Women Health Care Workers Research Articles

Challenging Becomings: Gender Dynamics in the Syrian Medical-Humanitarian Response

ABSTRACT This article analyses gender dynamics in the Syrian medical-humanitarian response in non-government-controlled areas, which proved to be a deeply gendered experience. Drawing on existing literature and interviews conducted in Turkey with women employed by Syrian local NGOs, INGOs, and IOs, it explores the experiences of women health care workers in the response, and the adversity they encountered. Resisting the imagery of the masculine humanitarian archetype, it argues that women’s main quandary was how to gain acceptance as the professionals they knew they were, through a process of experimentation and becoming, drawing on Mattingly's concept of ‘moral laboratories’.

More than Cramps in Scrubs: Exploring Dysmenorrhea among Women Healthcare Workers.

Though understudied, dysmenorrhea, a painful cramping sensation occurring near and during menses, is the most prevalent gynecological disorder among women of reproductive age, affecting 50-90% of the global population. Contributing factors of this disorder include poor medical assessment, lack of consciousness, gender bias, moderate to high levels of stress, and depression and anxiety. Among school students and healthcare trainees, dysmenorrhea contributes to short-term absenteeism, lower productivity, creativity, and job performance. Among medical trainees, dysmenorrhea has been found to impact daily activities to a disabling degree in nearly one third of instances, resulting in difficulties in relationships and even self-isolation. Dysmenorrhea further produces substantial global economic losses and higher healthcare costs. To begin to alleviate the extensive issue of dysmenorrhea, we must increase awareness to fully understand its prevalence, risk factors, and potential for effective, affordable, and accessible treatments. Concurrently, our clinical environment must adopt a standard description and assessment tool to prevent, measure, and monitor dysmenorrhea, while on a global scale, we must develop and widely disseminate nationwide labor regulations that address the workforce impact due to the effects of dysmenorrhea.

Relationship between occupational hazards and Adverse pregnancy outcome in health care workers in Gonabad University of Medical Sciences

Introduction: Reproductive disorders are mentioned as one of the ten main diseases and work-related injuries and working in the health care field may affect pregnancy and its complications .The aim of this study was to observe the adverse consequences of pregnancy between female health care workers in relation to Occupational risk factors
 Methods and Materials: This cross-sectional study was performed on 153 female healthcare workers of Gonabad University of Medical Sciences Retrospectively during 2017-2020 who were selected by a Simple random sampling method. Data were collected through a checklist of women Health Care Workers. Data analysis was performed using Descriptive statistics methods, Chi-Square, Mann–Whitney U test with spss 22 at a significant level less than 0.05.
 Results: The frequency of pregnancy complications in female employees was 37.9%. Frequency of Premature labor 9.8%, abortion at 3.9%, and low birth weight at 6.5%, intrauterine growth restriction 4.6%, spotting and bleeding 25.5%, and pre-eclampsia 2% was reported. There was a significant association between some occupational hazards such as stress (P=0.04), exposure to anesthetic gas (P=0.015), prolonged standing (P=0.035), shift work (P=0.039), and workplace (P=0.012) with pregnancy complications. There was significant relationship between exposure to anesthetic gas with preterm labor (P=0.015) and Hours of work with low birth weight (P=0.013) and also significant relationship between shift work (P=0.039), long-standing (P=0.035) and workplace (P=0.012) with spotting and bleeding.
 Conclusion: Our study showed that some job characteristics and occupational hazards in health care workers affect the mother and the fetus and increase the risk of some pregnancy complications. Therefore, the support of pregnant health care workers in their work environment and the development of appropriate solutions in this regard must be taken into consideration by relevant organizations.

Gender discrimination among women healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: Findings from a mixed methods study.

