Job Satisfaction and Retention of Nursing Staff in Saudi Hospitals.

The objective of this study is to investigate job satisfaction amongst nurses in Saudi Arabian hospitals. In recent years, there has been considerable growth in the healthcare system in Saudi Arabia, yet little attention has been paid to improving the performance of healthcare professionals, by improving job satisfaction and retention of nursing staff. This paper reviews the research conducted on job satisfaction, and retention of Saudi nursing staff. This is an integrative review of previous studies on job satisfaction and retention of Saudi nursing staff. The electronic databases Google Scholar, CINAHL, PubMed, and Global Health were used to identify peer-reviewed literature published between 2009 and 2018.  The literature review showed that the majority of nurses were satisfied in their job. However, there was a shortage of research in retention of nurses. The evidence from this study suggests that the hospitals need to ensure high level of job satisfaction and decent wages of nurses for maximum retention of nurses. &nbsp

The Language of Health Reform and Health Management: critical issues in the management of health systems

Health reform has been a constant feature of most health systems for a number of decades and has often focused on structural change. The lexicon of health reform and health management has also become intertwined with managers reporting that reform has become a constant and that rather than influencing that change they are in fact influenced by it and by its impact on their role, professional development and career. There is a challenge for health service managers to return to a leadership role in enabling health reform. In doing so will this challenge us to think differently about management? This article addresses the significant body of research into health reform and health management through the lens of language used in reporting the context and the significant impact that it has had on the management role. It describes what directions that role might take, the qualities required in selecting capable managers and questions the current status quo in the education, training and development of this significant sector of the health system workforce. It concludes by proposing a way forward that acknowledges that contemporary health reform is shifting the paradigm of healthcare delivery in a way that requires the dominant view of health management to be challenged. This might be achieved by the use of a critical lens on the language of management, a focus on a grounded approach about what managers need to do and an acceptance of variability in that role in adaptive complex contexts. Abbreviations: DNOP – Distributed Networks of Practice; MDG – Millennium Development Goals; PHC – Primary Healthcare; PHN – Primary Health Network; SDG – Sustainable Development Goals; SEDOH – Social Economic Determinants of Health; SHAPE – Society for Health Administration Programs in Education

Managers of Aged Care Residential Services: 2006-2016

Purpose : Aged care Australia is going through a transformation reform to respond to the growing number of aged people in need of support in daily living. In this context, this article provides analyses of the number and characteristics of managers of aged care residential services in relation to number of aged people, residents of aged care facilities and people employed in them.  Methodology/Design: Design of the analyses follows specifications provided by the authors for tabulations prepared by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) from the censuses of population conducted by ABS in 2006 and 2016.  Analysis : Analysis of changes of the number of managers of aged care residential facilities against the number of aged people, residents of aged care facilities, and people employed in them. Further, the analyses examine changes in the age and sex of managers, their category, field and level of education, weekly income, hours worked, marital status, country of birth and indigenous status.  Findings:  There was a large increase in the number of employees and managers per resident, and a stable ratio of managers per employees. While the proportion of female managers declined, the average age of managers increased slightly. Both the fields and level of education remained similar in the decade. The average income of managers was similar as that in all industries in 2016, with a larger increase during the decade than in all industries. Average hours worked remained about the same. The same applied to marital status. The proportion of Australia-born managers declined while that of managers born in Asia rose substantially. The proportion of indigenous managers about doubled during the decade.  Implications: Relevance to those concerned with the evolving transformation of aged care in Australia and those interested with management training of the growing number of managers of aged care residential services.&nbsp

Managers of Health Services in Australia 2006-2016

Purpose: Activity in health services is expanding faster than population growth and that of the production of all goods and services in Australia. This paper is concerned with the number and characteristics of its managers in relation to the number of people employed and resources used. It also assesses different trends in hospitals and other medical and health services. Methodology/Design: Design of the analyses follows specifications set by the authors for tabulations prepared by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) from the censuses of population conducted by ABS in 2006 and 2016. Analysis: Assesses changes in the number and variations in the characteristics of managers of hospitals and medical and other health services, in relation to the number of people employed, contrasted with changes in all industries. Findings: There are different trends in hospitals and medical and other health services, with a decline in the number of employees per manager in medical and other health services and a slight rise in hospitals. The older average age of health service managers continued to rise, similarly to that for all industries. The proportion of female managers in health services, below the average for all employees, increased somewhat during the decade. The distribution among the various fields of study remained about the same; but level of education, higher than the average for all industries continued to rise.The growth in average income of managers during the decade was somewhat lower than in all industries, due to a lower increase rate in medical and other health services. The proportion of managers of indigenous status rose substantially – almost double the proportion in all industries. Implications: The findings are of relevance to those concerned with the management of health services and training of the growing number of managers of health services in Australia

Historical development of the statistical classification of causes of death and diseases

This paper offers an historical overview of international mortality/healthcare classification systems, covering developments from the International List of Causes of Death (ILCD) through to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD). The ICD is a global data system established to classify diseases and mortality causes. The past few decades have seen a dramatic increase in use of the ICD, paralleling its improved efficiency and integration into the health information management (HIM) arena. The ICD, published by the World Health Organization (WHO) since 1984, is the successor to ICLD-5 and assigns codes to every health diagnosis. The 10th revision of the WHO International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-10-CM) is the latest version, and the 11th is currently under development. A clinical classification and coding schedule is essential for improving and refining clinical data systems in numerous ways, including treatment selection, cause-of-death reporting, eligibility selection, the facilitation of health insurance claims, data storage, health service evaluation, health policy, the management of epidemiological diseases, resource allocation and the reduction of potential costs. All these contribute to proper development and planning within healthcare services. ICD has become the universal standard

