Best Strategies to Address Burnout Among Healthcare Professionals: An Integrative Review

The purpose of this integrative literature review (ILR) is to provide a comprehensive summary and analysis of past empirical and theoretical literature related to the phenomenon of burnout while sharing a synthesis of literature. This ILR explores, critiques, summarizes, and analyzes best practices and interventions to address burnout and promote engagement and well-being among health care workers within acute care hospitals. The scientific basis for this ILR was the premise that a relationship exists between burnout interventions and organizational cultures which can be positively influenced by relational and social leadership styles that reduce work-related stressors and create positive, professional, healthy work environments. The ILR was performed following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses reporting guidelines. Additionally, Melnyk’s level of evidence pyramid hierarchy and Whittemore and Knafl’s (2005) constant comparison method was used. A total of 16 studies published from 2017 to 2022 were suitable for analysis. The studies in this review evaluated a wide range of interventions to reduce burnout among healthcare professionals. The information gathered as a result of the literature review may be used by healthcare leaders and executives to make recommended practice changes related to implementing best practices to address burnout within hospitals

Disasters Preparedness and Emergency Response: Prevention, Surveillance and Mitigation Planning

This Special Issue welcomes research papers on new approaches that have been applied or are under development to improve preparedness and emergency response. We especially encourage the submission of inter-disciplinary and crosscutting research. We also encourage the submission of manuscripts that focus on various types of disasters, disaster and emergency research, and on policy or management solutions at multiple scales

Leveraging System Context to Understand Collaborative Systems in Modern Public Management

Complex and boundary-spanning problems like overpopulation, hunger, pandemics, homelessness, and environmental degradation occur more frequently now than ever (Bynander & Nohrstedt, 2019; Criado & Guevara-Gómez, 2021; Huang, 2020; Kapucu, 2015; Getha-Taylor, 2007; Jayasinghe et al., 2022). Policymakers increasingly address these challenges through interorganizational collaboration (Isett et al., 2011). Countries worldwide now use collaborative governance to respond to such wicked problems (Jayasinghe et al., 2022; Huang, 2020; Megawati et al., 2020). Despite growing in popularity, gaps remain in understanding collaborative governance at scale. In this dissertation, I present research on the interconnected nature of collaborative governance initiatives in the United States by studying the units that carry out collaborative governance in modern public management: collaborative governance regimes (CGRs). A CGR is “a particular mode of, or system for, public decision-making in which cross-boundary collaboration represents the prevailing pattern of behavior and activity” (Emerson et al., 2015, p. 18). Collaborative systems occur when multiple CGRs operate within or across policy arenas in a defined geography or jurisdiction (Annis et al., 2020). I explore the contexts that collaborative systems operate within. System context refers to “the broad and dynamic set of surrounding conditions that create opportunities and constraints for initiating and sustaining CGRs (Emerson & Nabatchi, 2015a, p. 232). Studying the system context is essential because collaboration does not occur in a vacuum. System context factors can create opportunities for or constraints on CGRs that influence their processes and performance. I show the existence of collaborative systems in the U.S. and ask, what leverage can be gained by exploring the broader system contexts of collaborative systems? I present studies of collaborative systems consisting of hundreds of interconnected CGRs in practice today to uncover lessons about collaborative governance at scale. In Chapter One, I detail a collaborative system operating in Oregon in a facilitative system context for collaborative governance. Oregon’s system context features state support and legislation that supports the CGRs there (Cochran et al., 2019). In Chapter Two, I examine the context of the COVID-19 pandemic to understand collaborative governance when an unexpected crisis occurs. I analyze adaptation in two community referral networks whose system context is unstable due to the pandemic’s onset. In Chapter Three, I do not examine the characteristics of a collaborative system; instead, I study the association between states’ broader system contexts and formal CGR registration to that state. I find that collaborative systems exist and can be measured. Chapter One explores representation in a collaborative system in Oregon. The results reveal a high amount of membership overlap among CGRs, even across sectors. This high level of membership overlap has resulted in a tightly interconnected collaborative system in Oregon. It should alert leaders to probe whether a diverse set of actors are substantively represented across the system because the same actors appear in CGRs repeatedly. In Chapter Two, I examine what leverage analysts can gain from looking at collaborative systems in a system context impacted by a crisis. I do this by studying two community referral networks in a U.S. state where the system context was unstable due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. I document that community referral networks adapted to changes in supply and demand for services during the pandemic’s emergence. I find organizational tenure and resource munificence contributed to CGR\u27s adaptability during the crisis. Rather than going through the lead organization governance model with the coordination center directing ties, organizations saw greater returns to modifying the governance structure for faster service delivery to locate and serve clients directly and more quickly during the early days of the pandemic. I find flexible governance structures can buffer CGR member exit during crises. In Chapter Three, I analyze collaborative governance in Medicare to show how researchers can understand CGRs’ broader system context. Chapter Three demonstrates how leaders and managers can use data analytics to understand CGRs, system context factors, and outcomes. I draw four conclusions from the three essays. First, I conclude that researchers and practitioners can gain leverage by examining the system context of collaborative systems, including public management insights on steering collaborative systems for large-scale policy implementation. Second, my results indicate that studying collaborative systems and their contexts allows scholars to contribute to a concise theory of collaborative governance that transcends disciplines. Third, I find that managers can enhance the success of CGRs by focusing on their governance structures and the entities that support them. Fourth, my results show that scholars can gain leverage in understanding collaborative systems and broader system contexts using various data types and methodologies, including qualitative methods, network analysis, and econometrics. The broad range of data types and methodologies available to understand collaborative governance is good for scholarship and practice. When leaders know system context conditions, they become better equipped to manage the current and changing conditions that influence their work (Emerson & Nabatchi, 2015a)

