Morale of mental health professionals in Community Mental Health Services of a Northern Italian Province.

Publisher version: http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=EPSAIMS: To explore morale of psychiatrists and psychiatric nurses working in Community Mental Health Centres (CMHC) in an Italian Province, and identify influential factors. METHODS: Thirty psychiatrists and 30 nurses working in CMHCs in Modena completed questionnaires on burnout, team identity and job satisfaction. They also answered open questions about different aspects of their work. Answers were subjected to content analysis. Regression analyses were used to identify factors that predicted morale across groups. RESULTS: Psychiatrists had higher scores on emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation. There were no significant differences between the two groups in job satisfaction and job or role perception. Professionals reported positive relationships with patients as the most enjoyable aspects of their job, whilst team conflicts and high workloads were seen as most difficult to cope with. Multivariate analyses showed that being a psychiatrist and perceiving team conflicts as a main cause of pressure in the job predicted higher burnout. CONCLUSIONS: Simple open questions coupled with quantitative measures appear a promising tool to investigate morale of mental health professionals and identify factors determining morale. Research, training and service development should focus on relationship aspects both with patients and within teams to reduce burnout in CMHCs

Burnout in therapy radiographers in the United Kingdom

The 2007 UK National Radiotherapy Advisory Group (NRAG) report indicated the number and type of staff available is one of the ‘rate limiting’ steps in improving productivity in radiotherapy departments. Retaining well trained, satisfied staff, is key to meeting the objectives of the report; burnout is an important factor linked to satisfaction and attrition. Results of a survey measuring burnout in a sample of Radiation Therapists (Therapy Radiographers) are presented and considered against norms for the health sector and burnout in therapists from Canada and the US

LEARNING FROM INTERORGANIZATIONAL PRODUCT FAILURE EXPERIENCE IN THE MEDICAL DEVICE INDUSTRY

Much research examines the causes of product failures such as the Ford Pinto gas tank design. Research also examines the consequences of product failures such as new product introductions resulting from the need to improve failed products. However, little is known about how the causes and consequences of product failures interact across different firms, and generate inter-organizational learning, within the same industry. Specifically, limited research has examined if a firm learns to reduce its own annual rate of product failures (e.g., experiences fewer product-related adverse events) by attending to the product failures and new product introductions of its competitors. In addition, we also do not know (1) how delayed reporting of product failure influences interorganizational learning, and (2) how the introduction of new products by one company impacts another firm’s effort to learn from this competitor’s product failures. To address these gaps, this dissertation develops and tests relationships between (1) inter-organizational learning from product failures, (2) product failure reporting delays, and (3) new product introductions. Regression analysis of 98,576 manufacturing firm-year observations from the medical device industry over a ten-year period (1998 to 2008) supports the proposed model. Specifically, the analysis supported two insights: (1) As expected, a competitor’s reporting delays can inhibit learning from others’ failures by increasing the chance of making poor inferences about the failure. Unexpectedly, however, delays can also improve inter-organizational learning because in reports that have taken longer to file, a clearer understanding of the failure’s cause-effect relationships is developed. iii (2) As expected, a competitor\u27s new product introductions positively impact interorganizational learning by transferring knowledge of product design between firms. Unexpectedly, a competitor’s new product introductions can also negatively impact inter-organizational learning from product failure by distracting the observing firm’s attention away from the competitor’s failures. The thesis contributes to the inter-organizational learning literature by: (1) modelling learning from others’ product failures, (2) highlighting the effects of reporting delays, and (3) showing how others’ new product introductions can distract. This thesis shows that learning from others’ product failures and new product introductions has significant benefits because it prevents serious injury and death among device users

