Introduction: Ward Clerks are an essential part of the healthcare team, as they provide administrative and organizational support in healthcare institutions. The aim of this study is to determine the training impact of a basic one-hour online course on patient safety for this staff.
Method: A quasi-experimental before/after study carried out on a population of 170 administrative staff working in the centers of an Occupational Mutual Insurance Company (MC Mutual) who took the patient safety course. A convenience sample of 22 administrative professionals, who agreed to participate, was chosen from this population, which made it possible to reconstruct their knowledge before and after the course, by examination and interview, immediately after the course and at 6 months.
Results: Of the 170 professionals participating in the course, 167 (98.2%) completed the initial test and the post-test, with mean scores increasing from 5.7 (P1) to 7.3 (P2) (p<0.05). A total of 22 out of a sample of 42 (52.4%) agreed to participate in the interviews and all three interviews were achieved by 21 (E1), 22 (E2) and 19 (E3) professionals, whose mean scores increased from 5.9 (E1) to 7.2 (E2) and 7.5 (E3) (p<0.05).
Conclusions: The results suggest that the training course was effective. The evaluation by interview 6 months after the course indicates a likely medium to long term effect. The involvement of administrative professionals in the the Company´s patients care is key. Evaluating the impact of an intervention is essential to inform its effectiveness and guide its planning.
Introduction: Toluene, an aromatic hydrocarbon present in various products, is primarily absorbed through the respiratory tract and can affect different body organs. Occupational health nurses play a key role in detecting acute and chronic exposures. They are also responsible for collecting and processing samples for biomonitoring. However, information on the collection and handling requirements, as well as nursing interventions, is scarce and heterogeneous.
Aims: We reviewed the existing literature linking toluene and occupational health nursing, identified sample collection and processing requirements, as well as signs and symptoms of exposure, and related them to diagnoses and nursing interventions.
Methods: We conducted a literature search using the PICO strategy, without limitations on document type, date, or language, in PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus databases. Signs and symptoms were classified according to the system and nursing test performed during the health examination, identifying possible diagnoses and nursing interventions.
Results: We found no studies linking toluene and occupational health nursing. Seven out of 60 identified documents were selected, which provided information on sample collection requirements. Signs and symptoms were identified based on nursing tests and related to diagnoses and nursing interventions.
Conclusions: The presence of occupational health nursing in studies on toluene is scarce. Sample collection criteria are heterogeneous and limited. There were no studies relating signs and symptoms of toluene exposure to diagnoses and nursing interventions. Further studies on occupational toxicology are needed from a nursing perspective.
Introduction: Health care workers faced unprecedented levels of emotional burden related to the COVID-19 pandemic.. This study aims to find out the self-perception of the state of emotional overload of the professionals of the Navarre Osasunbidea Health Service (SNS-O) at two moments during the pandemic and its associated factors.
Method: Cross-sectional study using a questionnaire that includes the Emotional Overload Self-Assessment Scale sent by email to all SNS-O health professionals at two moments of the pandemic, in October 2020 and October 2021. Results of the global scale and of the subscales '"fear-anxiety"' and ""affective response"' were compared between the two moments of measurement according to position, field, area and service using ANCOVA models.
Results: The number of responding participants in the 2020 survey was 1 485 (11,3%) and 950 in the 2021 survey (7,3%). The mean difference for overall score between 2020 and 2021 was -1.87 (95% CI: -2.38, -1.35), indicating less worrying results with the passage of time since the start of the pandemic, with some differences accross occupational categories.
Conclusions: The year 2020 had a great impact on the emotional overload that decreased the following year. One of the greatest fears of health personnel during their occupational exposure to epidemic infectious diseases continues to be the fear of contracting the disease and transmitting it to their family members and social environment. As the proximity to the patient and their environment increases, the probability of psycho-emotional affectation increases.