Institutional effects on nurses’ working conditions: a multi-group comparison of public and private non-profit and for-profit healthcare employers in Switzerland

Background: In response to the need for competitive recruitment of nurses resulting from the worldwide nursing shortage, employers need to attract and retain nurses by promoting their competitive strengths in their working conditions (WCS) and by addressing their competitive weaknesses. This study investigated workplace differences between public hospitals (PuHs), private for-profit hospitals (PrHs), socio- medical institutions (SOMEDs), home care services (HCs), private medical offices (PrOs) and non-profit organisations (NPOs), helping to provide a foundation for competition-oriented institutional employer branding and to increase transparency in the labour market for nurses. Methods: Data from the Swiss Nurses at Work study of the career paths of 11 232 nurses who worked in Switzerland between 1970 and 2014 were subjected to secondary analysis, assessing the effect of institutional characteristics on self-reported determinants of job satisfaction (such as WCS) using multivariate linear regression and post hoc tests with Bonferroni-adjusted significance levels. Principal component analysis was used to reduce the number of WCS in the original study. Results: Nurses at PuHs and PrHs were less likely to experience autonomy, flexibility of work hours and participation in decision-making than those at other workplaces. Although PuHs were rated higher than PrHs in terms of satisfaction with salary and advancement opportunities, they were associated with more alienating work factors, such as stress and aggression. SOMED workplaces were significantly more often associated with alienating conditions and low job satisfaction, but were rated higher than the other institutions in terms of participation in decision-making. The nurses’ ratings implied that PrO workplaces were more likely to offer a mild work environment, social support and recognition than other institutions, but that advancement opportunities were limited. NPO workplaces were associated with the highest degree of autonomy, flexibility, participation, recognition, organisational commitment and job satisfaction. In these respects, HC and NPO workplaces received similar ratings, although the HC workplaces were associated with a significantly lower organisational commitment and significantly lower job satisfaction. Conclusions: Due to their structural characteristics, NPOs, SOMEDs and HCs can attract nurses seeking greater self-determination, PuHs can attract career-oriented nurses, and PrOs and PrHs are likely to attract nurses through offering less-stressful working conditions

From staff-mix to skill-mix and beyond: towards a systemic approach to health workforce management

Throughout the world, countries are experiencing shortages of health care workers. Policy-makers and system managers have developed a range of methods and initiatives to optimise the available workforce and achieve the right number and mix of personnel needed to provide high-quality care. Our literature review found that such initiatives often focus more on staff types than on staff members' skills and the effective use of those skills. Our review describes evidence about the benefits and pitfalls of current approaches to human resources optimisation in health care. We conclude that in order to use human resources most effectively, health care organisations must consider a more systemic approach - one that accounts for factors beyond narrowly defined human resources management practices and includes organisational and institutional conditions

Selfish drive can trump function when animal mitochondrial genomes compete.

Mitochondrial genomes compete for transmission from mother to progeny. We explored this competition by introducing a second genome into Drosophila melanogaster to follow transmission. Competitions between closely related genomes favored those functional in electron transport, resulting in a host-beneficial purifying selection. In contrast, matchups between distantly related genomes often favored those with negligible, negative or lethal consequences, indicating selfish selection. Exhibiting powerful selfish selection, a genome carrying a detrimental mutation displaced a complementing genome, leading to population death after several generations. In a different pairing, opposing selfish and purifying selection counterbalanced to give stable transmission of two genomes. Sequencing of recombinant mitochondrial genomes showed that the noncoding region, containing origins of replication, governs selfish transmission. Uniparental inheritance prevents encounters between distantly related genomes. Nonetheless, in each maternal lineage, constant competition among sibling genomes selects for super-replicators. We suggest that this relentless competition drives positive selection, promoting change in the sequences influencing transmission

Global population structure of the stable fly (Stomoxys calcitrans) inferred by mitochondrial and nuclear sequence data

