“You knew you had to be there, it had to be done”: Experiences of health professionals who faced the COVID-19 pandemic in one public hospital in Spain

IntroductionThe COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the lack of a government contingency plan for an effective response to an unexpected health crisis. This study uses a phenomenological approach to explore the experience of healthcare professionals during the first three waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in a public health hospital in the Valencia region, Spain. It assesses the impact on their health, coping strategies, institutional support, organizational changes, quality of care, and lessons learned.MethodsWe carried out a qualitative study with semi-structured interviews with doctors and nurses from the Preventive Medicine, Emergency, and Internal Medicine Services and the Intensive Care Unit, using the Colaizzi’s 7-step data analysis method.ResultsDuring the first wave, lack of information and leadership led to feelings of uncertainty, fear of infection, and transmission to family members. Continuous organizational changes and lack of material and human resources brought limited results. The lack of space to accommodate patients, along with insufficient training in treating critical patients, and the frequent moving around of healthcare workers, reduced the quality of care. Despite the high levels of emotional stress reported, no sick leave was taken; the high levels of commitment and professional vocation helped in adapting to the intense work rhythms. Healthcare professionals in the medical services and support units reported higher levels of stress, and a greater sense of neglect by their institution than their colleagues in managerial roles. Family, social support, and camaraderie at work were effective coping strategies. Health professionals showed a strong collective spirit and sense of solidarity. This helped them cope with the additional stress and workload that accompanied the pandemic.ConclusionIn the wake of this experience, they highlight the need for a contingency plan adapted to each organizational context. Such a plan should include psychological counseling and continuous training in critical patient care. Above all, it needs to take advantage of the hard-won knowledge born of the COVID-19 pandemic

Years of sunlight exposure and cataract: a case-control study in a Mediterranean population.

BACKGROUND: We aimed to investigate the relation between sunlight exposure and risk of cataract. METHODS: We carried out a frequency-matched case-control study of 343 cases and 334 controls attending an ophthalmology outpatient clinic at a primary health-care center in a small town near Valencia, Spain. All cases were diagnosed as having a cataract in at least one eye based on the Lens Opacification Classification system (LOCS II). Controls had no opacities in either eye. All cases and controls were interviewed for information on outdoor exposure, "usual" diet, history of severe episodes of diarrhea illness, life-style factors and medical and socio-demographic variables. Blood antioxidant vitamin levels were also analyzed. We used logistic regression models to estimate sex and age-adjusted odds ratios (ORs) by quintiles of years of occupational outdoor exposure, adjusting for potential confounders such as smoking, alcohol consumption, serum antioxidants and education. RESULTS: No association was found between years of outdoor exposure and risk of cataract. However, exploratory analyses suggested a positive association between years of outdoor exposure at younger ages and risk of nuclear cataract later in life. CONCLUSION: Our study does not support an association with cataract and sunlight exposure over adult life

Efectos de la innovación en las redacciones y en el producto periodístico: la reformulación de las secciones

Internet es un medio de comunicación con entidad propia y con características que difieren de las de la prensa escrita, la radio y la televisión (Salaverría, 2005). Para poder continuar su desarrollo, el periodismo digital requiere unas rutinas productivas específicas que se adapten a las demandas y posibilidades del nuevo medio. Este trabajo tiene como objetivo mostrar cómo la innovación en la organización de las empresas mediáticas y, sobre todo, en las redacciones guarda una estrecha relación con la creación de un producto informativo que se adapte al medio digital. En concreto, la investigación analiza la influencia mutua entre la creación de equipos de trabajo multidisciplinares y flexibles dentro de las redacciones, y la forma de organizar los contenidos dentro de los propios medios. Algunos proyectos innovadores ya han prescindido de las secciones, que han sido sustituidas por obsesiones o temas de interés en torno a los que agrupar a periodistas polivalentes y con un perfil de especialización temática complementaria entre sí. Se ofrece así una información más completa y contextualizada a los usuarios. En este artículo se repasan, por medio de observaciones y entrevistas, los casos de Quartz y eldiario.es, medios que han seguido este camino en mayor o menor medida

“You knew you had to be there, it had to be done”: Experiences of health professionals who faced the COVID-19 pandemic in one public hospital in Spain

