Career Satisfaction: A Look behind the Races

Previous studies have largely focused on the career success of white employees (Heslin, 2005). Using recent survey data, this paper examines the career satisfaction levels of white/Caucasian and visible minority managerial, professional and executive employees in the information and communications technology [ICT] and financial services sectors in corporate Canada. Given that the demographic makeup of organizations in Canada is drastically changing with the aging population and the increasing participation of visible minorities in the labour force, it is crucial for managers and organizations to understand their employees’ level of career satisfaction. Studies have found that employees who are more satisfied with their careers are more engaged and thus are more likely to actively contribute to the organization’s success (Peluchette, 1993; Harter, Schmidt and Hayes, 2002). Findings from this paper showed that the average career satisfaction scores were lower for visible minority employees than for white/Caucasian employees. In addition, variations were found between white/Caucasian employees and Chinese, South Asian and Black visible minority employees. While Black employees were 13.0% less satisfied than white/Caucasian employees, Chinese employees were only 8.3% less satisfied than their white/Caucasian counterparts, and the difference between South Asian and white/Caucasian employees was found to be insignificant. Decomposition analyses show that over 58% to 82% of the difference in career of satisfaction scores, depending on the ethnic group, can be accounted for by factors included in this paper. Of the unexplained portion, most of the differences in career satisfaction between white/Caucasian and minority groups are attributable to higher returns to white/Caucasian employees’ human capital and demographic characteristics.Des études antérieures sur le thème cité en titre ont mis largement l’accent sur le succès à l’égard de la carrière chez les employés de race blanche (Heslin, 2005). Utilisant les données d’une récente enquête, la présente étude examine les niveaux de satisfaction à l’égard de la carrière d’employés blancs (type caucasien) et en provenance des minorités visibles dans des emplois de niveau managérial, professionnel et exécutif dans les secteurs de l’information et des communications (TIC) et des services financiers corporatifs canadiens. Étant donné l’évolution dramatique du visage démographique dans les organisations au Canada attribuable au vieillissement de la population et à l’accroissement de la présence de personnes en provenance des minorités visibles dans la main-d’oeuvre, il est crucial pour les dirigeants et les organisations de mieux comprendre le niveau de satisfaction à l’égard de la carrière de leurs employés.Des études ont montré que les employés qui sont davantage satisfaits de leur carrière sont davantage engagés dans leur organisation et sont ainsi davantage susceptibles de contribuer au succès de celle-ci (Peluchette, 1993; Harter, Schmidt et Hayes, 2002). Les résultats de notre étude indiquent que les scores moyens en matière de satisfaction à l’égard de la carrière se révèlent plus faibles chez les employés des minorités visibles que chez les employés de race blanche. De plus, des différences sont observées entre employés blancs et ceux d’origines chinoise, sud-asiatique et de race noire. Alors que les employés de race noire affichent une satisfaction de 13 % moindre que ceux de race blanche, ceux d’origine chinoise sont seulement 8,3 % moins satisfaits que les employés de race blanche tandis que l’écart entre employés sud-asiatiques et ceux de race blanche n’est pas significatif sur le plan statistique.Des analyses de décomposition montrent que de 58 % à 82 % des différences dans les scores de satisfaction à l’égard de la carrière, selon le groupe ethnique, peuvent être attribuables à des facteurs pris en compte dans l’étude. Pour ce qui est de la portion non expliquée, la plupart des différences dans la satisfaction à l’égard de la carrière entre employés blancs et ceux provenant des minorités visibles, sont attribuables aux rendements supérieurs affichés par les employés de race blanche en matière de capital humain et à des caractéristiques démographiques.Estudios previos se han focalizado ampliamente en el éxito profesional de empleados blancos (Heslin, 2005). Usando datos recientes de encuesta, este documento examina los niveles de satisfacción profesional de directivos, profesionales y ejecutivos blancos/caucasianos y de proveniencia de minorías visibles, empleados en el sector de Tecnología de la información y de comunicaciones (TIC) y del sector de servicios financieros de una corporación canadiense. Dado que la conformación demográfica de las organizaciones en Canadá está cambiando drásticamente con el envejecimiento de la población y la participación creciente de las minorías visibles en la fuerza laboral, es crucial para los directivos y organizaciones comprender el nivel de satisfacción profesional de sus empleados. Diversos estudios han establecido que los empleados que son más satisfechos con sus carreras son más implicados y son entonces más susceptibles de contribuir activamente al éxito de la organización (Peluchette, 1993; Harter, Schmidt y Hayes, 2002). Los resultados de este documento mostraron que los puntajes promedio de satisfacción profesional fueron más bajos por los empleados de minorías visibles comparativamente con los empleados blancos/caucasianos. Además, se establecieron variaciones entre empleados blancos/caucasianos y empleados de minorías visibles chinos, sud-asiáticos y negros. Mientras los empleados negros fueron 13% menos satisfechos que los empleados blancos/caucasianos, los empleados chinos fueron solo 8,3% menos satisfechos que su contraparte blanca/caucasiana, y la diferencia entre empleados sud-asiáticos y empleados blancos/caucasianos fue no significativa. Los análisis de descomposición muestran que entre 58 a 82% de la diferencia de puntajes de satisfacción profesional que depende del grupo étnico, pueden ser explicados por los factores incluidos en este documento. Por la porción inexplicada, la mayoría de diferencias de satisfacción profesional entre blancos/caucasianos y grupos minoritarios son atribuibles a los beneficios más elevados reportados por el capital humano de los empleados blancos/caucasianos y a las características demográficas

