Inner strength as identified in narratives of elderly women: a focus group interview study.

A key limiting factor in the scale up and sustainability of HIV care and treatment programmes is the global shortage of trained health care workers. This paper discusses why it is important to move beyond conceptualising health care workers simply as 'inputs' in the delivery of HIV treatment and care, and to also consider their roles as partners and agents in the process of health care. It suggests a framework for thinking about their roles and responses in HIV care, considers the current evidence base, and concludes by identifying key areas for future research on health care workers' responses in HIV treatment and care in low and middle income settings.

Moving from awareness to action on preventing patient exposure to toxic environmental chemicals

The future of health professions education: Emerging trends in the United States.

Child death in Germany sparks health-policy review

To assess the rate and determinants of sharp injuries during the previous 6 months among health care workers at first-level care facilities in two districts of Pakistan. Cross-sectional survey at public, general practitioners and non-licensed private practitioners selected through stratified random sampling. At each facility, we interviewed a prescriber and a dispenser/injection provider about knowledge of bloodborne pathogens transmission and preventive practices, risk perception, and use of precautions and sharp injuries received during the previous 6 months. Multivariable Poisson regression was used to assess the factors associated with the number of sharp injuries. Fifty-four percentage of the 233 workers had at least one injury during the previous 6 months. The overall rate of sharp injuries per person per year was 3.7; among non-physician prescribers (9%), it was 4.3; among dispensers (69%), it was 3.7, and among physicians (18%), it was 2.1. In the multivariable model, work experience, risk perception and type of health care worker were significantly associated with receiving sharp injuries during the previous 6 months. In the model including dispensers only, a higher knowledge score was associated with fewer sharp injuries, while perceived severity of disease and lack of professional qualification were associated with more. Sharp injuries are common in Pakistan. Better knowledge about modes of bloodborne pathogen transmission and professional qualification may reduce their incidence.

Transmission of infection from non-isolated patients with COVID-19 to healthcare workers

BackgroundDocumentation of test results for latent tuberculosis (TB) infection is important for health care workers and students before they begin work. A negative result provides a baseline for comparison with future tests. A positive result affords a potential opportunity for treatment of latent infection when appropriate. We sought to evaluate the yield of the referral process for positive baseline tuberculin tests, among persons beginning health care work or studies.MethodsRetrospective cohort study. We reviewed the charts of all new health care students and workers referred to the Montreal Chest Institute in 2006 for positive baseline tuberculin skin tests (≥10 mm). Health care workers and students evaluated for reasons other than positive baseline test results were excluded.Results630 health care students and workers were evaluated. 546 (87%) were foreign-born, and 443 (70%) reported previous Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccination. 420 (67%) were discharged after their first evaluation without further treatment. 210 (33%) were recommended treatment for latent TB infection, of whom 165 (79%) began it; of these, 115 (70%) completed adequate treatment with isoniazid or rifampin. Treatment discontinuation or interruption occurred in a third of treated subjects, and most often reflected loss to follow-up, or abdominal discomfort. No worker or student had active TB.ConclusionsOnly a small proportion of health care workers and students with positive baseline tuberculin tests were eligible for, and completed treatment for latent TB infection. We discuss recommendations for improving the referral process, so as to better target workers and students who require specialist evaluation and treatment for latent TB infection. Treatment adherence also needs improvement.

