Adult mental health and addiction nursing roles: 2014 survey of Vote Health funded services

Introduction: Nurses are the largest registered health professional workforce group in New Zealand. As at 1 March 2014 more than 51,000 nurses had a current practising certificate. Planning for the future of New Zealand’s nursing workforce is challenging, particularly because there is a lack of quality workforce data. Access to reliable information for planning purposes is vital given that half of the present nursing workforce is expected to retire by 2035. This report aims to support future health workforce planning with robust information about the dedicated nurse positions in New Zealand’s adult mental health and addiction services. It describes the size and distribution of this nursing workforce by provider, roles, and services delivered. It also provides information about the number of vacancies and perceived recruitment issues. The information was collected in the 2014 More than numbers organisational workforce survey

Public health careers: mapping information, informing practitioner needs

Public health promotion and ill health prevention is a key priority for the NHS. The public health workforce is central to achieving improved health outcomes for a diverse and changing population. This mixed-methods study explored career practitioners’ views on their knowledge of the public health sector as well as the accessibility of public health career information on selected websites. The research suggested practitioners lacked awareness of public health opportunities and were only somewhat confident in providing public health career information. In response to this a new web site has been developed which provides information on over 350 health care role

Understanding the Workforce Needs of New Jersey's Public Health and Other Disaster Management Employers

This report explores the priority workforce needs of New Jersey's public disaster management system. An advisory group of disaster management-related employers from law enforcement and state and local public health systems and educational institutions was convened in the spring of 2006 to identify priority workforce skill needs. Researchers also conducted interviews with state officials, domestic security, public health, and disaster planning experts, as well as reviews of labor market information, state and national websites, and industry and scholarly literature

Australian coder workforce survey 2002 - managers’ responses

In 1994–5, the Health Information Management Association of Australia (HIMAA) Ltd conducted a nation-wide survey of clinical coders working in Australian hospitals. The survey (National Coder Workforce Issues Project (NCWIP) funded by the then Commonwealth Department of Human Services and Health) provided baseline data about the coder workforce in terms of its size, the educational backgrounds of coders, circumstances relating to their employment and their needs in terms of continuing support and training. Importantly, the survey was conducted before casemix-based classification and funding had been implemented by all states and territories. It has now been nearly eight years since the original survey was conducted and casemix is in use in some form in all states and territories

Policy Report: 2014 Indiana Dentist Workforce

Information on the oral health workforce is critical to understanding oral health system capacity and informing policy. Unfortunately, the response rate to the emailed version of the survey was extremely low (13.4%) as compared to previous years. It is unclear whether these respondents are representative of Indiana’s dentist workforce; however, these data, representing the most current information available on a sample of this workforce, are presented in this report

Public management and essential public health functions

The authors provide an overview of how different approaches to improving public sector management relate to so-called core or essential public health functions, such as disease surveillance, health education, monitoring and evaluation, workforce development, enforcement of public health laws and regulations, public health research, and health policy development. The authors summarize key themes in the public management literature and draw lessons for their application to these core functions.Decentralization,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Health Systems Development&Reform,Public Health Promotion,Enterprise Development&Reform,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,National Governance,Agricultural Knowledge&Information Systems,Banks&Banking Reform,Health Economics&Finance

Workforce sustainability in the Chilean logging sector : an ergonomics approach : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Management at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand

