Human resource management's contribution to healthy healthcare

The aim of this chapter is to outline and evaluate the role of human resource management (HRM) in contributing to healthcare provision and to the well-being of those working in healthcare. To achieve this, the chapter is divided into three main sections. The first section describes the nature and importance of HRM, highlighting some of the main theoretical and conceptual debates and some of the research evidence. The second section reviews and evaluates research on HRM in healthcare, illustrating how it has been associated with positive outcomes such as lower mortality rates, better continuity of care and higher patient satisfaction. The third section presents an outline of a distinctive employee-centred approach to HRM that focuses more explicitly on employee well-being and sets out a future research agenda.</p

Microbial mutualism dynamics governed by dose-dependent toxicity of cross-fed nutrients

Microbial interactions, including mutualistic nutrient exchange (cross-feeding), underpin the flow of energy and materials in all ecosystems. Metabolic exchanges are difficult to assess within natural systems. As such, the impact of exchange levels on ecosystem dynamics and function remains unclear. To assess how cross-feeding levels govern mutualism behavior, we developed a bacterial coculture amenable to both modeling and experimental manipulation. In this coculture, which resembles an anaerobic food web, fermentative Escherichia coli and photoheterotrophic Rhodopseudomonas palustris obligately cross-feed carbon (organic acids) and nitrogen (ammonium). This reciprocal exchange enforced immediate stable coexistence and coupled species growth. Genetic engineering of R. palustris to increase ammonium cross-feeding elicited increased reciprocal organic acid production from E. coli, resulting in culture acidification. Consequently, organic acid function shifted from that of a nutrient to an inhibitor, ultimately biasing species ratios and decreasing carbon transformation efficiency by the community; nonetheless, stable coexistence persisted at a new equilibrium. Thus, disrupting the symmetry of nutrient exchange can amplify alternative roles of an exchanged resource and thereby alter community function. These results have implications for our understanding of mutualistic interactions and the use of microbial consortia as biotechnology