The relationship between quality of work life and turnover intention of primary health care nurses in Saudi Arabia

Background Quality of work life (QWL) has been found to influence the commitment of health professionals including nurses. However, reliable information on the QWL and turnover intention of primary health care (PHC) nurses is limited. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between QWL and turnover intention of PHC nurses in Saudi Arabia. Methods A cross-sectional survey was used in this study. Data were collected using Brooks’ survey of Quality of Nursing Work life (QNWL), the Anticipated Turnover Scale and demographic data questions. A total of 508 PHC nurses in the Jazan region, Saudi Arabia completed the questionnaire (RR = 87%). Descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, General Linear Model (GLM) univariate analysis, standard multiple regression (SMR), and hierarchical multiple regression (HMR) were applied for analysis using SPSS v17 for Windows. Results Findings suggested that the respondents were dissatisfied with their work life, with almost 40% indicating a turnover intention from their current PHC centres. Turnover intention was significantly related to QWL. Using SMR, 26% of the variance in turnover intention was explained by the QWL, p < 0.001, with R² = .263. Further analysis using HMR found that the total variance explained by the model as a whole (demographics and QWL) was 32.1%, p < 0.001. QWL explained an additional 19% of the variance in turnover intention, after controlling for demographic variables. Conclusions Creating and maintaining a healthy work life for PHC nurses is very important to improve their work satisfaction, reduce turnover, enhance productivity and improve nursing care outcomes.

Effect of Australia's walk to work day campaign on adults' active commuting and physical activity behavior

Purpose. To determine whether Australia's Walk to Work Day media campaign resulted in behavioural change among targeted groups. Methods. Pre- and postcampaign telephone surveys of a cohort of adults aged 18 to 65 years (n = 1100, 55% response rate) were randomly sampled from Australian major melropolitan areas. Tests for dependent samples were applied (McNemax chi(2) or paired t-test). Results. Among participants who did not usually actively commute to work was a significant decrease in car only use an increase in walking combined with public transport. Among those who were employed was a significant increase in total time walking (+16 min/wk; t [780] = 2.04, p < .05) and in other moderate physical activity (+120 min/wk; t [1087] = 4.76, p < .005), resulting in a significant decrease in the proportion who were inactive (chi(2) (1) = 6.1, p < .05). Conclusion. Although nonexperimental, the Walk to Work Day initiative elicited short-term changes in targeted behaviors among target groups. Reinforcement by integrating worksite health promotion strategies may be required for sustained effects.

Review of Australian health related social work research 1990-2009

Social workers form a critical component of the Australian health workforce. Whilst their roles as practitioners are very strategic within the health system, less clear is their contribution to health research. This paper reviews the published record of social work research in Australian health from 1990-2009 in order to discern the patterns of the social work contribution to new knowledge in health. The results of this review indicate a tendency to focus on discursive commentary rather than empirical research as well as a less than expected focus on client studies. Given the rise of evidence based practice, there are potentially serious implications for social work in terms of how it positions itself as a contributor to new knowledge within the health field.

Near work-induced contrast adaptation in emmetropic and myopic children

Purpose. Contrast adaptation may induce an error signal for emmetropization. This research aims to determine whether reading causes contrast adaptation in children and, if so, to determine whether myopes exhibit greater contrast adaptation than emmetropes. Methods. Baseline contrast sensitivity was determined in 34 emmetropic and 34 spectacle-corrected myopic children for 0.5, 1.2, 2.7, 4.4, and 6.2 cycles per degree (cpd) horizontal sine-wave gratings. Effects of near tasks on contrast sensitivity were determined during periods spent looking at a 6.2 cpd horizontal grating and during periods spent reading lines of English text, with 1.2 cpd row frequency and 6 cpd stroke frequency. Results. Both emmetropic and myopic groups (mean ± SD; age, 10.3 ± 1.4 years) showed reduced contrast sensitivity during both near tasks, with greatest overall adaptation at 6.2 cpd. Adaptation induced by viewing the grating (0.15 ± 0.17 log unit [40%]; range, 0.07-0.27 log unit) was significantly greater than adaptation induced by reading text (0.11 ± 0.18 log unit [29%], 0.08-0.16 log unit) (F(1,594) = 10.7; P = 0.001). Myopic children showed significantly greater adaptation across the tasks (0.15 ± 0.18 log unit [42%]) than emmetropic children (0.10 ± 0.16 log unit [26%]) (F(1,66) = 7.30; P = 0.009), with the greatest difference occurring at 4.4 cpd (mean, 0.11 log unit [30%]). Conclusions. Grating and reading tasks induced contrast adaptation; viewing horizontal gratings induced greater adaptation than reading, and myopes exhibited greater adaptation than emmetropes. Contrast adaptation effects may underlie findings of prolonged near work being associated with myopia. However, our research does not show whether this is consequential or causal.

Emergency Health Services (EHS) : demand and service delivery models. [Monograph 2 : Queensland EHS users’ profile]

Emergency health is a critical component of Australia’s health system and one which is increasingly congested from growing demand and blocked access to inpatient beds. The Emergency Health Services Queensland (EHSQ) study aims to identify the factors driving increased demand for emergency health and to evaluate strategies which may safely reduce the future demand growth. This monograph addresses the characteristics of users of emergency health services with an aim to identify those that appear to contribute to demand growth. This study utilises data on patients treated by Emergency Departments (ED) and Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) across Queensland. ED data was derived from the Emergency Department Information System (EDIS) for the period 2001-02 through to 2010-11. Ambulance data was extracted from the QAS’ Ambulance Information Management System (AIMS) and electronic Ambulance Report Form (eARF) for the period 2001-02 through to 2009-10. Due to discrepancies and comparability issues for ED data, this monograph compares data from the 2003-04 time period with 2010-11 data for 21 of the reporting EDs. Also a snapshot of users for the 2010-11 financial year for 31 reporting EDs is used to describe the characteristics of users and to compare those characteristics with population demographics. For QAS data, the 2002-03 and 2009-10 time periods were selected for detailed analyses to identify trends. • Demand for emergency health care services is increasing, representing both increased population and increased relative utilisation. Per capita demand for ED attention has increased by 2% per annum over the last decade and for ambulance attention by 3.7% per annum. • The growth in ED demand is prominent in more urgent triage categories with actual decline in less urgent patients. An estimated 55% of patients attend hospital EDs outside of normal working hours. There is no evidence that patients presenting out of hours are significantly different to those presenting within working hours; they have similar triage assessments and outcomes. • Patients suffering from injuries and poisoning comprise 28% of the ED workload (an increase of 65% in the study period), whilst declines of 32% in cardiovascular and circulatory conditions, and musculoskeletal problems have been observed. • 25.6% of patients attending EDs are admitted to hospital. 19% of admitted patients and 7% of patients who die in the ED are triage category 4 or 5 on arrival. • The average age of ED patients is 35.6 years. Demand has grown in all age groups and amongst both men and women. Men have higher utilisation rates for ED in all age groups. The only group where the growth rate in women has exceeded men is in the 20-29 age group; this growth is particularly in the injury and poisoning categories. • Considerable attention has been paid publicly to ED performance criteria. It is worth noting that 50% of all patients were treated within 33 minutes of arrival. • Patients from lower socioeconomic areas appear to have higher utilisation rates and the utilisation rate for indigenous people appears to exceed those of European and other backgrounds. The utilisation rates for immigrant people is generally less than that of Australian born however it has not been possible to eliminate the confounding impact of different age and socioeconomic profiles. • Demand for ambulance service is also increasing at a rate that exceeds population growth. Utilisation rates have increased by an average of 5% per annum in Queensland compared to 3.6% nationally, and the utilisation rate in Queensland is 27% higher than the national average. • The growth in ambulance utilisation has also been amongst the more urgent categories of dispatch and utilisation rates are higher in rural and regional areas than in the metropolitan area. The demand for ambulance increases with age but the growth in demand for ambulance service has been more prominent in younger age groups. These findings contribute significantly to an understanding of the growth in demand for emergency health. It shows that the growth is amongst patients in genuine need of emergency healthcare and public rhetoric that the congestion of emergency health services is due to inappropriate attendees is unable to be substantiated. The consistency of the growth in demand over the last decade reflects not only the changing demographics of the Australian population but also the changes in health status, standards of acute health care and other social factors. The growth is also amongst patients with acute injury and poisoning which is inconsistent with rates of chronic disease as a fundamental driver. We have also interviewed patients in regard to their decision making choices for acute health care and the factors that influence these decisions and this will be the subject of a third Monograph and publications.