This thesis examines three key, related elements; social sustainability, forestry and ergonomics, and explores two relationships between these elements. The first relationship is between social sustainability and the Chilean forestry sector, with a focus on the forestry sector workforce and forestry working conditions. The second relationship is between social sustainability and ergonomics and the interconnections between these two bodies of knowledge. The study on which this thesis is based involved data collection over a period of several months from 347 forestry workers from two Chilean forest companies, along with interviews with 7 managers and contractors associated with these two companies and 3 experts in the area of forestry. The overall objective of this study was to investigate the impact of working conditions on the workforce in the Chilean forestry sector. Health and safety problems within the Chilean forestry sector are well recognised. Statistical information on the forestry sector indicated a steady increase in the number of occupational health (OH) problems over the years, with previous research attributing this to the working conditions. This background research is evidence of the problems of social sustainability faced by the Chilean workforce in particular, as well as those faced by the forestry sector worldwide. This study examines the relationship between forestry sector working conditions and the workers and identifies causes of problems between these elements. It also examines the strategies the Chilean forestry companies are using to address these issues. The findings indicate that even though working conditions in the Chilean forestry sector have been improved they continue to have a negative impact on workers in terms of occupational health, which in turn has reduced the market attractiveness of the sector. This last aspect also influences replacement of the working population, which is resulting in an ageing population in the Chilean forestry sector. This ageing population is associated with increasing OH issues and reductions in the productivity of the sector where the main activities are still based on human (non-mechanized) labour. The findings discuss the strategies that forestry organisations have implemented to improve the sustainability of the workforce, and conclude that these strategies are not enough to assure sustainability in the Chilean forestry sector as they continue to focus on the prevention of accidents rather than on the sources of the OH problems. None of the strategies pay attention to the wellbeing of the workforce and the development of resources, aspects the workers themselves demand. Forestry organisations therefore need to improve their strategies in this area. The second relationship this thesis explores is between social sustainability and ergonomics. The literature review found that both disciplines share some of the same principles. It also showed that the ergonomics approach is helpful and appropriate to determine the impact of working conditions on workers; however there was a lack of empirical information to prove this potential. The findings of this thesis provide theoretical and practical information about the work that could be done when both disciplines work together. The ergonomics approach was extremely helpful in illuminating the reasons for the impact of working conditions on the workers and at the same time providing information about the problems of organisations and the needs of workers in order to create a sustainable workforce. Finally, this thesis provides sufficient information from a theoretical and practical of view to continue the further investigation in the forestry sector into social sustainability using an ergonomics approach

Spending by Employers on Health Insurance: A Data Brief

[Excerpt] To attract and maintain a skilled workforce, many businesses provide health insurance and other benefits for their employees. As the cost of health insurance rises, employers face a growing challenge paying for benefits while managing labor costs to succeed in a competitive market. All types of businesses report problems, including both small businesses and firms with thousands of employees and retirees. Despite concerns about the cost of benefits, small and large employers together provide health coverage for most Americans, about 60% of the population in 2006.1 But as the amount that employers pay for health insurance has been increasing — both absolutely and as a share of labor costs — the percent of the population covered has been decreasing. To describe employer contributions for health insurance, this report presents data from two employer surveys. The first, conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research and Educational Trust, provides information on premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance. The second, from the Department of Labor, provides information on employer costs for employee compensation, including costs for wages and salaries, health insurance, and other benefits

Policy Report: 2012 Indiana Pharmacist Workforce

In order to fully leverage the pharmacist workforce in primary care delivery, which is focused more and more on cost-effective and team-based models, the pharmacist workforce must be clearly understood. Policymakers and health professionals must examine data that depicts the practice characteristics, demographics, capacity, and even the evolving role of pharmacists. Furthermore, these data must influence policy discussions that may lead to a more efficient health system. This report provides a ‘snapshot’ of the most recent data on Indiana’s pharmacist workforce, identifies emerging issues, and presents information pertinent to workforce planning and policy

Strengthening health-related rehabilitation services at national levels.

OBJECTIVE: One of the aims of the World Health Organization\u27s Global Disability Action Plan is to strengthen rehabilitation services. Some countries have requested support to develop (scale-up) rehabilitation services. This paper describes the measures required and how (advisory) missions can support this purpose, with the aim of developing National Disability, Health and Rehabilitation Plans. RECOMMENDATIONS: It is important to clarify the involvement of governments in the mission, to define clear terms of reference, and to use a systematic pathway for situation assessment. Information must be collected regarding policies, health, disability, rehabilitation, social security systems, the need for rehabilitation, and the existing rehabilitation services and workforce. Site visits and stakeholder dialogues must be done. In order to develop a Rehabilitation Service Implementation Framework, existing rehabilitation services, workforce, and models for service implementation and development of rehabilitation professions are described. Governance, political will and a common understanding of disability and rehabilitation are crucial for implementation of the process. The recommendations of the World Report on Disability are used for reporting purposes. CONCLUSION: This concept is feasible, and leads to concrete recommendations and proposals for projects and a high level of consensus stakeholders