Cross-understanding and trust formation within medical emergency intervention teams

AbstractThe present study investigates elements of trust and cross-understanding within medical emergency intervention teams. Individual and group interviews were conducted with paramedics working for a medical emergency intervention service. Our participants were asked to describe their experience of working for this service and being part of the intervention teams and emphasize on trust and knowledge sharing and how these affect team performance. Data analysis revealed competency-based trust is considered to be one of the key factors for team performance. Components of cross-understanding were also identified and were associated with speed and efficiency of the intervention and preferences in team membership

Working as a Healthcare Professional and Wellbeing During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Work Recovery Experiences and Need for Recovery as Mediators

Considering the high impact strain that the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has put on medical personnel worldwide, identifying means to alleviate stress on healthcare professionals and to boost their subjective and psychological wellbeing is more relevant than ever. This study investigates the extent to which the relationships between the status of working in healthcare and the subjective and psychological wellbeing are serially mediated by work recovery experiences and the need for recovery. Data were collected from 217 Romanian employees (44 health professionals and 173 employees from other domains) using a cross-sectional design with self-report instruments, during the first stage of the nationwide lockdown. The results of the serial mediation analyses revealed that working in the medical field is indirectly related to subjective and psychological wellbeing through the following: (i) mastery experiences and (ii) mastery experiences as an antecedent of the need for recovery. As such, our findings indicate that (i) working in the medical field is, in fact, linked to healthcare professionals' subjective and psychological wellbeing, and they provide some input on (ii) how recovery experiences and the need for recovery intervene in these relationships. Based on these findings, theoretical, methodological, and practical implications were suggested, and future research directions were proposed to maximize healthcare professionals' wellbeing

Overcoming R angst. The tools that help statisticians learn and use R effectively

This paper makes a review of the most popular graphical user interfaces (GUIs) in order to help new and unexperienced users learn and use R. Although R is free and benefits from state-of-the-art implementations of statistical algorithms and methods, it is not the first choice among statistical software users. This can be attributable to a lack of user-friendly interfaces similar to the ones available for other statistical packages. However, there are several GUIs that enable R users to use it quickly and effectively without having to use interactive programming and learn R code. For standard statistical analysis, RCommander proves to be the best solution that not only offers standard functionalities that are similar to commercial statistical software, but allows users to visualize, use, and customize the codes that perform standard data and statistical procedures, thus helping them to effectively learn R. For more advanced users, there are two main specialized GUIs RStudio, which facilitates the use of R through the use of scripts and generation of interactive applications and reports, and Rattle, specialized for data mining procedures and algorithms

Seeing the Hidden Part of the Iceberg: Gauging the Real Dimension of International Migration

The reliability and comparability of international migration statistics belong to the most important statistical issues due to the importance of correct dimensioning of the migration flows and stocks for effective and timely design of effective policy measures. This paper presents an assessment of the migration statistics provided by Eurostat, reveals the most prominent discrepancies between stock and flow data, prepares a summary of vital issues affecting both quality and completeness of the migration data, and identifies certain solutions in order to improve data comparability, reliability and completeness. There is no one-size-fits-all solution, but an eclectic mix which extends the use of administrative and private data, matches data coming from distinct sources, harmonizes the way in which data is compiled and reported by different countries, matches observed flows with (demographic) stock-based estimates, provides consistent estimates of the bilateral migration flows between countries, and improves the measurement of temporary and illegal/undeclared migration

The Basic Social Process in the Culture of the Self-Sufficient Organization. An Application of Grounded Theory

The hereby research encompasses the results of an analysis conducted based on the grounded theory methodology over the qualitative data that were gathered through a national project regarding the organizational development of the mental health institutions. After the finalization of the project, the interest for the grounded theory methodology and the reconsideration of the organizational development notion and of the role of the consultant in this process have all lead to a re-analysis of the qualitative data procured in one of the hospitals included in the project. Our approach resulted in an explanatory model of how the organization works and the factors that can affect various changes during its development. This explanatory model holds at its center a basic psychological and social process that represents the perception of the organizational system as closed on certain coordinates, although structurally open. This very perception and the behavior of maintaining the system within closed coordinates allow only for a dual functioning and so the natural result is the emergence of a self-sufficient culture. The central feature of this particular culture is the replacement of the formal organization and its goal of caring for the mentally challenged with an organization reduced to its sole goal of survival.</p

An Assessment of the First Round Impact of Innovation Industries on Europe’s Regional Economies

This paper attempts to give an economic perspective of the impact of the innovation industries. The estimation method used is that of panel data modelling, based on data from regions from European countries, including countries from Central and Eastern Europe, for which exploratory analysis was conducted on the effects of employment counts, number of companies, and wages per capita, in computer and related activities and research and development industries. Higher employment in both industries have positive effects on total employment and GDP/Capita. No sizable displaced workers effects can be seen, as higher employment and wages/capita in innovation industries are accompanied by higher employment and lower unemployment at regional level. Positive effects can be observed for both young and mature workers, and are stronger for the latter, pointing out to strong potential spillover effects. Number of local companies is not a relevant indicator for assessing the influence of research and development activities. All these effects point to the sustainability of innovation industries, which not only lead to increase of GDP per capita, but also show positive spillover effects, increase employment and reduce unemployment. The results for countries from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) have been to some extent less significant, due to several objective factors. The results should also be viewed in the framework of the transition and catch-up period that characterizes the evolution of the CEE economies. The positive effects of strong growth are primarily reflected in GDP growth, and it may be that it takes a while for these effects to propagate in the rest of the economy in terms of job creation and sizable reduction of unemployment. While the current analysis revealed some of the first-round impacts of the innovation industries, much work remains to be done in matching these effects with other determinants of employment and unemployment, which can improve existing models with relevant empirical elements

A Regional Analysis of Romanian Migration Determinants

This paper analyses the determinants of Romanian emigration considering two perspectives: first, the perspective of business environment and labour market and, second, the perspective of social and economic conditions. The analysis uses data from National Statistical Institute and Romanian Register of Commerce for all 42 counties of Romania for the year 2011 and consists of three linear regression models whose dependent variable was the total number of Romanian emigrants declared at 2011 Romanian Census. Results have shown that international migration is strongly correlated with national labour policy. The fact that newly created enterprises have a positive influence on migration show that Romanian business environment is not able to offer competitive salaries and/or working conditions