A cost-outcome description of the septic work-up for bacterial infection in neonates in a tertiary care hospital

Analysis of the septic work-up of 194 neonates at Women's College Hospital, Toronto, showed that the only antepartum condition predicting neonatal sepsis was the mother being on antibiotics. The only postnatal condition predicting sepsis was a maternal postpartum white blood cell count over 11,000. The average cost for tests for a septic work-up in these 194 mother-neonate pairs was $71.48 (Canadian dollars), and the average cost of tests to find a septic case was $1,066.77.

Australia at the crossroads : a review of school science practical work

In Australia we are at a crossroad in science education. We have come from a long history of adopting international curricula, through to blending international and Australian developed materials, to the present which is a thoroughly unique Australian curriculum in science. This paper documents Australia’s journey over the past 200 years, as we prepare for the unveiling of our first truly Australian National Curriculum. One of the unique aspects of this curriculum is the emphasis on practical work and inquiry-based learning. This paper identifies seven forms of practical work currently used in Australian schools and the purposes aligned with each form by 138 pre-service and experienced in-service teachers. The paper explores the question “What does the impending national curriculum, with its emphasis on practical inquiry mean to the teachers now, are they ready?” The study suggests that practical work in Australian schools is multifaceted, and the teacher aligned purposes are dependent not only upon the age of the student, but also on the type of practical work being undertaken. It was found that most teachers are not ready to teach using inquiry-based pedagogy and cite lack of content knowledge, behaviour management, and lack of physical resources and availability of classroom space as key issues which will hinder their implementation of the inquiry component of Australia’s pending curriculum in science.

Corneal changes following near work in myopic anisometropia

Purpose: To examine the symmetry of corneal changes following near work in the fellow eyes of non-amblyopic myopic anisometropes. Methods: Thirty-four non-amblyopic, myopic anisometropes (minimum 1 D spherical equivalent anisometropia) had corneal topography measured before and after a controlled near work task. Subjects were positioned in a headrest to minimise head movements and read continuous text on a computer monitor for 10 minutes at an angle of 25 degrees downward gaze and an accommodation demand of 2.5 D. Measures of the morphology of the palpebral aperture during primary and downward gaze were also obtained. Results: The more and less myopic eyes exhibited a high degree of interocular symmetry for measures of palpebral aperture morphology during both primary and downward gaze. Following the near work task, fellow eyes also displayed a symmetrical change in superior corneal topography (hyperopic defocus) which correlated with the position of the upper eyelid during downward gaze. Greater changes in the spherical corneal power vector (M) following reading were associated with narrower palpebral aperture during downward gaze (p = 0.07 for more myopic and p = 0.03 for less myopic eyes). A significantly greater change in J0 (an increase in against the rule astigmatism) was observed in the more myopic eyes (-0.04 ± 0.04 D) compared to the less myopic eyes (-0.02 ± 0.06 D) over a 6 mm corneal diameter (p = 0.01). Conclusions: Changes in corneal topography following near work are highly symmetrical between the fellow eyes of myopic anisometropes due to the interocular symmetry of the palpebral aperture. However, the more myopic eye exhibits changes in corneal astigmatism of greater magnitude compared to the less myopic eye.

Self-directed student work groups using blended learning

This paper provides a description of an innovative teaching approach designed to facilitate student work groups using a blended learning approach that incorporates both traditional face-to-face teaching methods and an online student work group facility. The teaching approach is designed to accommodate a large introductory human resource management subject positioned within an undergraduate business degree.

Are academics messy? Testing the broken windows theory with a field experiment in the work environment

We test the broken windows theory using a field experiment in a shared area of an academic workplace(the department common room). More specifically, we explore academics’ and postgraduate students’ behavior under an order condition (a clean environment) and a disorder condition (a messy environment). We find strong evidence that signs of disorderly behavior trigger littering: In 59% of the cases, subjects litter in the disorder treatment as compared to 18% in the order condition. These results remain robust in a multivariate analysis even when controlling for a large set of factors not directly examined by previous studies. Overall, when academic staff and postgraduate students observe that others have violated the social norm of keeping the common room clean, all else being equal, the probability of littering increases by around 40%.

