Articles: pandemics.
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Pediatric emergency care · Jan 2024
"The Cost in the Individual": Longitudinal Burnout Prevalence Among Pediatric Emergency Physicians Through 9 Months of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Emergency medicine (EM) confers a high risk of burnout that may be exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. We aimed to determine the longitudinal prevalence of burnout in pediatric EM (PEM) physicians/fellows working in tertiary PEM departments across Canada and its fluctuation during the pandemic. ⋯ Our study suggests that increased COVID-19 case burden was correlated with EE levels during the third and fourth waves of the pandemic. Emotional exhaustion was worsened by systemic factors, and interventions must target common themes of unsustainable workloads and overwhelming lack of control.
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To address a lack of research documenting telehealth use and experiences among sexual minority individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic and inform health care policies beyond the pandemic. ⋯ The findings show greater demand for telehealth, especially for mental health care, among sexual minority adults. Knowledge of factors driving patterns in health care utilization within minoritized communities and the implications for both telehealth access and quality are necessary to create policies that have a broad positive impact.
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Food insecurity (FI) often co-exists with other social risk factors, which makes addressing it particularly challenging. The degree of association between FI and other social risk factors across different levels of income and before and during the COVID-19 pandemic is currently unknown, impeding the ability to design effective interventions for addressing these co-existing social risk factors. ⋯ Future research should explore how access to a variety of social safety net programs may impact the association between social risk factors. With the expiration of most pandemic-related social supports, further research and monitoring are also needed to examine FI in the context of increasing food and housing costs. Our findings may also have implications for the expansion of income-based program eligibility criteria and screening for social risk factors across all patients and not only low-income people.
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Sleep disorders can develop as a result of exposure to stressors. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic was an additional source of stress for paramedics, due to the fear of the unknown nature of the new pathogen. The main aim of this study was to identify factors influencing the development of sleep disorders among paramedics working during the COVID-19 pandemic. ⋯ The main factors influencing the development of sleep disorders were female gender, use of sleep aids and not having a life partner. In contrast, older age and longer job tenure, being married, and having good relationships with family members had a protective effect.
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We conducted a service evaluation of the medical support worker (MSW) role at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust following the Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The aim was to explore the roles of MSWs, their contributions to the NHS, factors influencing their career choices, and the goals of the MSW position, to inform quality improvement in relation to their integration into the Trust. The perspectives of MSWs, their supervisors and recruiters were analysed through nine semi-structured interviews and two focus group discussions involving 18 participants. ⋯ At the meso-level, participants emphasised the importance of a comprehensive induction by the hospital, to clarify responsibilities and familiarise MSWs with the health system. At the macro-level, the role facilitated MSW integration within the NHS, with the aim of practising as doctors. The importance of comprehensive hospital induction, with role clarity for both MSWs and their teams, supportive supervision and assistance with applying for registration with the General Medical Council, were highlighted as key quality improvement areas.