Gender discrimination among women healthcare workers (HCWs) negatively impacts job satisfaction, mental health, and career development; however, few studies have explored how experiences of gender discrimination change during times of health system strain. Thus, we conducted a survey study to characterize gender discrimination during a time of significant health system strain, i.e., the COVID-19 pandemic. We used a convenience sampling approach by inviting department chairs of academic medical centers in the United States to forward our online survey to their staff in January 2021. The survey included one item assessing frequency of gender discrimination, and an open-ended question asking respondents to detail experiences of discrimination. The survey also included questions about social and work stressors, such as needing additional childcare support. We used ordinal logistic regression models to identify predictors of gender discrimination, and grounded theory to characterize themes that emerged from open-ended responses. Among our sample of 716 women (mean age = 37.63 years, SD = 10.97), 521 (72.80%) were White, 102 (14.20%) Asian, 69 (9.60%) Black, 53 (7.4%) Latina, and 11 (1.50%) identified as another race. In an adjusted model that included demographic characteristics and social and work stressors as covariates, significant predictors of higher gender discrimination included younger age (OR = 0.98, 95%CI = 0.96, 0.99); greater support needs (OR = 1.26, 95%CI = 1.09,1.47); lower team cohesion (OR = 0.94, 95%CI = 0.91, 0.97); greater racial discrimination (OR = 1.07, 95%CI = 1.05,1.09); identifying as a physician (OR = 6.59, 95%CI = 3.95, 11.01), physician-in-training (i.e., residents and fellows; OR = 3.85, 95%CI = 2.27,6.52), or non-clinical worker (e.g., administrative assistants; OR = 3.08, 95%CI = 1.60,5.90), compared with nurses; and reporting the need for a lot more childcare support (OR = 1.84, 95%CI = 1.15, 2.97), compared with reporting no childcare support need. In their open-ended responses, women HCWs described seven themes: 1) belittlement by colleagues, 2) gendered workload distributions, 3) unequal opportunities for professional advancement, 4) expectations for communication, 5) objectification, 6) expectations of motherhood, and 7) mistreatment by patients. Our study underscores the severity of gender discrimination among women HCWs. Hospital systems should prioritize gender equity programs that improve workplace climate during and outside of times of health system strain.

Knowledge regarding breast cancer among Congolese women in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Breast cancer is the most frequent type of cancer in women and is characterized by late clinical signs in developing countries, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo. One of the main reasons of death from breast cancer is lack of awareness and screening, which has led to late diagnosis (at an advanced stage). This study aims to measure women's knowledge regarding breast cancer in Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. A cross-sectional study of 489 women aged 20-65 years was conducted. Data was collected using a predesigned, tested, self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire included specific sections to test the participants' knowledge related to breast cancer and its screening, and practices related to breast self-examination (BSE). Bivariate and multivariate analyzes were used. Our results indicated that 22.09% of the participants had good breast cancer knowledge and 77.91% had poor breast cancer knowledge. Overall, 322 (65.85%) participants recognized that BSE is a valuable method for early screening of BSE. In total, 136 (27.81%) respondents had learned to do the BSE and 216 (44.17%) had reported doing it. Two hundred and ninety-two (59.71%) respondents mentioned that any woman was at risk for breast cancer and 357 (71.78%) mentioned that it was possible to prevent breast cancer. Determinants of an adequate level of knowledge were higher/university educational level (adjusted odds ratio=2.70; 95% confidence interval: 1.27-5.73; p= .010) and having previously been screened for breast cancer (adjusted odds ratio=2.31; 95% confidence interval: 1.40-3.83; p= .001). The majority (77.91%) of women have demonstrated poor knowledge of signs/symptoms, risk factors, and screening methods of breast cancer. Additional efforts should be made through women's healthcare workers to raise knowledge of breast cancer screening.

Gender and the COVID-19 pandemic: Multinational research indicate that we must support and compensate LMIC women's leadership in crises.

Gender and the COVID-19 pandemic: Multinational research indicate that we must support and compensate LMIC women's leadership in crises.

Clinical case study of abbreviated cognitive behavioral therapy through an intersectional lens for women health-care workers during the era of COVID-19.