Editorial: An Urgent Need for Investment in Health Management Education

Internationally the agenda for healthcare reform has moved rapidly. In Australia, the health care system has recently undergone significant structural changes to target sustainable improvements to the performance of health service delivery. Throughout this process there has been growing attention to the importance that leadership and management can play in the ultimate success of improved health service delivery. The quality of the management and leadership education within the health services and state health authorities has been shown to be crucial to better patient outcomes. Despite leadership being integral to the success of reform, the national strategies have failed to address the leadership and management education, development and training needed at the health care and health services level. The Australian health service reforms ignore the critical issues of planning and investment towards the education and development required for a system targeting management and decision making at the hospital level. The two prominent professional bodies which nationally promote health management education, research and professional development are the Society for Health Administration Programs in Education (SHAPE) and the Australasian College of Health Service Management (ACHSM). Both groups have recently sought commitment from the government, health departments and healthcare providers to invest in health management education through supporting the continuing professional development and training of the health management workforce

A total quality management approach to appropriate clinical laboratory test utilisation in acute myocardial infarction

The first goal of this investigation was to undertake a non-equivalent quasi-experimental design to test the effect of a total Quality management (TQM) approach to improve the appropriateness of clinical laboratory test utilisation in the management of early acute myocardial infarction (AMI). The study was conducted at 2 public hospitals in Sydney over a 30 month period, and in 2 stages- pre and post TQM intervention. Using specifically a Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) FOCUS-PDCA model, a multidisciplinary team was empowered to make appropriate changes in order to improve a variety of problem areas that affected the total pathology service. Improvement was directed at the total system of pathology testing, not just test ordering. It was observed that the introduction of a TQM environment had provided a more committed, integrated and motivated clinical care effort towards improving the appropriateness of test ordering. Such team efforts were accompanied by demonstrated customer satisfaction at various aspects of the laboratory service and further benefits to patient care. Patient care benefited greatly from the highly significant changes towards more appropriate timing of blood collections for cardiac enzyme testing. Other improvements included overall improvements to the turnaround time of test results, reductions in specimen delivery delays, more appropriate use of clinical laboratory tests, a streamlined distribution of printed reports and marked improvements in communication between staff involved in the process of test ordering. Of major importance was the finding that CQI strategies resulted in substantial savings of 23.0% of the overall cost of pathology services. Adoption of the TQM approach appears to be a strategy worthy of exploration by laboratory directors and health administrators interested in improving patient care while at the same time reducing expenditure

A real opportunity for SHAPE and ACHSE to lead the national debate for health system reform

At both the Commonwealth and state level, the agenda for healthcare reform is moving rapidly. The National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission (NHHRC) is currently reviewing the health system to make recommendations for sustainable Improvements to the performance of service delivery. Several states have also undertaken inquiries over the past two years in response to major issues identified in the delivery of patient care within the public health system. The need for improvement is evident. Rising health costs, the growing impact of chronic disease, an ageing population and the inefficiencies derived through a disjointed funding and policy mechanism, are Just a few of the many challenges ahead. Despite current national health expenditure being in excess of $94 billion, significant issues exist in terms of access and equity, safety and quality, poor health outcomes for Indigenous people and others with special needs, workforce shortages and a lack of focus on the promotion of health and wellbeing

The opportunities and challenges of collaboration in health management research: The Australian experience

Purpose of the study: An assessment is provided of the opportunities and challenges that researchers and research teams face when they contemplate undertaking collaborative health management research. Introduction: The recently completed review by the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission (2009) in Australia has made several important recommendations for greater investment in health policy, health services and health system research. Although research is deemed integral in advancing health system improvement, there are several challenges which include: a paucity of research exists, lack of support for collaborative work, and underinvestment in health management research and infrastructure (Hunter and Brown, 2007). Methods: The author largely draws upon the Australian context as documented in the literature, as well as personal experience in the field. It commences with an outline of current trends and challenges. Three collaborative health management research approaches are reviewed: organisation based research centre; cross-institutional research model ('Health Management Research Alliance' - HMRA, Day and Fulop, 2009), and the collaboration between institutions. Results: All three models were found to provide a sound framework for collaborative research work. It was also found that there is value in incorporating the recognised principles of engagement. The benefits and challenges were discussed in the broader context for proposed research collaboration in the Asia Pacific region. Conclusions: 1. Important to ensure collaborative health management research and innovation remains an integral part of the health system 2. The Conference provides the ideal opportunity for the formation of an Asia Pacific Health Management Network in research. It is recommended that this network is progressed through the development of a formal 'Declaration' at the Conference

Quality of pathology services: New strategic directions required

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to discuss the challenges faced in Australia to maintain and sustain quality in pathology services, and present new strategic directions to address such challenges. Design/methodology/approach - The paper is a review of the literature on pathology services and its quality of delivery and emerging issues. Findings - Major issues are emerging in pathology services which threaten to impact on the quality of future service delivery. These issues include workforce shortages, growth in inappropriate testing, advancing technology, rural and remote region servicing, and a negative image of the sector. New strategic directions are shown to be necessary in terms of workforce planning and addressing the escalation of new technology and innovation. In order to sustain quality of services, a significant change from current practice is recommended, with strong leadership as the change driver. Practical implications - This paper highlights the potential impact of emerging issues on future pathology-service quality. Significant implications for service delivery and patient care quality are reviewed. Originality/value - This paper provides valuable information on current strategic and planning issues impacting on pathology services. It provides new solutions from the perspective of leadership of health and health services