Sleep and Safety Improve Physicians' Psychological Functioning at Work

Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic caused a massive healthcare crisis. To investigate what makes healthcare system resilient and physicians better at coping during a crisis situation, our study investigated the role risk exposure, such as working at COVID-19 entry points, sleep, and perceived work safety played in reducing negative psychological functioning at work, as well as their effects on adverse and potentially fatal incidences of compromised safety and medical errors. Methods: Our study included a representative sample of 1,189 physicians, from all 12 Slovenian regions and all medical occupations, as registered by the Medical Chamber of Slovenia. For the purposes of this study, a Questionnaire of Sleep and Psychological Functioning at Work was developed in the form of an online retrospective self-report. Additionally, our study included items assessing physicians perceived work safety and frequency of negative outcomes (compromised safety and medical errors) during the first month of the Covid-19 epidemic. Results: Physicians working at COVID-19 entry points were more likely to experience night awakening, slept less than 5 h per night, experience nightmares, and had lower levels of psychological functioning in comparison to other physicians. Both hypothesized models showed adequate fit. A higher score on the sleep scale (sleep quantity, sleep quality, and shorter sleep latency) has been shown to predict lower levels of negative psychological functioning at work and, indirectly, reduced incidences of compromised safety and medical errors. Contrary to our expectations, no significant direct effect of sleep on compromised safety and medical errors was found. When perceived work safety was added into the model, the model showed improved fit, with perceived work safety predicting better sleep, less negative psychological functioning at work, and less compromised safety. Conclusion: Sleep and safety both play an important role in reducing negative psychological functioning at work and, by doing so, decreasing the negative and potentially fatal incidents during the pandemic, such as compromised safety and medical errors. Further, research is needed to see how medical guidelines can be updated to ensure physicians sleep and that their safety is protected

Qualitative study on eco-anxiety and eco-depression

The study of eco-anxiety looks into the operationalisation of the concept, how do people experience eco-anxiety, how do they cope with it and how it influences their well-being. Our research also looks into eco-depression and how it can be operationalised. We will perform a qualitative research study to identify what represents the eco-anxiety and eco-depression. The project will use the form of semi-structured interviews. The inductive and deductive coding will take place. We are proposing a structure including emotional, behavioural, cognitive and physiological experience of eco-anxiety and eco-depression

Systematic Literature Review: Inter‐Reletedness of Innovation, Resilience and Sustainability ‐ Major, Emerging Themes and Future Research Directions

Rationale Research has been using resilience, sustainability and innovation interchange- ably, but there is a lack of research that would provide an insight into how they are related to each other. This systematic literature review thus investigates research on sustainability, innovation and resilience, how they are related to each other, and also identifies major, emerging themes and future research directions on these topics. Procedure We used Bibliometrix software to visually describe articles with the highest number of citations, to present the thematic evolution of the field and present a historical map. The triangulation and thematic groups were identified and compared by two inde- pendent researchers. Results Resilience is involved in processes, sustainability is concerned with the out- comes, while innovation represents a pathway to achieving both resilience and sustainabil- ity. Resilience can ensure the provision of the system functions in the face of shocks and stresses and sustainability can ensure the adequate performance of the system in general. Three major themes were identified, ‘socio-ecological systems’, ‘transformational innova- tion’ and ‘political governance’, as well as three emerging themes, ‘food security and agri- culture’, ‘businesses and finance’ and ‘interconnected systems’. There is a need for longi- tudinal, multi-scale and interdisciplinary research that would explore various aspects of integrating these concepts. Conclusion There is a great overlap between the concepts of resilience, sustainability and innovation. Future research could study these concepts in relation to each other