Nurse manager’s perception of the nursing staff management in B and C Hospital, Birtamod, Nepal

The COVID-19 pandemic being experienced by people recently is a significant risk to public health worldwide. As a result, a concerted international effort is required to get healthcare systems ready for this unprecedented task. Nurses' output and level of care may both rise with good human resource management. This study will look at the viewpoints of nurse supervisors to help comprehend how they managed the nursing staff during the COVID-19 outbreak. The literature hasn't given much thought to nursing supervisors' perspectives during the COVID-19 epidemic. What front-line nurses have experienced is widely recognized. The very first exploratory approach on the experiences and viewpoints of B and C medical college and hospital nurse supervisors that was reported in Nepal focused on the COVID-19 pandemic. Worldwide, the pandemic has posed problems for the provision of healthcare, and many nations have shown a lack of resilience and emergency management. This research is both qualitative and topically structured. Five nurse managers were recruited for this study using the intentional sampling methodology. Data were gathered via extensive semistructured interviews. Ethical considerations were taken into account during the whole examination. Data administration in this study was made easier by the use of digital technologies. An exploratory design was applied too. It was discovered that nurse managers were aware of and had favorable sentiments about the organizational support of nursing professionals in the hospital. As indicated by greater accountability, autonomy, critical reflection, and advanced communication capabilities, they validated the beneficial effects of empowerment on their staff nurses, which ultimately improved overall safety and quality of patient care. The shifting demands regarding their management job and leadership style, however, resulted in nurse managers' experiences with these projects being inconsistent. Additionally, due to a focus on immediate patient care, a lack of communication, and closely planned projects, pressure was being felt by both staff nurses and nurse supervisors. The emotional support of nurses was a top priority for nurse managers throughout the pandemic, despite the fact that they were also stressed and exhausted. More consideration must be given to the psychological needs of nurse supervisors, implement measures to lessen their tiredness, and make arrangements for easily available assistance

Cybersecurity and the Digital Health: An Investigation on the State of the Art and the Position of the Actors

Cybercrime is increasingly exposing the health domain to growing risk. The push towards a strong connection of citizens to health services, through digitalization, has undisputed advantages. Digital health allows remote care, the use of medical devices with a high mechatronic and IT content with strong automation, and a large interconnection of hospital networks with an increasingly effective exchange of data. However, all this requires a great cybersecurity commitment—a commitment that must start with scholars in research and then reach the stakeholders. New devices and technological solutions are increasingly breaking into healthcare, and are able to change the processes of interaction in the health domain. This requires cybersecurity to become a vital part of patient safety through changes in human behaviour, technology, and processes, as part of a complete solution. All professionals involved in cybersecurity in the health domain were invited to contribute with their experiences. This book contains contributions from various experts and different fields. Aspects of cybersecurity in healthcare relating to technological advance and emerging risks were addressed. The new boundaries of this field and the impact of COVID-19 on some sectors, such as mhealth, have also been addressed. We dedicate the book to all those with different roles involved in cybersecurity in the health domain

Informing telehealth public policy: Lessons learned from Virginia Telehealth usage pre-and post-March 2020

The enactment of Waiver 1135, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, enabled healthcare systems to deliver care via telehealth. A descriptive analysis of the impact of the implementation of Waiver 1135 on increasing access to care in Virginia was conducted. Guided by Andersen’s Behavioral Model of Health Service Use (BMHSU) theory, this study used a longitudinal, monthly-level data from the Virginia’s All Payers Claim Database to examine telehealth utilization rates between January 2019 and December 2020. Observations in insurance coverage, healthcare clinicians role and specialty and geographic location were all examined. Results suggest that while Virginia’s overall volume of telehealth services increased post Waiver 1135, contextual factors outside of payment parity negatively impacted its use for rural Virginians. This macro-level study provides a population level examination of Virginia’s telehealth utilization which can inform post pandemic policy agendas