<h3>Abstract</h3> <h3>Background</h3> Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been especially dangerous for elderly people. To reduce the risk of transmission from healthcare workers to elderly people, it is of utmost importance to detect possible severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) positive healthcare workers as early as possible. We aimed to determine whether the Abbott Panbio™ COVID-19 antigen detection rapid diagnostic test (Ag-RDT) could be used as an alternative to reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). The second aim was to compare the cycle threshold (Ct) in RT-qPCR with the results of the Ag-RDT. <h3>Methods</h3> A prospective diagnostic evaluation of the Abbott Panbio™ COVID-19 Ag-RDT among healthcare workers across three elderly care facilities as well as home-based elderly care workers who met clinical criteria for COVID-19 during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Per healthcare worker, the first nasopharyngeal swab was obtained to perform the Ag-RDT and the second swab for RT-qPCR. A Ct-value of &lt; 40 was interpreted as positive, ≥ 40 as negative. <h3>Results</h3> A total of 683 healthcare workers with COVID-19 symptoms were sampled for detection of SARS-CoV-2 by both Ag-RDT and RT-qPCR. Sixty-three healthcare workers (9.2%) tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 by RT-qPCR. The overall sensitivity of Ag-RDT was 81.0% sensitivity (95%CI: 69.6-88.8%) and 100% specificity (95%CI: 99.4-100%). Using a cut-off Ct-value of 32, the sensitivity increased to 92.7% (95% CI: 82.7-97.1%). Negative Ag-RDT results were moderately associated with higher Ct-values (<i>r</i> = 0.62) compared to positive Ag-RDT results. <h3>Conclusion</h3> The Panbio™ COVID-19 Ag-RDT can be used to quickly detect positive SARS-CoV-2 healthcare workers. Negative Ag-RDT should be confirmed by RT-qPCR. In case of severe understaffing and with careful consideration, fully vaccinated healthcare workers with Ag-RDT negative results could work with a mask pending PCR results.

Background: Robots are introduced in many health and social care settings.Objectives: To provide an overview of the existing evidence related to the views of nurses and other health and social care workers about the use of assistive humanoid and animal-like robots.Methods: Using the Joanna Briggs Institute guidelines we searched MEDLINE, PUBMED, CINHAL, EMBASE, PsycInfo, Web of Science, and IEEE Xplore digital library. Nineteen (19) articles met the criteria for inclusion.Results: Health care workers reported mixed views regarding the use of robots. They considered an array of tasks that robots could perform; they addressed the issue of patient safety and raised concerns about privacy.Conclusions: A limited number of studies have explored the views of health care workers about the use of robots. Considering the fast pace with which technology is advancing in the care field, it is critical to conduct more research in this area.Impact Statement: Robots will increasingly have a role to play in nursing, health and social care. The potential impact will be challenging for the healthcare workforce. It is therefore important for nurses and other health and social care workers to engage in discussion regarding the contribution of robots and their impact not only on nursing care but also on future roles of health and social care workers.

Background : The number of the elderly people in Indonesia in 2011 is about 24 million peoples or nearly 10 percent of the population. In fact in 1970 there were only 2 million peoples. For 40 years, the increasing of the elderly 10-fold while the population only increased 2-fold (Kompas, 2012). The developing of elderly population need a special attentions especially how to develop the quality of their line this has aim to keep their healthy. Elder posyandu works as well as the aim, will give chance opportunity for elder to get well health service. So they live will keep well and maximal. For the elder must use this opportunity of the program as well probably their healthy will keep cared and showed by the health worker (Wahono, 2010). The knowledge of elder when they know this program will influence their motivation to join in this program (Ismawati, 2010). So very important to develop their knowledge for the benefit of join in elder program for make their live motivate to join it. Purpose : to determine the relationship of the knowledge about elderly with their motivation to attend elderly posyandu at Candi Karangnongko. Methods : The method of the study is Analytic correlation with cross sectional design and the object of the study is elderly people at Candi Karangnongko. The sampling techniques using non-probability sampling technique with a kind of saturation sampling, it means that sampling by taking all the members of the population which are being sampled. Results : The elderly knowledge about elderly posyandu at Candi Karangnongko is quite enough, it’s about 20 peoples (50,0%) . The motivations of the elderly to attend elderly posyandu at Candi Karangnongko is high, it’s about 35 people (87,5%).

The objective of this review was to synthesize the experiences of health professionals who have experienced grief as a result of a pediatric patient dying. There has been some research into health professionals' grief experiences associated with the death of pediatric patients, but there has not been a review that synthesizes the findings of these experiences. Other related reviews have focused on prenatal, perinatal or adult deaths or the coping strategies employed by health professionals. This review highlights the complexities of experiences faced by pediatric health professionals. Qualitative studies involving pediatric health professionals working in any healthcare setting who had experienced grief from the death of a patient were considered for inclusion. Studies were conducted in any country, at any time and published in English. The search was conducted in PubMed, CINAHL, Embase, PsycINFO, Scopus and ProQuest Dissertations and Theses. The search was completed in January 2019. The review followed principles of meta-aggregation in line with the JBI approach. Methodological quality assessment was based on representation of participants' voices and congruence between research methodology and both research question and analysis of data. Meta-aggregation led to three synthesized findings from 12 qualitative studies that met the inclusion and methodological quality criteria. Studies predominantly included nurses working in a hospital, with sample sizes ranging from six to 25 participants. The synthesized findings were physical, behavioral, psychological or spiritual symptoms; compounding grief; and alleviating grief. Physical, behavioral, psychological, or spiritual symptoms highlighted the various characteristics of grief experiences by health professionals. Compounding grief was the largest synthesized finding and incorporated the various factors that contributed to a poorer experience of grief. Alleviating grief showed the limited identified factors that improved the experience of grief. Methodological quality led to synthesized findings receiving a ConQual rating of low or moderate. The synthesized findings from this review highlight the varied reported experiences of grief in health professionals. The methodological quality and reporting of studies, however, led to decreased confidence in the synthesized findings and recommendations arising from this review. Healthcare professionals should be aware of the potential for experiencing grief when a patient dies and the compounding and alleviating factors associated with this. Further research could expand participant and language limitations, and improve methodological quality and reporting.

Epidemiology of latex sensitization

Chronic musculoskeletal pain in the elderly is very common. The aim of this qualitative study was to gain insight in elderly people's pain medication beliefs. Problem-focused interviews with eight women were conducted. The results show them to be experts in managing pain, which task turns out to be too complex to be described in terms of pain medication beliefs. Using the method of qualitative content analyses five main categories including subcategories were inductively generated and presented in a structured way. The category "to be carried by one's life and illness trajectory" evolved as a basic category in the pain management. It includes the subcategories "to gain experiences from one's life and illness", "to have knowledge of the causes of pain and of their treatment", "to learn how to manage pain in everyday life" as well as "to rely on spiritual well-being". Most important for the women is their every day reality "to live with pain and its physical, psychological, practical and social effects". This leads to "weigh, to combine and to evaluate treatments for pain relief" which includes the subcategories "to be disciplined in carrying out non-pharmacological measures for pain relief", "to use pain medication sparingly but purposefully" and "to cooperate as a partner with health professionals". Some of the participants are challenged by "reaching their limits", which means "to reach the limits of endurable pain", "to experience the limits of failed treatment effects" as well as "to reach the limits of endurable treatment side effects". "To sustain one's quality of life in spite of pain" seems to be the aim of the elderly women's endeavour. The results of this study demand collaborative care in a partnership with elderly people with pain acknowledging their expertise. The results also ask for transdisciplinary efforts to support elderly persons with pain and for the development as well as the evaluation of self-management education programs.

Elderly people will face changes both physically and mentally. The changes that occur are generally decreased physical function, having comorbidities, and the emergence of symptoms of depression that are often not realized and detected due to the aging process. If symptoms of depression are not detected properly, it can cause the elderly to be at risk of depression. Efforts that can be made to prevent depression in the elderly are to routinely carry out early detection and provide mental health education. The purpose of this activity is to find out the elderly who have symptoms of depression and are at risk of depression. This activity was carried out in the Pedungan sub-district by involving assistance from the Health Center in the elderly posyandu program. The implementation of the activity was carried out for 2 weeks by involving the elderly who attended the elderly posyandu held in the hamlet/community of the sub-district. The measuring instrument used to conduct screening is the Geriatric Depression Scale-15 (GDS-15). This measuring instrument has been validated for application to the elderly. This community service activity was attended by 19 elderly people. There was an increase in knowledge scores before and after being given education. The results were analyzed using the Wilcoxon Signed Test with a p value &lt;.001 and a Z value of -3.750. The difference in mean values ​​before education was 71.53 and after education was 80.16. The screening results showed that there were 6 (20.8%) elderly people who had symptoms of depression. Elderly people who have symptoms of depression are then advised to immediately consult with health workers as an effort to treat the symptoms of depression they have, so that the elderly can avoid depression. The implementation of this activity is expected to be implemented routinely so that it can identify elderly people who are at risk of experiencing depression.

Keeping Healthcare Workers Safe Through Policy Initiatives