Meeting the Challenge of Burnout

There is growing evidence of the challenge that burnout poses for everyone in health care. But what is the evidence about the causes of burnout, and how can that be translated into effective solutions? Innovative answers to this challenge need to focus more on how to change critical sources of burnout within the job context, rather than simply helping people cope with the negative effects. These proposed solutions must be implemented and evaluated systematically, in order to establish what are truly the best practices for beating burnout. Such an approach will lead to a better vision of healthy workplaces for health care.https://openworks.mdanderson.org/hrc_burnout_presentations/1009/thumbnail.jp

Can Confidence Come Too Soon? Collective Efficacy, Conflict and Group Performance over Time

Groups with a strong sense of collective efficacy set more challenging goals, persist in the face of difficulty, and are ultimately more likely to succeed than groups who do not share this belief. Given the many advantages that may accrue to groups who are confident, it would be logical to advise groups to build a high level of collective efficacy as early as possible. However, we draw on Whyte’s (1998) theory of collective efficacy and groupthink, to predict that when confidence emerges at a high level toward the beginning of a group’s existence, group members may be less likely to engage in process conflict; a form of conflict that may be beneficial in the early phase of a group project. We found support for this prediction in two longitudinal studies of classroom project teams

Burnout in the ICU : potential consequences for staff and patient well-being

Peer reviewedAuthor versio

Emotional labour and wellbeing: what protects nurses?

Although compassionate care has wide-ranging benefits for patients, it can be emotionally demanding for healthcare staff. This may be a particular problem for those with little experience in a caring role. This study utilises the job demands-resources model to examine links between “emotional labour” and emotional exhaustion in student nurses. In line with the triple-match principle—whereby interactive effects are more likely when job demands, resources, and outcomes are within the same qualitative domain—the protective role of emotional support and emotion-focused coping (i.e., emotional venting) in the relationship between emotional labour and exhaustion is also explored. An online questionnaire was completed by 351 student nurses with experience working in healthcare settings. A strong positive relationship was found between emotional labour and emotional exhaustion, and some support was found for the moderating effects of emotional support and emotion-focused coping. Ways to help student and qualified nurses develop the emotional resilience required to protect their wellbeing, while providing high-quality compassionate care to patients are considered

The impact of behavioural skills training on the knowledge, skills and well-being of front line staff in the intellectual disability sector: a clustered randomised control trial

© 2019 MENCAP and International Association of the Scientific Study of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and John Wiley & Sons Ltd Background: Staff with varying backgrounds and educational qualifications can be effectively trained to implement procedures in line with evidence-based practice. Behavioural skills training (BST) is a competency-based training model used to effectively educate a broad selection of professionals, including front line staff, in a range of work-related skills. However, BST has yet to be evaluated in a large group-based experiment. Methods: This study involved a parallel cluster randomised control trial. Six service sites, with a total of 54 participants, were randomised to the intervention condition using the ‘coin toss’ method. The intervention condition used BST to coach intellectual disability staff in reinforcement, systematic prompting, functional communication training and task analysis. Six service sites, with a total of 50 participants, were also randomised to a control condition in which generalised training in behavioural interventions was restricted. Recruited service sites were randomly assigned to the intervention condition (N = 6, n = 54) or the control condition (N = 6, n = 50) at one point in time, immediately after recruitment and before baseline testing took place. Allocations were stratified by service type (residential or day) and geographical region. One member of the research team allocated service sites using the ‘coin toss’ method, and another member, blind to the allocations, decided which experimental arm would receive the intervention and which would be designated as control. It was not possible to mask the intervention from participants, but they were recruited prior to randomisation. Results: Participants in the intervention condition demonstrated statistically significant improvements in their knowledge scores over the study period. Participants in the control condition showed no change or a statistically significant decrease in their knowledge scores. No statistically significant changes to well-being were observed for either group. There was clear evidence of knowledge maintenance, as well as skill acquisition and subsequent generalisation to the workplace environment, among participants in the intervention condition. Participants also evaluated the BST intervention positively. Conclusions: Results support BST as a method for disseminating evidence-based practice to front line staff working with adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities