Factors Influencing Turnover Intention of Physicians in Deprived Areas

Background: The lack of specialist physicians is a major concern in developing countries, especially in deprived cities. Objectives: This study aimed to identify the predictive variables of the turnover intention of physicians working in an undeveloped and deprived city in Iran. Methods: Participants were 100 physicians working at North Khorasan University of Medical Sciences, Iran. The data were collected using a standard questionnaire of Turnover Intention, Interpersonal Conflict, Work-Family Conflict, Work Overload, and Organizational Support scales. We proposed a hybrid methodology to identify factors influencing turnover intention, which combines clustering and classification methods. RStudio 1.1, SPSS Clementine 12, and SPSS 22 programs were used for data analysis. After data clustering, we made a CART decision tree model for each cluster and used the variable importance feature of SPSS Clementine to discover the factors influencing turnover intention in each cluster. Results: We found two significant clusters of physicians’ turnover intention. In both clusters, interpersonal conflict (work ambiguity and work conflict) was the most important predictor of physician turnover intention, but physicians in the first cluster compared to the second had a higher turnover intention. In cluster 1, work overload, organizational support, and work-family conflict were respectively the predictors of physician turnover intention and in cluster 2, organizational support, work-family conflict, and final work overload were respectively the predictors of physician turnover intention. Conclusion: Cultural differences and the resulting interpersonal conflicts are the most important predictors of physician turnover intention in deprived areas. Turnover intention predictions of physicians with a longer work experience are different from that of others, and human resource managers must implement appropriate strategies to keep physicians in the deprived areas

An Analysis of Nurses Ethical Behavior toward Persons Accompanying a Patient Based on the Theory of Virtue Ethics

Introduction: Since the concepts of ethics and morality are deeply rooted in professional nursing, upholding such concepts in this sensitive profession would not simply be achieved by developing new codes of ethics. Thus, descriptive researches in different fields capable of exploring latent ethical aspects of the relevant field are deemed essential. Therefore, the main objective of the current research is to explore and identify the ethical components of nurses' behavior towards the persons accompanying the patients at public hospitals of Mashhad, Iran. Method: The current paper is a descriptive research drawing upon the strategy of content analysis. Semi-structured deep interviews were used to collect data, and in order to analyze the collected data, descriptive content analysis was employed. the research population included all the exemplar nurses at public hospitals in Mashhad. The study samples consisted of 14 nurses. Results: The 4 main themes of respect for persons accompanying a patient, informational support, magnanimity, and empathy, and 13 sub-categories emerged from data analysis. Conclusion: As revealed by the findings, virtuous nurses not only felt responsible for the patients, but also for persons accompanying them and their relatives. These nurses had done all in their power to understand the gravity of their situation and console them, and offer them counsel in order to pull through this stressful phase. Moreover, magnanimity towards the persons accompanying the patient was a component, abstracted in this research, which illustrated the virtuous spirit of the nurses. Keywords: Ethics, Ethical behavior, Nurses behavior with the persons accompanying a patient, Theory of virtue ethic

Nurses’ turnover intention a comparative study between Iran and Poland

BackgroundTurnover rates among nurses are much higher than in other professions. This poses a challenge for health managers in all countries. The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors affecting nurses’ turnover and the differences in this area between Iran and Poland.Material and MethodsIn this descriptive cross-sectional study, the population consisted of nurses working in state-owned hospitals in Poland (N = 165) and in Iran (N = 200). Data were collected using the Turnover Intention Scale, the Job Satisfaction Scale, the Work–Family Conflict Scale and the Workplace Support Scale. Use was made of the AMOS 24 and SPSS 22 software for data analysis.ResultsThe results showed that the predicted factors of nurses’ turnover intention in Poland and Iran were different. Workplace support and job satisfaction can reduce turnover intention among Polish nurses while the work–family conflict influences nurses’ turnover intention in Iran.ConclusionsProviding a flexible work plan in Iranian hospitals and enhancing teamwork and improving the spirit of cooperation in Polish hospitals could reduce nurses’ turnover intention in these 2 countries

The impact of ethical climate on turnover intentions and organizational performance

This paper investigates the impact of ethical climate on turnover intentions and organizational performance based on the implementation of various techniques. The interview method was used to identify the factors of input and output. Required data were collected to measure performance of firms based on some documents. The survey method was used to study the ethical climate and turnover intentions. The impact of ethical climate on turnover intentions and organizational performance was evaluated. The information was analyzed based on different software packages including Deap2.1, SPSS.18 (PASW) and Lisrel 8.1. The preliminary results indicate that organizational ethical climate positively impacts on sales representative performance and negatively influences on turnover Intentions. The highest positively correlations were between sales practices and organizational performance (r=0.48) and the highest negatively correlations were between sales practices and turnover intentions(r=-0.72)

Stress among nurses from countries variously affected by the COVID-19 pandemic – results collected in Poland and Iran

BackgroundNursing involves numerous stressful situations, such as overwork, night shifts, responsibility for the patients’ health, rapid pace of work, emotional demands, contact with suffering individuals, and patients’ aggressive behaviors. The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is an additional demand on the already demanding profession. Thus, the aim of the current study was to assess the character of the relationship between overwork and subjectively experienced stress, taking into account the moderating role of contact with patients and work in facilities dedicated for COVID-19 patients, and the strategies of coping with stress, including resilience, in countries affected by the pandemic to various degrees.Material and MethodsThe study was carried out on 151 Iranian and 158 Polish nurses at the beginning of June 2020. The following research tools were used: the Overwork Climate Scale, the Brief COPE, the Resilience Scale, and the Perception of Stress Questionnaire. The participants were also asked about their contacts with patients infected with COVID-19, and work in facilities dedicated for such patients.ResultsPolish and Iranian nurses reported similar levels of overwork, but they differed with respect to the level of subjectively experienced stress and they used different coping strategies to various degrees. Contact with patients infected with COVID-19 and work in facilities dedicated for such patients also moderated the relationship between overwork climate and resilience.ConclusionsStress levels among Iranian and Polish nurses during the pandemic are different and are related to the intensity of contact with patients infected with COVID-19. Culture and context have an important impact on coping strategies which requires further studies with a multinational approach

Utilizing QFD model to determine quality characteristics of the products and priority needs of customers in the medical industry products (Case Study: Plasma seat product in mashhad`s Sahateb medical equipment company)

Quality Function Deployment (QFD) as one of the quality engineering methods; originates from market study and product or service customers identification, where by determining their needs; tries to involve them in all stages of product or service development. This study uses QFD method to apply customers’ criteria in production of Coach Plasma in Mashhad`s Sahateb Company. Coach Plasma is used for healthy bloodletting. The proposed study of this paper designed and distributed a questionnaire, which includes identification & determination of customers’ needs and investigation of their satisfaction of manufactured products, while looking for technical and engineering characteristics related to their needs. The Coach Plasma costumers are categorized into two groups of local and external customers. Data collection was done based on available documents, experts opinions, structured interview with managers and questionnaire. Customers’ needs were studied in QFD teams. Collecting essential information such as needs importance degree and competitive benchmarking of customer`s needs, the weight of each need has been evaluated. In this research, House of Quality was used from first matrix of QFD leading to estimation of engineering & technical characteristics in order to enter to the quality deployment matrix. Take a look at obtained results, we could mention the role of each of these external factors in satisfaction of Sahateb Company customers and technical characteristics of the company in providing these factors and the prioritization of the customer's needs

Stress and coping during the COVID-19 pandemic among martial arts athletes – a cross-cultural study

Background and Study Aims: Success in sports among athletes on a similar level of skill can depend on individual differences in experienced stress and coping strategies. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected many areas of life, including sports. The aim of the current study was to verify two hypotheses: (H1) emotional tension, external stress, and intrapsychic stress among martial arts athletes will be significantly higher during the height of the pandemic than in the pre-pandemic period; (H2) martial arts athletes will less frequently use problem-focused strategies of coping with stress, such as active coping and planning, during the height of the pandemic. Materials and Methods: The study used the Perception of Stress Questionnaire measuring the following dimensions of stress: emotional tension, external stress, and intrapsychic stress. Coping strategies were measured with the Brief COPE questionnaire distinguishing 14 coping strategies. Seven hundred and eighty-one athletes (including 116 martial arts athletes) from Poland, Romania, and Slovakia took part in the study in the pre-pandemic period. During the height of the pandemic, athletes from Hungary, Indonesia, Iran, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, and Spain took part in the study (n = 1032, including 396 martial arts athletes). Results: Higher levels of emotional tension, external stress, and intrapsychic stress were observed among Polish and Romanian martial arts athletes in the pre-pandemic period. Stress levels were higher before the pandemic than during its peak, when the lowest levels of emotional tension and external stress were reported by martial arts athletes in Romania, and the highest – in Lithuania and Spain. On the other hand, the lowest levels of intrapsychic stress were reported by martial arts athletes in Poland, and the highest – in Lithuania. Key gender-dependent strategies of coping with stress were identified. Male and female martial arts athletes used denial, focus on and venting of emotions, substance use, and acceptance. Additionally, men used self-blame and women used behavioural disengagement. Conclusions: The effects of the pandemic do not involve an increase in subjectively perceived psychological stress among martial arts athletes from countries variously affected by the pandemic. The use of maladaptive coping strategies – denial, substance use, venting negative emotion etc. – allows for lowering the subjectively experienced stress (the emotional tension, external stress and intrapsychic stress) of martial arts athletes. It was the use of these strategies which facilitated lower stress levels. The second hypothesis, that martial arts athletes will less frequently use problem-focused strategies of coping with stress, such as active coping and planning, during the height of the pandemic, was confirmed