Stomoxys calcitrans (Diptera: Muscidae: Stomoxyini), a synanthropic fly with a worldwide distribution, is recognized to have an important medical and veterinary impact. We conducted a phylogeographic analysis based on several populations from five major zoogeographic regions of the world in order to analyse population genetic structure of S. calcitrans and to trace its global dispersion. Results from mitochondrial (COI, Cyt-b and ND1-16S) and nuclear (ITS2) DNA show a substantial differentiation of Oriental populations (first lineage) from the Afrotropical, Palearctic, Nearctic, Neotropical and Oceanian populations (second lineage). The divergence time analyses suggest the separation between the two lineages approximately in mid-Pleistocene. Oriental populations are isolated and would not have participated in the colonization of other regions, unlike the Afrotropical one which seems to be the source of S. calcitrans dispersion towards other regions. Demographic analyses indicate that Oriental, Afrotropical and Palearctic regions have undergone a population expansion during late Pleistocene-early Holocene. The expansion time of this cosmopolitan species could have been influenced by continental human expansions and by animal domestication. © 2010 Elsevier B.V

Phylogenetic analyses of mitochondrial and nuclear data in haematophagous flies support the paraphyly of the genus Stomoxys (Diptera: Muscidae)

The genus Stomoxys Geoffroy (Diptera; Muscidae) contains species of parasitic flies that are of medical and economic importance. We conducted a phylogenetic analysis including 10 representative species of the genus including multiple exemplars, together with the closely related genera Prostomoxys Zumpt, Haematobosca Bezzi, and Haematobia Lepeletier & Serville. Phylogenetic relationships were inferred using maximum likelihood and Bayesian methods from DNA fragments from the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI, 753. bp) and cytochrome b (CytB, 587. bp) mitochondrial genes, and the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2, 426. bp). The combination of mitochondrial and nuclear data strongly supports the paraphyly of the genus Stomoxys because of the inclusion of Prostomoxys saegerae Zumpt. This unexpected result suggests that Prostomoxys should be renamed into Stomoxys. Also, the deep molecular divergence observed between the subspecies Stomoxys niger niger Macquart and S. niger bilineatus Grünbreg led us to propose that they should rather be considered as distinct species, in agreement with ecological data. Bayesian phylogenetic analyses support three distinct lineages within the genus Stomoxys with a strong biogeographical component. The first lineage consists solely of the divergent Asian species S. indicus Picard which appears as the sister-group to all remaining Stomoxys species. The second clade groups the strictly African species Stomoxys inornatus Grünbreg, Stomoxys transvittatus Villeneuve, Stomoxys omega Newstead, and Stomoxys pallidus Roubaud. Finally, the third clade includes both African occurring and more widespread species such as the livestock pest Stomoxys calcitrans Linnaeus. Divergence time estimates indicate that the genus Stomoxys originated in the late Oligocene around 30 million years ago, with the major lineages diversifying in the Early Miocene between 20 and 15 million years ago at a time when temperate forests developed in the Northern Hemisphere. © 2011 Elsevier B.V

Landscape, population structure and genetic diversity of Stomoxys calcitrans

To investigate whether different landscapes could affect genetic diversity and structure of the cosmopolitan diptera Stomoxys calcitrans, populations from Gabon and southern France were studied using dominant amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers. Gabon is characterized by a forested closed landscape, and southern France by an open Mediterranean landscape. The genetic diversity between Gabon and France populations did not differ significantly (P > 0.05). Contrary to our expectation, this study shows a moderate level of genetic differentiation between these two distant countries (Fst = 0.0979) and a low genetic structure among Gabonese and French populations (Fst = 0.0291 and 0.0275 respectively). This result could indicate the capacities of S. calcitrans populations to sustain a high level of gene flow, despite geographic distance and isolation

Landscape, population structure and genetic diversity of

To investigate whether different landscapes could affect genetic diversity and structure of the cosmopolitan diptera Stomoxys calcitrans, populations from Gabon and southern France were studied using dominant amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers. Gabon is characterized by a forested closed landscape, and southern France by an open Mediterranean landscape. The genetic diversity between Gabon and France populations did not differ significantly (P > 0.05). Contrary to our expectation, this study shows a moderate level of genetic differentiation between these two distant countries (Fst = 0.0979) and a low genetic structure among Gabonese and French populations (Fst = 0.0291 and 0.0275 respectively). This result could indicate the capacities of S. calcitrans populations to sustain a high level of gene flow, despite geographic distance and isolation