Work ability as a major determinant of clinical nurses’ quality of life.

Aims and objectives. To examine quality of life determinants among clinical nurses in Croatia with an emphasis on their work ability. Background. An important personnel management challenge is to explore factors that stimulate or hinder the development of individual work ability and quality of life throughout a career. Design. A cross-sectional study. Methods. The study was performed during [2007][2008] 3) for the environmental domain. Conclusions. Satisfactory work ability was a major quality of life determinant in all WHOQL-BREF domains with the highest odds ratio for the physical domain. Maintaining clinical nurses' work ability is an important issue, because it is foundational for the quality of life of the workforce. Relevance to clinical practice. Our study provides quantified estimates of the extent to which a satisfactory WAI score predicts a better score in physical, psychosocial, social relationships and environmental domain of nurses' quality of life. Therefore, maintaining or improving nurses' work ability remains the essential aim of hospital managers

Evaluation Studies on Education in Occupational Safety and Health: Inspiration for Developing Economies

Education and training of students, workers, and professionals are essential for occupational safety and health (OSH). We noticed a lack of debate on how to advance coverage and quality of OSH education given high shortages in developing economies. International discussion on future options might be stimulated by an overview of recent studies. We employed a search of the Cochrane Library and PubMed/MEDLINE databases for articles from the last decade on evaluation of OSH education. We selected 121 relevant studies and 6 Cochrane reviews. Most studies came from the United States, Western Europe, and Asia. Studies from low-income countries were scarce. From a global perspective, the number of evaluation studies found was disappointingly low and the quality needs improvement. Most commonly workers' education was evaluated, less often education of students, supervisors, and OSH professionals. Interactive e-cases and e-learning modules, video conferences, and distance discussion boards are inspiring educational methods, but also participatory workshops and educational plays. Ways to find access to underserved populations were presented and evaluated, such as educational campaigns, farm safety days, and OSH expert-supported initiatives of industrial branch organizations, schools, and primary, community, or hospital-based health care. Newly educated groups were immigrant workers training colleagues, workers with a disease, managers, and family physicians. Developing economies can take advantage of a variety of online facilities improving coverage and quality of education. Blended education including face-to-face contacts and a participatory approach might be preferred. For workers, minor isolated educational efforts are less effective than enhanced education or education as part of multifaceted preventive programs. Collaboration of OSH experts with other organizations offers opportunities to reach underserved worker populations. Increasing international collaboration is a promise for the future. National legislation and government support is necessary, placing OSH education high on the national agenda, with special attention for most needed professionals and for underserved workers in high-risk jobs such as in the informal sector. International support can be boosted by a high-level international task force on education and training, funded programming, and a global online platfor

Improving Education and Training to Reduce the Burden of Occupational Cancer. The Riga-European Association of Schools of Occupational Medicine (EASOM) Statement on Work-Related Cancer

Reducing the burden of occupational cancers (OCs) is currently one of the most challenging Occupational Health (OH) issues. The European Union (EU) has made efforts to improve the existing legal framework and developed specific legislation aimed at reducing the burden of OC. However, available data suggest that OC are underreported. In August 2019, the European Association of Schools of Occupational Medicine (EASOM) adopted a statement that highlighted the importance of improving the education and training of Medical Doctors (MDs) to facilitate improvements in recognizing and reporting OC. To achieve this, EASOM proposes to promote OH education and training of MDs at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, foster harmonization of OH education and teaching standards and programs across EU countries, and enhance cooperation between universities and international scientific associations. Finally, we suggest that occupational data should be recorded in cancer and medical registers. By engaging MDs more fully in the debate about OCs, they will become more aware of the Occupational Physician’s role in reducing the burden of OCs and, furthermore, embed consideration of occupation as a potential cause of cancer into their own practice. These interventions will help promote the implementation of policies and interventions aimed to reduce OC in the workplace

Serological Response to SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine in Hemodialyzed Patients and the Association with Later COVID-19 Positivity

Background: The effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine may differ in hemodialysis patients. The aim of this prospective multicenter study was to determine the degree of serological response to the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in the population of dialysis patients and its association with later SARS-CoV-2 infections. Methods: A blood sample was taken for the determination of COVID-19 serological status (IgG antibodies) in 706 dialysis patients 16 weeks after vaccination with the second dose (Pfizer-BioNTech). Results: Only 314 (44.5%) hemodialyzed patients had a satisfactory response to the COVID-19 vaccine. Eighty-two patients (11.6%) had a borderline response, while 310 patients (43.9%) had an unsatisfactory (negative) post-vaccinal antibody titer. A longer dialysis vintage had an increased odds ratio (OR) of 1.01 for the occurrence of COVID-19 positivity after vaccination. In the group of subsequently positive patients, 28 patients (13.6%) died from complications of COVID-19. We have found differences in mean survival time between patients with and without appropriate responses to vaccination in favor of patients with a satisfactory serological response. Conclusions: The results showed that the dialysis population will not have the same serological response to the vaccine as the general population. The majority of dialysis patients did not develop a severe clinical picture or die at the time of positivity for COVID-19