The Workload Pressures Experienced by Nurses at Public Sector Hospitals, Peshawar

OBJECTIVE The study's objective was to assess that nurses working in in-patient wards were under workload stress. METHODOLOGY Descriptive observational research on nurses working in the in-patient ward of a public sector hospital in Peshawar was undertaken in November 2020. Workload Indicators of Staffing Need (WISN), a tool established by the World Health Organization (WHO) to anticipate the number of health staff needed to cope with workload pressure, was used to determine nurses' workload. To ensure the successful implementation of the WISN methodology, three tiers of committees were developed, including steering, technical, and expert committees. Data were also analyzed using the tool. RESULTS Nurses in the hospital's in-patient unit work 1966 hours per year. Health service activities, support, and other activities account for 47.92%, 33.33%, and 18.75% of all nurses' time, respectively, during this time. Four nurses were working in the hospital during the research study; however, WISN estimated that three nurses were needed to cope with the ward's workload pressure, and one nurse was overstaffed at the time. The WISN ratio calculated was 1.33. CONCLUSIONS The study concluded that there was no workload pressure on nurses (negative), and the ward had an extra nurse who could be accommodated in any other department with greater demand

ASSESSING STAFF REQUIREMENTS AND WORKLOAD PRESSURE AMONG DOCTORS WORKING IN OBSTETRICS & GYNECOLOGY DEPARTMENT OF A PUBLIC SECTOR HOSPITAL IN PAKISTAN USING THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION’S WORKLOAD INDICATORS OF STAFFING NEEDS

OBJECTIVE: To assess the doctors’ requirement/workload pressure in Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology (DObGyn) of a public sector hospital for effective planning and management of human resources. METHODS: World Health Organization's Workload Indicators of Staffing Needs (WISN) tool was used in assessing the staffing requirements for doctors working in the DObGyn of a public sector hospital Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Information on working conditions and staffing was acquired by reviewing relevant documents and interviewing key informants. We obtained workload statistics from the hospital from January 1 to December 31, 2015. We assisted a senior technical expert working group in identifying workload components and activity standards, as well as validating both. RESULTS: The average working time needed by the doctors to perform ‘health service activities' was 1952 hours, for which 32 doctors are needed, while there are 36 doctors in the department. ‘Support activities’ accounted for about a fifth of the doctors' annual working hours (-category allowance standards=18.54%), for which 7 doctors were additionally needed. The ‘additional activities' required 3566 hours for which 2 additional doctors were needed. To perform all the three activities, there was a total need of 41 doctors. The workload pressure was also found to be high (WISN ratio: 0.87) on doctors. CONCLUSION: The health services, support and additional activities take up about significant part of the doctors’ time annually. This may require recruitment of a low-cost skill-mix of healthcare personnel to cope with the current workload and/or a health system thinking perspective to reduce the workload indirectly

Breaking the barriers: addressing dental students bullying by medical counterparts and promoting a collaborative learning environment

The study question on the bullying of dental students by their medical counterparts is of the utmost significance due to the policy implications and the necessity for additional research. Despite anecdotal evidence showing instances of competitiveness and exploitation between dental and medical students, there is an absence of comprehensive studies on the incidence and impact of bullying specifically targeted against dental students. This research gap is concerning since bullying has a negative impact on people’s mental health, academic success, and professional development. This review provides an in-depth study of the matter, allowing the policymakers better understand the scope and dynamics of bullying among medical and dental students, to enable them develop specialized policies and programs to address the problem