Assessment of burnout, resilience, and thriving among academic health professionals: findings from an international study

Introduction

Burnout, resilience, and thriving significantly impact academics, particularly in health professions, where responsibilities are extensive. This study aimed to explore these constructs among academic health professionals, examining sociodemographic and work-related factors influencing these outcomes.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted among academic health professionals via web-based professional networks from August 2022 to February 2023. Validated tools were used, and descriptive and inferential statistics were applied.

Results

505 participants were included, predominantly female (63%), with a mean age of 38.15 ± 9.6 years. High burnout was reported by 10.9%, 13.7% experienced exhaustion, and 6.3% were disengaged. Resilience and thriving were moderate at 59.2 and 51.9%, respectively. Age correlated negatively with burnout (r = -0.131, p = 0.003) but positively with resilience (r = 0.178, p < 0.001). Females reported higher exhaustion (p = 0.014), while males showed greater resilience (p = 0.016). Instructors exhibited lower resilience compared to assistant professors (p < 0.001) and associate professors (p < 0.001). Those at public universities reported higher exhaustion than those at private universities (p < 0.001).

Conclusion

Variable levels of burnout, resilience, and thriving were observed among academic health professionals, influenced by sociodemographic and work-related factors. Interventions targeting resilience and thriving may mitigate burnout risk and enhance engagement among academics in health professions.

Antimicrobial prescribing in a secondary care setting during the COVID-19 pandemic

Background

Increased antimicrobial resistance patterns lead to limited options for antimicrobial agents, affecting patient health and increasing hospital costs.

Objectives

To investigate the antimicrobial prescribing patterns at two district hospitals in Northern Ireland before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods

A mixed prospective-retrospective study was designed to compare pre- and during pandemic antimicrobial prescribing data in both hospitals using a Global Point Prevalence Survey.

Results

Of the 591 patients surveyed in both hospitals, 43.8% were treated with 402 antimicrobials. A total of 82.8% of antimicrobial prescriptions were for empirical treatment. No significant difference existed in numbers of patients treated or antimicrobials used before and during the pandemic. There was a slight decrease of 3.3% in the compliance rate with hospital antimicrobial guidelines during the pandemic when compared with the pre-pandemic year of 2019, when it was 69.5%. Treatment based on patients' biomarker data also slightly decreased from 83.5% pre-pandemic (2019) to 81.5% during the pandemic (2021).

Conclusions

There was no overall significant impact of the pandemic on the antimicrobial prescribing patterns in either hospital when compared with the pre-pandemic findings. The antimicrobial stewardship programmes would appear to have played an important role in controlling antimicrobial consumption during the pandemic.

Clinical pharmacy interventions in an Austrian hospital: a report highlights the need for the implementation of clinical pharmacy services

BACKGROUND

Clinical pharmacy services face challenges in Austria due to limited implementation and acceptance, outdated legislation and a lack of guidelines and training, despite the evidence from global studies of the positive impact of clinical pharmacists on patient care.

OBJECTIVES

First, to identify the necessary types of clinical pharmacy interventions required at a 360-bed hospital located in Austria. Second, to evaluate the extent to which physicians accept the suggestions made by clinical pharmacists.

METHODS

Over a period of 27 months, a clinical pharmacist made a series of interventions, which were evaluated using a six-point clinical significance scale. To determine the inter-rater reliability, a subset of 25 interventions was assessed for their clinical significance by four independent internal medicine physicians.

RESULTS

A total of 1064 interventions were made by the pharmacist. Clinical pharmacy input was deemed necessary for 986 out of 1364 (72.3%) patients, with an average of 1.08 interventions per patient. The prompt acceptance rate of these interventions by physicians was 83.5% (888/1064), while 12.9% (137/1064) were considered by physicians but not immediately acted upon. The average clinical significance intervention rating was 2.15. The inter-rater reliability agreement between the four MDs and between the four MDs and the pharmacist was classified as 'good' to 'moderate'.

CONCLUSION

This study in a secondary care Austrian hospital demonstrates the requirement for clinical pharmacy services, which are highly valued by other healthcare professionals. The clinical pharmacist is a key member of the multidisciplinary ward team, playing a vital role in reducing drug-related problems and enhancing patient safety. This work should now be scaled and tested in other Austrian hospitals.

Assessing the impact of antimicrobial stewardship implementation at a district hospital in Ghana using a health partnership model

Background

Antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) is imperative in addressing the menace of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in health systems. Commonwealth Partnerships for Antimicrobial Stewardship uses a health partnership model to establish AMS in Commonwealth countries. The Hospital of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in partnership with Ulster University, Northern Ireland, undertook an AMS project from November 2021 to May 2022. We report on implementation of the AMS, its impact on antibiotic use and infections management at the University Hospital; Kumasi, Ghana.

Methods

The Global-Point Prevalence Survey (PPS) protocol was used to assess antibiotics use at the hospital at baseline, midpoint and end of the project. Feedback on each PPS was given to the hospital to inform practice, behavioural change and improve antibiotic use.

Results

Antibiotic use reduced from 65% at baseline to 59.7% at the end of the project. The rate of healthcare-associated infections also reduced from 17.5% at baseline to 6.5%. Use of antibiotics from the WHO Access group was 40% at baseline but increased to 50% at the endpoint. Watch antibiotics reduced from 60% to 50% from baseline. Culture and susceptibility requests increased from baseline of 111 total requests to 330 requests in the intervention period to inform antimicrobial therapy.

Conclusion

The model AMS instituted improved antibiotic use and quality of antimicrobial therapy within the study period. Continuous staff education and training in AMS, and use of standard tools for assessment and application of local data to inform infections management will ensure sustenance and improvement in the gains made.

Providing pharmaceutical care remotely through medicines delivery services in community pharmacy

Background

The delivery of pharmaceutical care - and what that means - has been at the centre of many transformations of the pharmacy profession in the last century. Today, the exponential growth of pharmacies which provide pharmaceutical care exclusively online has placed increased scrutiny on the quality of the care they provide.

Aim

As more patients are managed by remote pharmaceutical care (via medicines delivery services), we sought to critically evaluate this service to identify new research directions.

Methods

The COnsolidated criteria for REporting Qualitative research and Standards for reporting qualitative research guideline provided the methodological framework throughout this process.

Results

We reveal that although home delivery services ensure that many patients have access to their medicines, it may reduce time available to provide comprehensive pharmaceutical care, particularly in traditional brick-and-mortar pharmacies.

Conclusion

We highlight a critical need for research in this area and suggest a variety of research directions: is remote pharmaceutical care a matter of convenience? Does remote pharmaceutical care help patients adhere to their medicines? How do digital health innovations impact care across patient demographics? What does comprehensive pharmaceutical care mean for patients?

Spoken propositional idea density, a measure to help second language English speaking students: A multicentre cohort study

PURPOSE

Idea density has been shown to influence comprehension time for text in various populations. This study aims to explore the influence of spoken idea density on attainment in young, healthy subjects using demographic characteristics.

METHODS

Students watched two online lectures and answered 10 multiple choice questions on them. Students received one more idea dense (MID) and one less idea dense (LID) lecture on two different subjects.

RESULTS

Seventy-five students completed the study achieving a higher median score after a less idea-dense lecture (LID = 7(3), MID = 6(3), p = 0.04). Artificial neural network models revealed the first language as the main predictor of exam performance. The odds ratio (OR) of obtaining ≥70% after a more idea-dense lecture was six-time higher for the first language versus second language English speakers (OR = 5.963, 95% CI 1.080-32.911, p = 0.041). The odds ratio was not significant when receiving a less dense lecture (OR = 2.298, 95% CI 0.635-8.315, p = 0.205). Second-language speakers benefited from receiving a lower idea density, achieving a 10.8% score increase from high to low density, versus a 3.2% increase obtained by first language speakers.

CONCLUSIONS

The propositional idea density of lectures directly influences students' comprehension, and disproportionately for second language speakers; revealing the possibility of reduced spoken idea density in levelling the attainment differential between first and second language speakers.