Third-year pharmacy students' work experience and attitudes and perceptions of the pharmacy profession.
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OBJECTIVES: To describe PharmD students' work experiences and activities; examine their attitudes towards their work; examine perceptions of preceptor pharmacists they worked with; and determine important issues associated with career preference. METHODS: A written survey was administered to third-year doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) students at 8 colleges and schools of pharmacy in the Midwest. RESULTS: Five hundred thirty-three students (response rate = 70.4%) completed the survey instrument. Nearly 100% of PharmD students reported working in a pharmacy by the time their advanced pharmacy practice experiences (APPEs) began. Seventy-eight percent reported working in a community pharmacy, and 67% had worked in a chain community pharmacy. For all practice settings, students reported spending 69% of their time on activities such as compounding, dispensing, and distribution of drug products. CONCLUSIONS: Most students are working in community pharmacy (mainly chain) positions where their primary function is traditional drug product dispensing and distribution. Having a controllable work schedule was the variable most strongly associated with career choice for all students. (+info)
Reviewing evidence on complex social interventions: appraising implementation in systematic reviews of the health effects of organisational-level workplace interventions.
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Re-engineering opportunities in clinical research using workflow analysis in community practice settings.
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In this paper we examine frequently performed clinical research activities with the objective of identifying aspects of workflow that could be amenable to informatics-based re-engineering. This paper is part of a series of studies under the NIH Roadmap initiative, which examines workflow of clinical research in community practices. We describe three common work activities, detailing the main actors involved, the tools used and the challenges faced. These activities illustrate inefficiencies in the clinical research workflow which include: a) lack of supporting tools to perform routine work activities, b) redundancy, low reuse of data and poor interoperability between systems and c) the fragmented and distributed nature of the workflow. We identify opportunities for re-engineering at both a micro (activity) and macro level (organization). (+info)
Performance criteria for emergency medicine residents: a job analysis.
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OBJECTIVE: A major role of admission interviews is to assess a candidate's suitability for a residency program. Structured interviews have greater reliability and validity than do unstructured ones. The development of content for a structured interview is typically based on the dimensions of performance that are perceived as important to succeed in a particular line of work. A formal job analysis is normally conducted to determine these dimensions. The dimensions essential to succeed as an emergency medicine (EM) resident have not yet been studied. We aimed to analyze the work of EM residents to determine these essential dimensions. METHODS: The "critical incident technique" was used to generate scenarios of poor and excellent resident performance. Two reviewers independently read each scenario and labelled the performance dimensions that were reflected in each. All labels assigned to a particular scenario were pooled and reviewed again until a consensus was reached. RESULTS: Five faculty members (25% of our total faculty) comprised the subject experts. Fifty-one incidents were generated and 50 different labels were applied. Eleven dimensions of performance applied to at least 5 incidents. "Professionalism" was the most valued performance dimension, represented in 56% of the incidents, followed by "self-confidence" (22%), "experience" (20%) and "knowledge" (20%). CONCLUSION: "Professionalism," "self-confidence," "experience" and "knowledge" were identified as the performance dimensions essential to succeed as an EM resident based on our formal job analysis using the critical incident technique. Performing a formal job analysis may assist training program directors with developing admission interviews. (+info)
Rural nurse job satisfaction.