Visible Minority Work Experiences in Canadian IT/ICT Sectors

Corporate leaders have joined industry associations and government in maintaining that supporting diversity is an important part of the solution to the skills shortage in the Information and Communications Technology Sector (ICT). Considerable research and discussion has focused on the plight of minority groups in Canada and the gap between their potential and their experience in the workforce generally, and in the ICT sector. Less attention has been focused on the gaps between visible minority groups and gender. Our study makes an important contribution by examining workplace perceptions of more than 6783 managers with a minimum of 10 years experience in nine large Canadian companies in the ICT Sector. The principal conclusions of the paper are that there is a significant gap between the workplace perceptions of visible minorities and white/Caucasians, and to a lesser degree, men and women employees in the ICT sector

Women With High-Risk Pregnancies, Problems, and APN Interventions

Purpose To (a) describe women’s prenatal and postpartum problems and advanced practice nurses (APN) interventions; and (b) determine if problems and APN interventions differed by women’s medical diagnosis (diabetes, hypertension, preterm labor). Design and Methods Content analysis of 85 interaction logs created by APNs during a randomized clinical trial in which half of physician-provided prenatal care was substituted with APN-provided prenatal care in the women’s homes. Patients’ problems and APN interventions were classified with the Omaha Classification System. Findings A total of 212,835 health problems and 212,835 APN interventions were identified. The dominant antenatal problems were physiologic (59.2%) and health-related behaviors (33.3%); postpartum were physiologic (44.0%) and psychosocial problems (31.6%). Antenatally, women with diabetes had significantly more health-related behavior problems; women with preterm labor had more physiologic problems. APN surveillance interventions predominated antenatally (65.6%) and postpartum (66.0%), followed by health teaching, guidance, and counseling both antenatally (25.4%) and postpartum (28.1 %). Women with chronic hypertension required significantly more case-management interventions. Conclusions The categories of women’s problems were largely similar across medical diagnostic groups. Interventions to address women’s problems ranged from assessing maternal and fetal physiologic states to teaching interpersonal relationships and self-care management to assisting with transportation and housing. Data show the range of APN knowledge and skills needed to improve maternal and infant outcomes and ultimately reduce healthcare costs in women with high-risk pregnancies

Cytokine responses to Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infection differ between patient cohorts that have different clinical courses of infection.