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the lack of a government contingency plan for an effective response to an unexpected health crisis. This study uses a phenomenological approach to explore the experience of healthcare professionals during the first three waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in a public health hospital in the Valencia region, Spain. It assesses the impact on their health, coping strategies, institutional support, organizational changes, quality of care, and lessons learned. Methods: We carried out a qualitative study with semi-structured interviews with doctors and nurses from the Preventive Medicine, Emergency, and Internal Medicine Services and the Intensive Care Unit, using the Colaizzi’s 7-step data analysis method. Results: During the first wave, lack of information and leadership led to feelings of uncertainty, fear of infection, and transmission to family members. Continuous organizational changes and lack of material and human resources brought limited results. The lack of space to accommodate patients, along with insufficient training in treating critical patients, and the frequent moving around of healthcare workers, reduced the quality of care. Despite the high levels of emotional stress reported, no sick leave was taken; the high levels of commitment and professional vocation helped in adapting to the intense work rhythms. Healthcare professionals in the medical services and support units reported higher levels of stress, and a greater sense of neglect by their institution than their colleagues in managerial roles. Family, social support, and camaraderie at work were effective coping strategies. Health professionals showed a strong collective spirit and sense of solidarity. This helped them cope with the additional stress and workload that accompanied the pandemic. Conclusion: In the wake of this experience, they highlight the need for a contingency plan adapted to each organizational context. Such a plan should include psychological counseling and continuous training in critical patient care. Above all, it needs to take advantage of the hard-won knowledge born of the COVID-19 pandemi

Transformational Leadership and Innovation in Digital-Only News Outlets. Analysis of Quartz and El Confidencial

The constant changes in the media and increasing competition oblige news organizations to develop a solid leadership that promotes innovation. Transformational leadership has been recognized as an optimal style in this context, as it fosters organizational creativity and a collaborative culture, which are essential factors to anchor innovation within organizations by aligning workers with the company’s vision and empowering them to take their own decisions. This article analyses the leadership style in digital-only outlets and how it influences aspects such as intrinsic motivation, which leads to creativity, organizational culture and, ultimately, innovation. We studied Quartz and El Confidencial, selected from among the most innovative in the United States and Spain, respectively, using a method based on their social, professional and expert relevance. In both organizations, participant observation processes were carried out in addition to in-depth interviews with professionals. The results indicate that these digital-only news outlets try to promote innovation through transformational leadership, identified through the recommendations set out in the literature, despite observing the emergence of certain features of traditional transactional leadership style in strategic decision-making. Our study supports previous research that shows an interrelation between leadership and innovative performance, filling an existing gap about digital-only news outlets

Preharvest or a combination of preharvest and postharvest treatments with methyl jasmonate reduced chilling injury, by maintaining higher unsaturated fatty acids, and increased aril colour and phenolics content in pomegranate

In the present research the effects of preharvest 5mM methyl jasmonate (MeJa) treatments, alone (Pre) or in combination with postharvest 5mM MeJa treatment (Pre+Post), on reducing chilling injury (CI) of pomegranate during 90 d of storage at 2 °C plus 3 d at 20 °C and its relationship with changes in fatty acid composition of cell membranes were assayed. In addition, fruit and aril quality traits, total content in phenolics and anthocyanins and antioxidant activity of the arils were evaluated. Both, external and internal CI symptoms and the increase in ion leakage (IL) were reduced by Pre and Pre+Post MeJa treatments. The major fatty acids in pomegranate husk were palmitic, oleic, linoleic and linolenic acids. MeJa treatments led to higher concentration of unsaturated fatty acids (UFA) at harvest, which wasmaintained at higher levels during storage, while saturated fatty acid (SFA) concentration was lower in treated fruit than in controls. The concentration of total phenolics and anthocyanins were lower in the arils from control fruit than in arils of Pre and Pre+Post treated fruit during the whole storage period. In general, there were no significant differences between Pre and Pre+Post MeJa treatments on their effects on reducing CI, maintaining membrane stability and bioactive compounds with antioxidant activity. Thus, preharvest MeJa treatments may be sufficient to increase the cold storage potential of pomegranate fruit by reducing CI symptoms and enhancing the content bioactive compounds with antioxidant activit

Transferencia de conocimiento para la innovación en las organizaciones periodísticas. Estudio de casos españoles

Introducción: La transferencia de conocimientos fluida es indispensable para la reproducción de las mejores prácticas y la potenciación de los resultados en las organizaciones. En la industria mediática, considerada de alto riesgo, el proceso es esencial, pues permite que la cultura de las compañías se impregne de carácter innovador y los trabajadores entiendan la necesidad de adaptarse al cobstante cambio. Metodología: En este artículo se emplea la observación no participante y las entrevistas con los responsables de cuatro organizaciones periodísticas españolas —El Confidencial,Vocento, Civio y WeblogsSL— para explorar qué importancia conceden a la transferencia, qué métodos emplean para permitirla y qué obstáculos y potenciadores encuentran en el proceso. Resultados y discusión: Se comprueba que, tanto los métodos como los condicionantes para la transferencia de los casos estudiados —como la carga de trabajo, la utilidad atribuida a los conocimientos y la confianza entre el emisor y el receptor— coinciden con los de otras industrias a nivel internacional. Introduction: Fluid knowledge transfer is essential to for the transmission of best practices and for improving organizational performance. In the media sector, which several authors consider to be a “high risk” industry, this process is even more important because it increases the innovative strength of the organisational culture and allows professionals to become aware of the need to adapt themselves to the changing environment. Methods: This paper uses non-participant observation and interviews with the heads of knowledge transfer of four Spanish news media companies —El Confidencial, Vocento, Civio and Weblogs SL— to explore the importance they give to knowledge transfer, the methods they use to achieve it as well as the barriers and drivers they encounter in the process. Results and discussion: The results confirm that the knowledge transfer mechanisms and conditions detected within the media companies under study, such as workload, usefulness attributed to knowledge and sender-receiver trust, are similar to those existing in international industries