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INTRODUCTION: The lack of rural nursing studies makes it impossible to know whether rural and urban nurses perceive personal and organizational factors of job satisfaction similarly. Few reports of rural nurse job satisfaction are available. Since the unprecedented shortage of qualified rural nurses requires a greater understanding of what factors are important to retention, studies are needed. An analysis of the literature indicates job satisfaction is studied as both an independent and dependent variable. In this study, the concept is used to examine the intention to remain employed by measuring individual and organizational characteristics; thus, job satisfaction is used as a dependent variable. METHODS: One hundred and three rural hospital nurses, from hospitals throughout the Northwest region of the United States were recruited for the study. Only nurses employed for more than one year were accepted. The sample completed surveys online. The McCloskey/Mueller Satisfaction Scale, the Gerber Control Over Practice Scale, and two open-ended job satisfaction questions were completed. The qualitative analysis of the open-ended questions identified themes which were then used to support the quantitative findings. RESULTS: Overall alphas were 0.89 for the McCloskey/Mueller Scale and 0.96 for the Gerber Control Over Practice Scale. Rural nurses indicate a preference for rural lifestyles and the incorporation of rural values in organizational practices. Nurses preferred the generalist role with its job variability, and patient variety. Most participants intended to remain employed. The majority of nurses planning to leave employment were unmarried, without children at home, and stated no preference for a rural lifestyle. The least overall satisfied nurses in the sample were employed from 1 to 3 years. CONCLUSIONS: Several new findings inform the literature while others support previous workforce studies. Data suggest some job satisfaction elements can be altered by addressing organizational characteristics and by hiring nurses with rural connections, experience and preferences. Rural nurses considered lifestyle and personal life issues when choosing a job. Concepts like time away from work, rural lifestyle, recreation opportunities, climate and social activities influenced the intention to stay on the job. Rural nurses with the most job satisfaction preferred rural lifestyles and possessed rural backgrounds. Since the generalist nurse role requires autonomy and task variability, recruiting nurses who prefer these job characteristics might enhance nurse retention. Other findings were tied to rural health and nursing theories. It is unknown why the most dissatisfied nurses had 1-3 years of experience. Similar studies with larger samples are suggested. (+info)
Piecing together the crazy quilt of prenatal care.
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The failure to provide adequate prenatal care for low-income pregnant women in the United States and the effects of this failure on infant mortality are well known. Many studies have identified institutional barriers against access to care as a major cause. To overcome these barriers, Public Health District V, South Central Idaho, has created a comprehensive prenatal health care model that has almost tripled participation in its program during the first year of implementation and increased it again significantly during the second year. This decentralized pregnancy program has succeeded in getting all of the physicians offering obstetrical care in the district to serve low-income pregnant clients on a rotating basis. The new program provides pregnancy testing as well as financial screening services. Also, it has combined support services into one-stop-shopping clinics that include an innovative expansion of the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Program of the U. S. Department of Agriculture. WIC food vouchers help attract clients into the prenatal care system and keep them coming. Enrichment of the duties of the public health nurse provides case coordination that pulls together the patchwork of medical and support services for the pregnant client. (+info)
Effects of job rotation and role stress among nurses on job satisfaction and organizational commitment.
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Respiratory and ocular symptoms among employees of a hotel indoor waterpark resort--Ohio, 2007.
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During January--March 2007, the Warren County Combined Health District (WCCHD) received 665 reports of respiratory and eye irritation from patrons and lifeguards at a hotel indoor waterpark resort in Ohio. Tests revealed normal water chemistry and air chlorine concentrations, and exposure to airborne trichloramine in the waterpark was suspected as the cause of the symptoms. Because of the number of symptom reports and WCCHD's limited ability to measure trichloramine, the district requested an investigation by CDC's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). This report describes the results of that investigation, which revealed that trichloramine concentrations in the waterpark ranged from below the limit of detection to 1.06 mg/m3, and some concentrations were at levels that have been reported to cause irritation symptoms (>/=0.5 mg/m3). Lifeguards reported significantly more work-related symptoms (e.g., cough, wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness, and eye irritation) than unexposed hotel employees. Lifeguards also reported significantly more eye irritation and cough on days when hotel occupancy was high versus low. Insufficient air movement and distribution likely led to accumulation of trichloramine and exacerbation of symptoms. Based on recommendations to increase air movement and distribution at pool deck level, hotel management modified the ventilation system extensively, and subsequently no new cases were reported to WCCHD. The results of this investigation emphasize the importance of appropriate design and monitoring of ventilation and water systems in preventing illness in indoor waterparks. (+info)