BackgroundThe clinical course of Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infection is unpredictable and bacterial virulence, host immune response and patient characteristics are among the factors that contribute to the clinical course of infection. To investigate the relationship between cytokine response and clinical outcome, circulating cytokine levels were investigated in response to S. aureus bloodstream infection in patient with different clinical courses of infection.MethodsA prospective study was carried out in 61 patients with S. aureus bloodstream infection and circulating levels of IL-6, GRO-¿, RANTES and leptin were assessed over the course of the infection. Levels were compared in patients with complicated courses of infection (e.g. infective endocarditis) versus uncomplicated courses of S. aureus bloodstream infection and methicillin-resistant S. aureus Vs methicillin-susceptible S. aureus infection.ResultsSignificantly lower leptin levels (p

Nocardia kroppenstedtii sp. nov., a novel actinomycete isolated from a lung transplant patient with a pulmonary infection

An actinomycete, strain N1286T, isolated from a lung transplant patient with a pulmonary infection, was provisionally assigned to the genus Nocardia. The strain had chemotaxonomic and morphological properties typical of members of the genus Nocardia and formed a distinct phyletic line in the Nocardia 16S rRNA gene tree. It was most closely related to Nocardia farcinica DSM 43665T (99.8% gene similarity) but was distinguished from the latter by a low level of DNA:DNA relatedness. These strains were also distinguished by a broad range of phenotypic properties. On the basis of these data, it is proposed that isolate N1286T (=DSM 45810T = NCTC 13617T) should be classified as the type strain of a new Nocardia species for which the name Nocardia kroppenstedtii is proposed

The MOBILIZE Boston Study: Design and methods of a prospective cohort study of novel risk factors for falls in an older population

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Falls are the sixth leading cause of death in elderly people in the U.S. Despite progress in understanding risk factors for falls, many suspected risk factors have not been adequately studied. Putative risk factors for falls such as pain, reductions in cerebral blood flow, somatosensory deficits, and foot disorders are poorly understood, in part because they pose measurement challenges, particularly for large observational studies.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The MOBILIZE Boston Study (MBS), an NIA-funded Program Project, is a prospective cohort study of a unique set of risk factors for falls in seniors in the Boston area. Using a door-to-door population-based recruitment, we have enrolled 765 persons aged 70 and older. The baseline assessment was conducted in 2 segments: a 3-hour home interview followed within 4 weeks by a 3-hour clinic examination. Measures included pain, cerebral hemodynamics, and foot disorders as well as established fall risk factors. For the falls follow-up, participants return fall calendar postcards to the research center at the end of each month. Reports of falls are followed-up with a telephone interview to assess circumstances and consequences of each fall. A second assessment is performed 18 months following baseline.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of the 2382 who met all eligibility criteria at the door, 1616 (67.8%) agreed to participate and were referred to the research center for further screening. The primary reason for ineligibility was inability to communicate in English. Results from the first 600 participants showed that participants are largely representative of seniors in the Boston area in terms of age, sex, race and Hispanic ethnicity. The average age of study participants was 77.9 years (s.d. 5.5) and nearly two-thirds were women. The study cohort was 78% white and 17% black. Many participants (39%) reported having fallen at least once in the year before baseline.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results demonstrate the feasibility of conducting comprehensive assessments, including rigorous physiologic measurements, in a diverse population of older adults to study non-traditional risk factors for falls and disability. The MBS will provide an important new data resource for examining novel risk factors for falls and mobility problems in the older population.</p

2019 EACTS Expert Consensus on long-term mechanical circulatory support

Long-term mechanical circulatory support (LT-MCS) is an important treatment modality for patients with severe heart failure. Different devices are available, and many-sometimes contradictory-observations regarding patient selection, surgical techniques, perioperative management and follow-up have been published. With the growing expertise in this field, the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (EACTS) recognized a need for a structured multidisciplinary consensus about the approach to patients with LT-MCS. However, the evidence published so far is insufficient to allow for generation of meaningful guidelines complying with EACTS requirements. Instead, the EACTS presents an expert opinion in the LT-MCS field. This expert opinion addresses patient evaluation and preoperative optimization as well as management of cardiac and non-cardiac comorbidities. Further, extensive operative implantation techniques are summarized and evaluated by leading experts, depending on both patient characteristics and device selection. The faculty recognized that postoperative management is multidisciplinary and includes aspects of intensive care unit stay, rehabilitation, ambulatory care, myocardial recovery and end-of-life care and mirrored this fact in this paper. Additionally, the opinions of experts on diagnosis and management of adverse events including bleeding, cerebrovascular accidents and device malfunction are presented. In this expert consensus, the evidence for the complete management from patient selection to end-of-life care is carefully reviewed with the aim of guiding clinicians in optimizing management of patients considered for or supported by an LT-MCS device