Psychometric Properties of the Persian Version of Consideration of Future Safety Consequence (CFSC) Scale

Background: Personality traits, due to having a relative stability, are important factors for predicting employees’ safety behavior. Consideration of Future Safety Consequence (CFSC) is a personality trait that was recently introduced to predict the safety behaviors. The purpose of this study was to translate and assess the psychometric properties of the Persian version of the CFSC scale. Methods: In the first stage of this cross-sectional study, the instrument was prepared by the forward-backward forward translation technique and evaluated by 487 employees of a gas refinery. The validity of the scale was evaluated through face, concurrent, validity, and construct validity. The safety performance questionnaire was used to examine the concurrent validity. The reliability of the questionnaire was evaluated using internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha coefficient) and test-retest. Results: Content validity index was 0.885. The results of exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the CFSC scale had a single factor. Also, Pearson correlation showed a positive correlation between the safety performance and the Persian version of CFSC (R=0.401). Test-retest reliability and internal consistency were calculated as 0.86 and 0.82, respectively. Conclusion: It is concluded that the psychometric properties of the Persian version of CFSC scale are desirable and can be used in future studie

Strategies for Controlling Violence Against Healthcare Workers: Application of Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process and Fuzzy Additive Ratio Assessment

Objective: The present study aimed to identify and prioritize control measures of violence against Healthcare Workers (HWs) using the Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process (FAHP) and Fuzzy Additive Ratio Assessment (F-ARAS). Background: Occupational violence is a pervasive problem in healthcare centers. Reducing violence against staff is one of the challenges for healthcare managers. Method: At the first stage, the most common criteria and control options for violence against HWs were identified and extracted using a review of previous studies. At the next stage, criteria for selection of control measures were prioritized using the FAHP. Finally, control measures of workplace violence were prioritized using the F-ARAS method. Results: Results of the FAHP indicated that safety and efficiency were the most important criteria. Results of the F-ARAS also revealed that increasing number of security personnel and training staff were the best recommendations for controlling violence against HWs. Conclusion: Based on expert\u27s opinions, administrative measures are the optimal ways to control violence at health centers; therefore, it is suggested that violence control programs should be more focused on administrative measures. Implications For Nursing Management: These results could assist nursing management to take best strategies for controlling occupational violence based on multi-criteria decision-making methods

Occupational Stressors Among Firefighters: Application of Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM)Techniques

Background: Firefighters are exposed to a wide range of occupational stressors due to the nature of their job. Multicriteria decision-making technique (MCDM) is a method for identifying, evaluating, and preventing occupational stressors among firefighters. The purpose of this study was to identify and prioritize the occupational stressors among firefighters using the fuzzy delphi method (FDM) and fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (FAHP). Methods: This qualitative-descriptive study was carried out in two stages. First, the most important occupational stressors of firefighters were identified and screened using a systematic review of scientific references and expert opinions based on the FDM. Then, all of the screened stressors were weighted and prioritized by the FAHP using the opinions of experts. All results were analyzed using Excel software. Results: Among, the 52 occupational stressors of firefighters identified in the first stage, 27 stressors were selected to enter into the FAHP. The FAHP results showed that among the four main dimensions, the weight of managerial factors (0.358) was more than other dimensions. The overall result of the study, regardless of the stressors’ main dimensions showed that the most important stressors among firefighters were financial strain due to inadequate pay, fear of explosion at incident scenes, toxic smoke, and gases produced at fires and lack of attention given to job safety by management, respectively. Conclusion: According to the results of the study, most occupational stressors of the firefighters are caused by organizational factors. Therefore, the implementation of management strategies to reduce the occupational stress of firefighters is recommended

Occupational stress among nurses and pre-hospital emergency staff

Healthcare professionals, especially nurses and pre-hospital emergency (PHE) staff, are influenced by many stressors due to their responsibility to provide comfort as well as care and treatment of patients. The aim of the present study was to identify and rank the occupational stressors in nurses and PHE staff using Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) method. In this cross-sectional study, occupational stress factors in nurses and PHE staffs were identified and ranked by 30 experts, using FAHP method. Occupational stress factors were collected by General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), Job Stress Questionnaires as well as a literature review. Among the occupational stress factors in nurses, the highest scores were related to “Incompatibility between work schedule and life conditions” (0.03986) and “Being criticized by supervisors” (0.03723), respectively. The most common stress factors in PHE staff were related to “Care of patients with critical health conditions” (0.07258), “High number of missions” (0.07056), respectively. The overall results of this study showed that managerial factors and factors related to patient care are the most important causes of occupational stress among nurses and PHE staff. These factors should be considered in the implementation of control strategies for reducing and managing occupational stress

Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of the COVID-19 epidemic and associated factors for mortality in Golestan province, Iran: A retrospective cohort study

Background. We aimed to further clarify the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of 2019-nCoV pneumonia and risk factors associated for mortality. Methods. In this study, we included inpatient with acute respiratory distress syndrome at Golestan Hospitals who had been discharged or had died in 2020. Epidemiological, and clinical data were extracted from electronic medical records and compared between recovered and died cases. We used multiple logistic regression methods to explore the risk factors associated with in-hospital death. Results. Overall 2,835 acute respiratory distress syndrome patients were included in this study, and 874 (30.83) were positive for 2019-nCoV. Five hundred and sixty-three patients (19.86) died, 1,687 patients (59.51) were recovered. Of the total deaths, only 288 (10.15) were attributed to COVID-19. The most common symptoms at onset of illness were respiratory distress 1,795 (63.32%), fever 1,601 (56.47%), dry cough 1,595 (56.26%), sore throat 445 (15.70%), and myalgia 342 (12.06%). One thousand and twelve (35.7%) had 1 or more coexisting medical conditions. In multiple logistic regression analysis, risk factors associated with the death included older age OR (Odds Ratio) = 1.03; 95% CI; 1.02-1.04, blood oxygen level (SPO2 < 93%) (OR = 2.44; 95% CI; 1.79-3.31), comorbidities (OR = 2.15; 95% CI; 1.62-2.84), respiratory distress (OR = 1.74; 95% CI; 1.28-2.37), and headache (OR = 0.44 95% CI; 0.21-0.92). Conclusions. The 2019-nCoV infection caused collections of severe respiratory illness and was associated to a high ratio of hospitalization in ICU and high mortality. Older age and comorbidities were associated with more risk of death among patients with 2019-nCoV. © Copyright by Pacini Editore Srl, Pisa, Italy