The unprecedented demands of the coronavirus 2019 disease (COVID-19) have imposed a significant degree of psychological distress on women health-care workers (WHCWs). Women comprise 76% of the health-care workforce in the United States and are subject to experience higher psychosocial ramifications in the pandemic era due to gender disparities. Accordingly, women who are dually mothers may be navigating complex interactions of role strain by managing abnormally high parental and occupational workloads. The psychological toll is exacerbated for women holding multiple oppressed identities across domains such as economic status, race and ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, and other identities of salience. To address WHCWs' unique needs during the COVID-19 pandemic, the authors present a clinical case example through an intersectional framework illustrating how an abbreviated, 4-session cognitive behavioral therapy model may be implemented to support women disproportionally affected by social and systemic factors with a focus on sexism and discrimination against mothers for this particular participant. This case study describes the treatment of a patient in an integrated women's health clinic to demonstrate how to clinically support WHCWs while promoting social justice and gender-based equity. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Misogynoir.

Misogynoir.

Psychological Distress Among Women Healthcare Workers: A Health System's Experience Developing Emotional Support Services During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Ensuring the mental health and well-being of the healthcare workforce globally, especially women healthcare workers (HCWs), is an ongoing challenge that has been accentuated by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Already at high risk of experiencing symptoms of stress, burnout, and depression, women HCWs are now also facing the psychosocial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although different types of mental health interventions have been introduced to support HCW well-being, the current needs of women HCWs have not been emphasized and replicable processes for developing and implementing specific emotional support services for women HCWs have not yet been well-described in the literature. Therefore, in this perspective, we discuss the approach our institution (University of California, Los Angeles) took for developing emotional support services for women HCWs that incorporate aspects of disaster behavioral health models and address various barriers to support and treatment. In addition, we describe and illustrate the process that we utilized to develop individual-level and institutional-level emotional support services. Finally, based on our institution's experience, we share recommendations for developing emotional support services for women HCWs during the COVID-19 pandemic and other future crises.

Work-life interference: a perpetual struggle for women employees

PurposeThe turn of the twenty-first century witnessed significant shifts in the global work environment that led to employees’ personal and professional lives witnessing dynamic transformations. Work-life interference has become the norm rather than the exception for most employees, who, of late, experience more significant interference in balancing work obligations and family responsibilities. This study aims to examine the bi-directional interference experienced by working women in India’s health-care sector.Design/methodology/approachFor this study, 850 questionnaires were distributed to selected health-care workers in Northern India. After eliminating the invalid questionnaires, 782 valid questionnaires were retained and used for further analyzes.FindingsThe study results revealed that working women in a collectivistic culture such as India experience higher work interference on personal life than personal life interference on work in the health sector. However, women health-care workers with higher support from their employers, families and colleagues experienced lower interference levels. Therefore, health organizations need to put a system in place to ensure the least interference in women employees’ personal lives by providing both emotional and institutional support.Originality/valueThis study undertakes to conceptualize the bidirectional nature of the work-life interface among India’s health-care workers. The findings would direct employers, employees and the practitioners involved in the health-care sector to execute policies and practices that attempt to facilitate work-life integration among the workers and generate positive organizational outcomes.

Mental health crisis of Japanese health care workers under COVID-19.

During the COVID-19 outbreak, the mental health of health care workers has become a major public health concern. Particularly in Japan, women health care workers are experiencing a mental health crisis because of gender imbalance. In addition to honoring health care workers as heroes, we must promote efforts to compensate health care workers, strengthen infection prevention, and promote mental health. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Social capital and fertility behaviors: a cross-sectional study in Iranian women health care workers

BackgroundFertility, in addition to the biomedical aspect, is phenomena of social, economic and demographic changes. Social network were considered for understanding fertility behaviors and changes in the levels of fertility. This study was conducted to investigate the relationship between social capital and childbirth behaviors in Iranian women employees.MethodsThis cross-sectional study was conducted in 2017 on 536 women health care workers who randomly selected from health care setting Babol/Iran. Data were collected using demographic, childbearing behavior and social capital questionnaires. The SPSS-21 software was employed to analysis the data at a significant level of 0.05.ResultsThe results of the study showed that, there was significant relationship between number of pregnancy and social capital (P = 0.039). Furthermore, social capital has a significant relationship with the time of pregnancy (P = 0.043), the time of pregnancy in women with high social capital was observed to be relatively 30% shorter compare the women with low social capital.ConclusionSocial capital, as one of the important factors influencing childbirth behaviors, should be considered in population planning and policy making.

