The drug logistics process: an innovation experience

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to present the latest innovations in the drug distribution processes of hospital companies, which are currently dealing with high inventory and storage costs and fragmented organizational responsibilities. Design/methodology/approach - The literature review and the in-depth analysis of a case study support the understanding of the unit dose drug distribution system and the subsequent definition of the practical implications for hospital companies. Findings - Starting from the insights offered by the case study, the analysis shows that the unit dose system allows hospitals to improve the patient care quality and reduce costs. Research limitations/implications - The limitations of the research are those related to the theoretical and exploratory nature of the study, but from a practical point of view, the work provides important indications to the management of healthcare companies, which have to innovate their drug distribution systems. Originality/value - This paper analyzes a new and highly topical issue and provides several insights for the competitive development of a fundamental sector

Engaging Public Servants: Public Service Motivation, Work Engagement and Work-Related Stress

Considering the ongoing international debate on the role of public administrations in economic systems, public service motivation (PSM) has significantly and increasingly attracted the attention of practitioners and scholars in the past two decades. Following the research streams that have investigated topics of organizational behavior in the public context, this study examines the influence of PSM on the feeling of job satisfaction for public employees. The novelty of the study lies in linking some features of the work context considered to be more prevalent in public organizations with specific job characteristics, seen as determinant antecedents of job satisfaction. Based on two complementary studies conducted in an Italian public administration, this paper shows how PSM influences job satisfaction, job engagement, and life satisfaction. Additionally, the findings display how job engagement affects both job and life satisfaction in these particular contexts. Furthermore, the paper sheds new light on how to deal with such problems and at the same time opens new avenues for investigation

Psychosocial Training: A Case of Self-Efficacy Improvement in an Italian School

The changes that the regulatory institutions have imposed on the Italian school system over the last decades may actually result in contradictory effects at the individual and organizational levels: resistance or indifference on the one hand and training or coping strategies on the other. The paper focuses on the impact of such changes on teachers, as professional workers within public schools and individual participants of change. The paper refers to psychosocial training as a coping strategy, analysing how school teachers deal with work-related stress, and what impact a training intervention might have on some individual dimensions. Subsequently, in the longitudinal study presented, we analysed whether the training intervention conducted was effective in terms of learning and change. The case under consideration is a primary school located in the South of Italy, and the participants in the training and research were 92 female teachers. In order to investigate the effectiveness of the designed and applied training programme, we measured how some important psychological dimensions have changed over time: self-efficacy, job satisfaction and interpersonal strain. According to a sociological learning approach, the results suggest the effectiveness of training programmes as enablers of change and solutions to some change paradoxes; when they respond to the identified needs, they are based on practical activities that require a collective participation, they focus on social relationships and processes and the knowledge is created through the transformation of experience. In the school context, the psychosocial training might represent a solution, if not a prevention strategy, for change management

Essential oils in ocular pathology: an experimental study

Introduction: The antimicrobial activity of essential oils (EOs) has been known for ages; in particular, the EOs of Melaleuca alternifolia, Thymus vulgaris, Mentha piperita, and Rosmarinus officinalis have been used for the treatment of fungal and bacterial infections. Methodology: This study focused on the in vitro cytotoxicity to normal human conjunctiva cells and antimicrobial activity of 20 EOs. Results: The oils tested showed no cytotoxic effect at very low concentrations. Rosmarinus officinalis, Melaleuca alternifolia, and Thymus vulgaris L. red thyme geraniol sel oils had good antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative strains. Conclusions: The results of this study are of great interest and may have a major impact on public health, providing useful tips to optimize the therapeutic use of some natural drugs

Effect of salt reduction on the length of the resting stage of Italian typical dry-cured ham

A pilot batch of dry-cured hams salted with a reduced amount of salt and placed in cold resting rooms for 85, 115, 145, and 160 days, was compared with conventionally processed Parma dry-cured hams (n = 9), taken at the end of resting period (lasting 80–100 days). The protracted time spent in the resting stage of reduced-salt hams, produced an increase in NaCl content of muscle Biceps femoris and a reduction of moisture and water activity (aw), achieving values similar to conventionally processed dry-cured hams. In the experimental condition adopted in this study for reducedsalt hams, the inner aw value, regarded as a safety threshold in traditional Parma dry-cured hams (aw ≤ 0.96 at the end of resting), is attained after 140–150 days of resting stage and about 18–19% weight loss

Perspective Chapter: The Lean Approach in Waste Management. A Case Study

This work presents a manufacturing case study focused on reducing waste in a corrugated paperboard packaging company located in Italy. Corrugated paperboard is the primary material used in transporting, distributing, and storing many products, particularly food productions. The project started in September 2020 with the aim of identifying the causes of some waste along the production process and the consequent planning of actions to reduce them. This project was implemented following the logic of lean manufacturing through the use of the PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) methodology. The quality control tools for continuous improvement of the manufacturing process are used. The results achieved by the plant are significant in terms of economic and environmental sustainability. From an economic point of view, the measures implemented have allowed the plant to achieve, in the period between September 2020 and March 2021, a decrease from 10% to 9% of the percentage of the waste with a cost reduction approximately of € 17,000 for each of the first three months of 2021. From an environmental point of view, waste reduction is one of the objectives underlying the sustainability strategy adopted by the company, which has long been committed to the responsible management of its production processes to reduce its environmental impact