Competitive strategies of mobile applications in online taxi services The cases of Snapp and Tap30 in Iran

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze competitive strategies implemented by two Iranian taxi service mobile apps – Snapp and Tap30 – in different domains by using the modified version of the generic strategies proposed by Porter and focusing on the online taxi market. Design/methodology/approach – Due to the in-depth nature of competitive strategies in ridesharing platforms, the study employs comparative case research to understand the dynamics of such businesses in terms of developing mobile applications. By comparatively investigating competitive strategies of two Iranian mobile apps in ridesharing business, it is possible to extract rich knowledge about the commonalities between cases and the specificities of each of them to reach success in this market. Findings – Although Snapp has made significant efforts to provide various services to passengers, the findings show that it has not been able to do it intelligently, as it has failed to identify customers’ new needs. In addition, Snapp is trying to keep its position in the Iranian market by monopolizing it. On the contrary, Tap30 has paid attention to the intelligence of services in order to explore and exploit new opportunities, so that it can be distinguished from its rival and gain competitive advantage. The proper and timely use of artificial intelligence by these apps will be a major issue that will greatly determine their future success on the market, according to the conclusion of this work. Research limitations/implications – Like other qualitative researches, this study also has limitations in generalizing findings to other communities. For this purpose, it is recommended that the results of this study be generalized more cautiously. Moreover, access to some data in the digital market of Iran was one of the significant issues that researchers faced with. However, using a large number of different databases, attempts were made to reduce such limitations. Practical implications – Applying the competitive strategies introduced in the present research, platform managers would be benefited from using the insights provided here. In particular, they should understand the fact that competitive advantages are deeply tied to a combination of product/service differentiation, costs leadership and marketing strategies rather than focusing on just one dimension. Originality/value – Focusing on the strategy literature, the paper contributes to business debates on ridesharing platforms, especially in an emerging market, Iran. This study also moves digital entrepreneurship literature forward in online taxi services by shedding light on their competitive strategies in an emerging economy

The impact of frailty on admission to home care services and nursing homes: Eight-year follow-up of a community-dwelling, older adult, Spanish cohort

Background: Frailty in older adults is a common multidimensional clinical entity, a state of vulnerability to stressors that increases the risk of adverse outcomes such as functional decline, institutionalization or death. The aim of this study is to identify the factors that anticipate the future inclusion of community-dwelling individuals aged ≥70 years in home care programmes (HC) and nursing homes (NH), and to develop the corresponding prediction models. Methods: A prospective cohort study was conducted in 23 primary healthcare centers located in Catalonia, Spain, with an eight-year follow-up (2005-2013). The cohort was made up of 616 individuals. Data collection included a baseline multidimensional assessment carried out by primary health care professionals. Outcome variables were collected during follow-up by consulting electronic healthcare records, and the Central Registry of Catalonia for mortality. A prognostic index for a HC and NH at 8 years was estimated for each patient. Death prior to these events was considered a competing risk event, and Fine-Gray regression models were used. Results: At baseline, mean age was 76.4 years and 55.5% were women. During follow-up, 19.2% entered a HC program, 8.2% a NH, and 15.4% died without presenting an event. Of those who entered a NH, 31.5% had previously been in a HC program. Multivariate models for a HC and NH showed that the risk of a HC entry was associated with older age, dependence on the Instrumental Activities of Daily Living, and slow gait measured by Timed-up-and-go test. An increased risk of being admitted to a NH was associated with older age, dependence on the Instrumental Activities of Daily Living, number of prescriptions, and the presence of social risk. Conclusions: Prognostic models based on comprehensive geriatric assessments can predict the need for the commencement of HC and NH admission in community-dwelling older adults. Our findings underline the necessity to measure functional capacity, mobility, number of prescriptions, and social aspects of older adults in primary healthcare centers. In such a setting they can be offered longitudinal holistic assessments so as to benefit from preventive actions in order to remain independent in the community for as long as possible