Policies and Practices for Healthcare
Work Attendance Behaviour and Related Productivity Expenses of Hong Kong Public Hospital Nurses
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Nga Man Juliana Lui, Janice Johnston
In face of increasing hospital utilization and manpower shortage, many healthcare workers have reported to attend work due to sickness and non-sickness events, known as presenteeism behaviour. This study aims at identifying modifiable work and personal exposures that affect nurses work attendance decision-making in face of fluctuating hospital utilization rates (flu surges) and obtaining presenteeism-associated productivity costs amongst nurses (biggest healthcare occupational group). The 3-wave prospective study invited full-time Hong Kong public hospital nurses (n= 4703) at 3 highly utilized acute-care hospitals. Each participant was asked to complete a pre-validated survey 3 times. Productivity costing was carried out using human capital method. 88% of nurses have reported to work at least once while sick during last year. Study results will aid managers and government in future human-resources policy making to maintain a sustainable healthcare workforce without compromising quality of care in face of restricting budgets.
Understanding Motivation and Workplace Engagement among Caregivers in Aged Residential Care, New Zealand
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Jenny Prentice
In New Zealand the aged residential care workforce is poorly paid and has a high turn-over of staff, yet cares for a very vulnerable population. Understanding motivational factors in this workforce has the potential to improve quality of care for residents and caregiver workplace satisfaction. This research aims to explore how caregivers can be encouraged to be engaged in providing care for frail older people. This is a Participatory Action Research (PAR) design based on Lewin’s four-step cycle of plan, act, observe and reflect. The study involved staff from a 41 bed aged care facility providing rest home and hospital level care in rural NZ. Caregivers co-designed the action plan which was implemented in the facility. Verbatim transcripts from a design and evaluation meetings were analysed using thematic analysis tools and resulted in a model which describes caregiver workplace engagement. Preliminary findings indicate that if the three factors and the three overlapping experiences identified in the model are evident in the workplace then caregivers are engaged in their work. This model provides greater understanding for aged care facilities wanting to address issues of workforce development, retention of staff and quality of care.
Subjective Well-being and Workplace Social Capital among Registered Nurses in South African Public Hospitals
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session David Morton
The National Health Insurance is based on the principle that all South Africans have a constitutional right to quality health services. However, at present, the nursing profession is in a crisis situation with shortages of nurses, high turnover rates, nurse emigration and with the average age of nurses on the increase. Complaints about the poor quality of care being provided in public hospitals appear regularly in the media. It has been argued that one reason among others for this lack of quality care is due to nurses not having job satisfaction. The study aims to determine the subjective well-being of professional nurses working in general wards in public hospitals in the Nelson Mandela Bay Health District as it relates to social capital. The population for the study is drawn from professional nurses working the general wards of four of the largest public hospitals in the Nelson Mandela Health District. Random sampling will be used to select the participants. A structured self-administered questionnaire will be used to collect the quantitative data for this study with the following existing questionnaires being adapted for the South African situation: Temporal Satisfaction with Life Scale, and the Workplace Social Capital Questionnaire for Nurses (WSCQ-N). Data collection will take place before the end of August.