COVID19 impact on women on both sides of the frontline: The American College of Cardiology Women in Cardiology Section’s International Working Group perspective

At the beginning of the SARS Co V2 (COVID-19) pandemic, women worldwide represented the majority of health care workers. As part of the fight against the pandemic, women health care workers became a part of the significant frontline response. This led to unique challenges that affected women physicians as well as the women patients they were taking care of. The American College of Cardiology Women in Cardiology International Working Group set up a webinar to discuss the challenges being faced by women physicians and women patients in various parts of the world and look towards finding possible solutions for these issues in a webinar themed ?WIC Global Perspectives: COVID-19.?

The Ethics of Social Care in Indonesia: Women’s Perspectives on Care in Politics, Development and Policy*

ABSTRACTThis article draws on feminist scholarship to examine the ethics of “social care” in Indonesia. We explore three different relationships of care: between politicians and their constituents, between women health-care workers and villagers, and between volunteers and the recipients of government benefits. Through a comparison of our three case studies, we demonstrate the diverse meanings attached to “care”, and the consequences of these differences for state actors’ attentiveness, responsiveness and responsibility towards people in need. By revealing the ways in which care is productive of different types of relationships, we argue that care practices may reinforce hierarchies, but can also be built on (exclusionary forms of) solidarity. From our different disciplinary perspectives, we aim to highlight the theoretical and practical use of an “ethics of care” to inform theory and praxis in politics, public policy and development. From the vantage point of Indonesia, we raise unexplored questions as to how care is and should be practised in countries with both welfare and development imperatives.

An update systematic review of fetal death, congenital anomalies, and fertility disorders among health care workers.

Health care workers (HCWs) are occupationally exposed to various hazards, some associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes in previous reviews. This systematic review aims at synthesizing the recent literature on occupational exposures among HCWs related to fetal death, congenital anomalies, and fertility disorders. We searched the Medline database from 2000 to 2015 for articles about all potential occupational exposures of women and men working in this sector. We retained 32 studies, most of them (n = 30) among women HCWs. Studies based on job title reported excess risks of some congenital anomalies (especially nervous and musculoskeletal systems) among HCWs compared to non-HCWs but no evidence about fetal death. Excess risks associated with specific exposures includes reports of some congenital anomalies for women exposed to anesthetic gases. Exposure to some sterilizing agents and, with less evidence, to antineoplastic drugs and to ionizing radiation, is associated with increased risks of miscarriage but not stillbirth. Strenuous work schedules appear to be associated with fertility disorders, but the evidence is limited. Only a few studies have been published since 2000 about non-ionizing radiation, or about fertility disorders related to chemical or physical agents, or about male HCWs. Despite the establishment of recommendations to limit exposures of HCWs, some excess risks of adverse pregnancy outcomes are still reported and need to be explained.

THE PREVALENCE OF OVERWEIGHT AMONG FEMALE HEALTH WORKERS MAJOR HOSPITAL OF THE CITY OF KRASNOYARSK

The purpose of the study. The study of the prevalence of overweight and obesity in women’s health care providers a large hospital in Krasnoyarsk. Materials and methods. The study involved 979 women medical workers aged 20 to 77 years. The examination included clinical, instrumental, functional and laboratory research methods and anthropometry followed somatotipirovaniya. Results. According to the study, the prevalence of overweight among women health workers is high and amounts to 49.6%. Individuals with hypertension, the rate is significantly higher and amounted to 72.1%. Optimal blood pressure is more common in women of normal weight, while, moderate, severe degree of hypertension was more frequent in the examined women with obesity. Mean SBP and DBP were higher in women health care workers who are overweight and obese. Women doctors surgeons and anesthetists BMI higher than that of physicians. Conclusion. The results of this study allow us to make conclusions about the high prevalence of overweight in women health workers.