Socio-structural influences on the work participation of refugees : an exploratory systematic mixed studies review

This systematic mixed studies review aimed at synthesizing evidence from studies related to the influences on the work participation of people with refugee status (PWRS). The review focused on the role of proximal socio-structural barriers on work participation by PWRS while foregrounding related distal, intermediate, proximal, and meta-systemic influences. For the systematic search of the literature, we focused on databases that addressed work, well-being, and social policy in refugee populations, including, Medline, CINAHL, PsycInfo, Web of Science, Scopus, and Sociological Abstracts. Of the studies reviewed, 16 of 39 met the inclusion criteria and were retained for the final analysis. We performed a narrative synthesis of the evidence on barriers to work participation by PWRS, interlinking clusters of barriers potent to their effects on work participation. Findings from the narrative synthesis suggest that proximal factors, those at point of entry to the labor market, influence work participation more directly than distal or intermediate factors. Distal and intermediate factors achieve their effects on work participation by PWRS primarily through meta-systemic interlinkages, including host-country documentation and refugee administration provisions.

Anomalous event detection using a semi-two dimensional hidden Markov model

The rapid increase in the deployment of CCTV systems has led to a greater demand for algorithms that are able to process incoming video feeds. These algorithms are designed to extract information of interest for human operators. During the past several years, there has been a large effort to detect abnormal activities through computer vision techniques. Typically, the problem is formulated as a novelty detection task where the system is trained on normal data and is required to detect events which do not fit the learned `normal' model. Many researchers have tried various sets of features to train different learning models to detect abnormal behaviour in video footage. In this work we propose using a Semi-2D Hidden Markov Model (HMM) to model the normal activities of people. The outliers of the model with insufficient likelihood are identified as abnormal activities. Our Semi-2D HMM is designed to model both the temporal and spatial causalities of the crowd behaviour by assuming the current state of the Hidden Markov Model depends not only on the previous state in the temporal direction, but also on the previous states of the adjacent spatial locations. Two different HMMs are trained to model both the vertical and horizontal spatial causal information. Location features, flow features and optical flow textures are used as the features for the model. The proposed approach is evaluated using the publicly available UCSD datasets and we demonstrate improved performance compared to other state of the art methods.

Spatio temporal feature evaluation for action recognition

Spatio-Temporal interest points are the most popular feature representation in the field of action recognition. A variety of methods have been proposed to detect and describe local patches in video with several techniques reporting state of the art performance for action recognition. However, the reported results are obtained under different experimental settings with different datasets, making it difficult to compare the various approaches. As a result of this, we seek to comprehensively evaluate state of the art spatio- temporal features under a common evaluation framework with popular benchmark datasets (KTH, Weizmann) and more challenging datasets such as Hollywood2. The purpose of this work is to provide guidance for researchers, when selecting features for different applications with different environmental conditions. In this work we evaluate four popular descriptors (HOG, HOF, HOG/HOF, HOG3D) using a popular bag of visual features representation, and Support Vector Machines (SVM)for classification. Moreover, we provide an in-depth analysis of local feature descriptors and optimize the codebook sizes for different datasets with different descriptors. In this paper, we demonstrate that motion based features offer better performance than those that rely solely on spatial information, while features that combine both types of data are more consistent across a variety of conditions, but typically require a larger codebook for optimal performance.

Emerging work practice with a telehealth stethoscope

We investigated the collaboration of ten doctor-nurse pairs with a prototype digital telehealth stethoscope. Doctors could see and hear the patient but could not touch them or the stethoscope. The nurse in each pair controlled the stethoscope. For ethical reasons, an experimenter stood in for a patient. Each of the ten interactions was video recorded and analysed to understand the interaction and collaboration between the doctor and nurse. The video recordings were coded and transformed into maps of interaction that were analysed for patterns of activity. The analysis showed that as doctors and nurses became more experienced at using the telehealth stethoscope their collaboration was more effective. The main measure of effectiveness was the number of corrections in stethoscope placement required by the doctor. In early collaborations, the doctors gave many corrections. After several trials, each doctor and nurse had reduced corrections and all pairs reduced their corrections. The significance of this research is the identification of the qualities of effective collaboration in the use of the telehealth stethoscope and telehealth systems more generally.