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High Workloads (high + workload)
Selected AbstractsWhat do Swedish physiotherapists feel about research?PHYSIOTHERAPY RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL, Issue 1 2002A survey of perceptions, attitudes, engagement, intentions Abstract Background and Purpose Although the past decades have witnessed an increase in physiotherapy research, there remains a concern about the translation of research into clinical practice, a problem that to date has attracted relatively limited interest. The aim of the present study was to investigate perceptions and attitudes toward research, intentions to perform as well as actual engagement in research-related activities in a sample of Swedish physiotherapists. Method A cross-sectional design was used, and 343 Swedish physiotherapists responded to a postal questionnaire (representing a response rate of 61.7%). Questions about research-related activities were measured on a Likert-type scale, whereas questions referring to attitudes toward research used a semantic differential scale. Results The physiotherapists considered research as an important part of their professional role. Reading research literature was perceived as the most important research activity, and all mean attitude ratings were on the positive side of the scale. High workload and lack of time were the most commonly mentioned barriers to participation in research-related activities. Although Swedish physiotherapists read a large variety of journals, they most frequently read in their own language. Conclusions The physiotherapists in this study were generally positive about research, which offers hope for an increased use of evidence-based practice in the future. In order to facilitate this development, easily accessible summaries could be provided. A cultural change within the profession, allowing more time for reading and discussing research reports should be encouraged. Copyright © 2002 Whurr Publishers Ltd. [source] Work Relationships in Telephone Call Centres: Understanding Emotional Exhaustion and Employee WithdrawalJOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES, Issue 4 2002Stephen Deery This paper examines the nature of employment and the conditions of work in five telephone call centres in the telecommunications industry in Australia. Call centre work typically requires high levels of sustained interpersonal interaction with customers which can lead to burnout and employee withdrawal. Customer service staff can also become targets of customer hostility and abuse. In addition, this form of work tends to involve extensive employee monitoring and surveillance with little job discretion or variety of tasks. The paper draws upon survey data from 480 telephone service operators to identify the factors that are associated with emotional exhaustion and the frequency of absence amongst the employees. A modelling of the data using LISREL VIII revealed that a number of job and work-setting variables affected the level of emotional exhaustion of employees. These included interactions with the customer, a high workload and a lack of variety of work tasks. Moreover, higher rates of absence were associated with emotional exhaustion. [source] MODIFIED ENDOSCOPIC CONGO RED TEST: A RAPID METHOD TO VISUALIZE GASTRIC ACID SECRETIONDIGESTIVE ENDOSCOPY, Issue 1 2003Ervin Tóth Background:, The conventional endoscopic Congo red test (CRT) permits visualization of acid-producing mucosa. However, the CRT has not been disseminated into clinical endoscopy, which is partly due to the substantial prolongation of the gastroscopic examination. Methods:, Five healthy volunteers and 551 patients were included in a study designed to develop a more rapid approach based on the CRT. In this modified endoscopic Congo red test (MCRT), 0.2 µg/kg of pentagastrin was given intravenously to stimulate gastric acid production. The technical feasibility, tolerability, reproducibility, and inter- and intra-observer reliability of the MCRT were evaluated. Results:, The MCRT was as effective as the CRT (i.e. 6 µg/kg of pentagastrin was administered intramuscularly) in visualizing the extent of acid-producing gastric mucosa. Moreover, the MCRT significantly reduced the duration of examination by 63% (almost 8 min), compared to the CRT. Conclusions:, This MCRT is a simple, inexpensive, well-tolerated and reproducible method with low inter- and intra-observer variability and is well suited for endoscopy units with high workloads. [source] Employee affective and behavioral reactions to the spatial density of physical work environmentsHUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, Issue 1 2005Douglas R. May This field study of a medical clinic found that employees in spatially dense work areas (i.e., those with little space available per person) experienced higher levels of perceived crowding, transfer intentions, and tardiness, as well as lower work area satisfaction, than employees in low-density areas. Crowding perceptions explained the relations between spatial density and the measures of work area satisfaction and tardiness. Finally, when employees had high workloads and their jobs required physical movement, spatial density had weaker relations to crowding perceptions and area satisfaction than in other conditions. Implications of these findings for human resource practitioners are discussed. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Provider-perceived barriers and facilitators for ischaemic heart disease (IHD) guideline adherenceJOURNAL OF EVALUATION IN CLINICAL PRACTICE, Issue 2 2004Gail M. Powell-Cope PhD ARNP Abstract Rationale, aims and objectives, Clinical practice guidelines have become a standard way of implementing evidence-based practice, yet research has shown that clinicians do not always follow guidelines. Method, As part of a larger study to test the effects of an intervention on provider adherence to ischaemic heart disease (IHD) guidelines, we conducted five focus groups at three Veterans Administration Medical Centers with 32 primary care providers, cardiologists, and internists to identify key barriers and facilitators to adherence of the guidelines. Using content analysis, responses were grouped into categories. Results, The main perceived advantages of using the IHD guidelines were improvements in quality and the cost of care. Perceived barriers were the lack of ability of guidelines to manage the care of any one individual patient, the difficulty of accessing guidelines, and high workloads with many complex patients. While providers agreed on the benefits of aspirin, beta-blockers and angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors, barriers for use of these medications were lack of consensus about contraindications, difficulty in providing follow-up during medication titration, and lack of patient adherence. Sources of influence for guideline use were: professional cardiology organizations, colleagues, mainly cardiologists, and key cardiology journals. However, most providers acknowledged that following guidelines was a personal practice decision. Conclusions, While results validated the influences of using clinical practice guidelines, our results highlight the importance of ascertaining guideline-specific barriers for building effective interventions to improve provider adherence. An advisory panel reviewed results and, using a modified nominal group process, chose implementation strategies targeting key barriers. [source] Levels of empathy in undergraduate occupational therapy studentsOCCUPATIONAL THERAPY INTERNATIONAL, Issue 3 2010Ted Brown Abstract Empathy is an important attribute for occupational therapists in establishing rapport and in better understanding their clients. However, empathy can be compromised by high workloads, personal stressors and pressures to demonstrate efficacy. Occupational therapists also work with patients from a variety of diagnostic groups. The objective of this study was to determine the extent of empathy and attitudes towards clients amongst undergraduate occupational therapy students at one Australian University. A cross-sectional study was undertaken using a written survey of the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy (JSPE) and the Medical Condition Regard Scale. Overall, a strong level of empathy was reported amongst students. Four medical conditions that occupational therapists work with (stroke, cerebral palsy, traumatic brain injury and depression) were held in high regard. Substance abuse, however, was held in comparatively low regard. Overall, the year of study appeared to have no significant impact on the students' empathy. Despite having a lower reported empathy level than found in health professions from other studies using the JSPE, occupational therapy students were found to have a good level of empathy. Of concern, however, was the bias reported against the medical condition of substance abuse, highlighting that the there may be a need to reinforce that patients from this diagnostic group are equally deserving of quality care irrespective of their clinical condition. Recommendations for future research include completing a longitudinal study of occupational therapy students' empathy levels and investigating the empathy levels of occupational therapists working with different client groups. Limitations of the study include the convenience sampling of occupational therapy students enrolled at one university which limits the generalizability of the results to groups of participants with similar characteristics. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Recruitment and retention issues for occupational therapists in mental health: Balancing the pull and the pushAUSTRALIAN OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY JOURNAL, Issue 2 2010Justin Newton Scanlan Background/aim:,Recruitment and retention issues for mental health occupational therapists have been the subject of significant concern for many years. This paper describes recruitment and retention issues as reported by mental health occupational therapists employed by a large Area Health Service in metropolitan Sydney. Method:,Thirty-eight mental health occupational therapists (response rate 84%) completed a survey in the first half of 2008. Key themes investigated were: overall satisfaction; attractive elements of positions; positive aspects of positions; constraints of positions; factors associated with leaving positions; supervision; professional development; career pathways; and interest in and access to management positions. Results:,Key elements that kept respondents in positions included the nature of the work, being in a supportive team and the opportunity to use occupational therapy skills. Elements that prompted people to consider leaving positions were the desire for new and different types of work, a desire to work closer to home, insufficient time or high workloads, feeling ,bored' or ,stale', organisational change or juggling multiple demands, working in unsupportive or dysfunctional teams and family or other personal factors. Conclusions:,The results supported the development of a ,push and pull' conceptualisation of recruitment and retention issues, including job-related (intrinsic) and non-job-related (extrinsic) issues. This conceptualisation allows organisations to closely examine factors that attract practitioners to positions and those that support or damage staff tenure. [source] | |||||||||||||