FEMALE SEXUAL DYSFUNCTION (FSD) IN WOMEN HEALTH CARE WORKERS.

Purpose:The main aim of this study is to investigate the occurrence and severity of FSD in women working in tertiary hospitals.Material and methods:The study sample was drawn from health care women between the ages of 20 and 65 years, working in two hospitals in Greece. This descriptive study used a structured Greek questionnaire and sexual function screener and quality of life sectors were consisted of rated scale questions. Eighty eight questionnaires were returned properly completed. The statistical analysis used the SPSS statistical program.Results:Female sexual dysfunction is a highly prevalent health issue whose exact incidence is not well defined. Factors that can contribute to female sexual dysfunction may be psychogenic, physical, mixed or unknown. Each of these factors consists of individual components that influence the sexual response; however their precise impact in FSD development and progression is unknown. Moreover, the role of circadian rhythm disorders (especially that of shift work sleep disorder) to the development and progression of FSD has been poorly investigated.Conclusion:Working environment and patterns of work schedules may play a role in FSD however it has been difficult to specify in what extent they contribute to FSD development.

Women Health Care Workers' Response To Coaching Intervention To Reduce Chd And Stroke Risk Factors

Women Health Care Workers' Response To Coaching Intervention To Reduce Chd And Stroke Risk Factors

Substantive Equality, the Supreme Court of Canada, and the Limits to Redistribution

This article seeks to discover why constitutionally guaranteed equality rights have had a limited redistributive impact in Canada. It begins by reviewing different conceptions of equality, identifying the conception that is dominant within the Supreme Court’s jurisprudence, and illustrating how this conception is not conducive to redistribution. It then shifts to Newfoundland v NAPE, a 2004 decision of the Supreme Court of Canada in which a unanimous Court upheld, as a demonstrably justified limitation on equality rights, legislation enacted by the Newfoundland government that overrode the pay equity agreement the government had negotiated with the unions representing women health-care workers. As this case proceeded through the courts, the national press reported a debate amongst Canadian elites about whether it was legitimate for the courts to issue decisions that interfered with the ability of elected governments to determine their spending priorities. The discussion of Newfoundland v NAPE emphasizes four themes in the decision that block or impede the redistributive potential of substantive equality — private debts versus public obligations, dignity versus distribution, fiscal crisis, and the separation of powers — which function as formidable hurdles for the transposition of a conception of substantive equality that is strongly redistributive into Canadian jurisprudence.

The Occupational Health Status of African-American Women Health Care Workers

Race, ethnicity, and gender are significant indicators of occupational status, general health status, and thus, occupational health status. Although African-American women constitute only 6.8% of the total U.S. labor force, they hold 20% of the jobs in the health care industry and are disproportionately represented in those jobs that have the highest levels of workplace exposure to hazards. As a result, they are therefore more likely to be at greater exposure and risk to the spectrum of occupational health problems. In order to gain insight into the effects of race and gender on the occupational health status of African-American women health care workers, this article uses three data sources that provide different but complementary sources of information on the demographic characteristics of workers, location of categories of occupations, working conditions of jobs, and other job and worker characteristics. Given the concentration of African-American women in health care positions where there exists a greater likelihood of being exposed to occupational hazards, it is therefore both logical and appropriate for primary care physicians, especially those engaged in office-based practices, to identify this target population for special services and to be more aware of the type of health issues with which these patients are more likely to present and to experience during their working lives. Health care providers have a responsibility to assess occupational factors related to a patient's health problems and to incorporate this information into their treatment protocols and into the design and explanation of each patient's care plan.