk according to the medical procedures that are to be performed (43.9% of correct answers) and the obligation to inform the patient of the HI risk according to his/her medical condition (46.5%). The obligation to inform the patient of the occurrence of a HI was largely known (84.2%). HCW usually giving information about the risk of HI to patients without HI accounted for 5.3%. Main reasons advocated for not informing patients were a low level risk of HI in psychiatry (80.4%) and the lack of patients' demand (59.8%). In the case of HI occurrence, the percentage of HCW routinely informing patients was 13.2%. HCW systematically informing the patient's family about the occurrence of HI accounted for 9.6%. A large proportion of HCW supported delivering information to patients about HI (86.0%). HCW expected from information better approval of prevention programs by the patients (87.7%) but feared an increased anxiety in patients (75.4%) and a higher rate of care refusal (48.2%). Whereas a very large proportion of HCW in psychiatry support delivering information to patients about HI, our study shows HCW's lack of awareness of regulations and lack of declared practices. Among factors explaining this contrast, a lower perceived HI risk and severity level are to be mentioned. Training programs focusing on risk and mechanisms of HI could be offered to professionals in psychiatry. The issue of specific communication difficulties with psychiatric patients should be addressed as well. In order to develop information on HI, specific methods suited to those patients should be developed.

Microbiological Efficacy and Tolerability of a New, Non-Alcohol-Based Hand Disinfectant

Alcohol-based hand disinfectants are widely used in hospitals. Occasionally, there is a need for non-alcohol-based products, but alternatives have been scarce. We studied the microbiological efficacy and tolerability of a water-based hand disinfectant for healthcare workers. A water-based hand disinfectant was introduced as the only hand disinfectant in 5 wards in Turku University Hospital, Finland. Ninety-nine healthcare workers participated in fingerprint sampling during the 7-week study period. In another ward, 26 healthcare workers who were using alcohol-based hand disinfectant acted as control subjects for the skin reaction studies. The water-based product was tested in the laboratory according to the European standard EN 12791. We obtained 292 fingerprint samples before disinfection and 302 after disinfection. The opinions of healthcare workers were collected by use of a questionnaire, and skin reactions were assessed subjectively by use of questionnaires and objectively by measuring moisture and transepidermal water loss. When tested in accordance with the European standard, the product met the requirements for short-term and long-term efficacy. The results of the fingerprint test showed that there was a statistically significant decrease in colonization of the fingertips before and after disinfection (P<.001). The users of the water-based hand disinfectant reported dry skin more often than did control subjects, but visual inspection and the results of the moisture measurement showed no difference between the users of the water-based hand disinfectant and the control subjects. Transepidermal water loss measurement also showed no deterioration of skin condition. The water-based hand disinfectant was shown to be an effective hand disinfectant that caused relatively little skin irritation and can serve as a hand hygiene alternative in situations in which alcohol-based disinfectant cannot be used.

A survey on handwashing practices and opinions of healthcare workers

Studies have consistently demonstrated rates of handwashing compliance are less than 50%. The objective of this study was to gain the following information about handwashing: self-reported compliance; attitudes towards handwashing in different patient settings; and attitudes towards interventions aimed at increasing compliance. A 74-question survey was administered to healthcare workers in two tertiary care hospitals. One hundred and ninety nine healthcare workers completed the survey and 89% reported that handwashing is an important means of preventing infection. Sixty-four percent believed that they washed their hands as often as their peers and 2% believed that they washed less often than their peers. Patients with diarrhoea, AIDS or patients on antibiotics led to increased handwashing. Relative to potential interventions, 76% reported that rewards for handwashing would have no effect, 73% reported that punishment would have no effect and 80% reported that easy access to sinks and availability of washing facilities would lead to increased compliance. This survey suggests that healthcare workers understand the importance of handwashing, but tend to overestimate their own compliance. Healthcare workers are not in favour of interventions involving rewards and punishments, but are more attracted to interventions that make handwashing easier.

Satellite videoconferencing for healthcare workers: audience characteristics and the importance of continuing education credits.

To assess the opinions of healthcare workers (HCWs) about a satellite videoconference as a means of earning continuing education credit, a telephone survey was conducted in September 1998, 1 month after a live interactive satellite videoconference on antimicrobial use and resistance. There were 180 registered sites in 45 states surveyed, representing 1,589 viewers: 764 nurses (48.1%), 201 physicians (12.6%), and 624 other HCWs (39.3%). Continuing education credit was requested by 51% of nurses, 31% of physicians, and 27% of all other HCWs. Although preferred learning formats varied, 70% of respondents said it was important to offer continuing education credit. Furthermore, 31% of the respondents stated that the videoconference influenced institutional strategies. We concluded that satellite videoconferences are a method to reach audiences around the world efficiently and effectively, provide the latest information, facilitate interaction, and meet some of the demand for continuing education credit for HCWs.