COVID-19 pandemic disruptions to working lives: A multilevel examination of impacts across career stages

Chinese Version of the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale for Clinical Nurses: A Translation and Psychometric Validation Study

Background: The global environment is continually changing; therefore, adaptability has become a crucial skill in most careers, including nursing. Career adaptability, which is essential to nurses' career development, influences nurse retention. However, to the best of our knowledge, no suitable tool has been developed for assessing the career adaptability of clinical nurses in Taiwan. Aim: To translate the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale (CAAS) into traditional Chinese and validate the psychometric properties of this Chinese version of the CAAS (named CAAS-C). Methods: A two-phase cross-sectional study was conducted. Purposive sampling was used to recruit 584 registered nurses from two teaching hospitals in Taiwan. The CAAS was translated in accordance with a modified version of Brislin's guidelines, that is, through forward translation, back-translation, and expert committee review. Test-retest reliability, internal consistency, content validity, and construct validity were evaluated to assess the psychometric properties of the CAAS-C. Results: The results revealed a content validity index value of 0.96. Confirmatory factor analyses revealed acceptable model fit. The test-retest reliability was excellent (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.82), and the internal consistency of the CAAS-C was satisfactory (Cronbach's alpha = 0.90-0.96). Conclusions: The CAAS-C is a brief, valid, and reliable instrument for measuring the career adaptability of clinical nurses. Implications for Nursing Management: The CAAS-C can be used to evaluate Taiwanese nurses' career adaptability and develop effective strategies for improving nurses' responsiveness to their rapidly changing work environments, which can improve adaptation and retention.

Lived experiences of radiology caregivers during a health crisis: A COVID-19 case analysis

Background

Health crises have been linked with the exacerbation of pre-existing difficulties and the emergence of unique challenges, as evidenced by the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on health caregivers worldwide. Baseline data allow for reflection and preparation for any future health emergencies therefore giving impetus to phenomenological enquiries among the experiencers.

Aim

This study aimed to explore the lived experiences of the eThekwini district frontline radiology caregivers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Setting

The study was conducted in public and private radiology departments in the eThekwini district of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Methods

A qualitative, interpretative phenomenological analysis methodology was adopted in a multi-method data-collection context comprising semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions (FGDs) among 24 radiologists, radiographers, and radiology nurses obtained by non-probability sampling. Data were transcribed verbatim and analysed using an interpretative phenomenological approach.

Results

Three superordinate themes emerged, namely: (1) duties and roles during the COVID-19 pandemic, (2) work-related challenges, (3) personal challenges.

Conclusion

Frontline radiology caregivers experienced increased workload, staff shortages, salary cuts, personal protective equipment (PPE) shortages, non-recognition, poor managerial support, disrupted social relations, and poor work-life balance. This necessitates the need for the radiology departments to address staffing, infection prevention and control deficits, and invest in support interventions to assist frontline radiology caregivers during health crises.

Contribution

The findings comprise baseline information that can be used for reflection and guiding radiology departments in preparing for any future health crises.

The impact mechanism of telework on job performance: a cross-level moderation model of digital leadership

Traditional enterprise management believes that telecommuting activities are out of the enterprise's control, which may reduce staff performance. We use the extension of job demand-resource theory and work embeddedness theory to develop and test the intermediary mechanism of embedded in and out of work in telework. Moreover, it judges the mediating effect of job embeddedness on telecommuting → job performance. With the help of family conflict theory, we have revealed the possible performance changes in telework and the impact of family on telework. We predict embedding outside of work may reduce job performance. However, this worry will not happen under the adjustment of digital leadership and job insecurity. We collected survey data from 36 enterprise teams and 328 members. We have confirmed that work performance will not be reduced by telecommuting. Digital leadership magnifies the embedding of telecommuting resources into employees' work to a certain extent and inhibits the embedding problem outside work caused by telecommuting requirements. The telecommuting requirement may become a positive factor for employees staying home and avoiding workplace conflicts. We confirmed the inhibitory effect of job embeddedness on turnover rate and expanded the antecedent model of job embeddedness theory.

Person-organization fit and job burnout of researchers during the COVID-19 pandemic: Heterogeneity in eleven countries

To manage the negative impact of job burnout for the researchers, especially during COVID-19 pandemic, is not easy. Thus, it is essential for educational institutions to provide them with the support they need to improve the person-organization (P-O) fit. Drawing upon the data from the Nature's Global Survey initiated in 2021, this paper analyzed 2,424 effective samples from eleven countries in the world to investigate how P-O fit impacts researchers' job burnout in different countries and their career stages during the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings show that both organizational support and P-O fit have significantly assisted researchers in all career stages to reduce job burnout. Moreover, P-O fit has a greater inhibitory effect on job burnout than organizational support. However, when resources are relatively scarce in some developing countries, it is more important to provide organizational support for researchers. Therefore, in order to improve the efficiency of organizational support and reduce researchers' job burnout, those aspects which are less fit but helpful should be increased appropriately. Moreover, it implies that it would be significant to emphasize the differentiated and career-stage-sensitive resources and support to researchers in different countries in the post-pandemic era to improve researchers' well-being and organizational performance.

Work-related factors of mental health among Chicago residents two years into the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic led to widespread consequences for economic, social, and general wellbeing with rates of anxiety and depression increasing across the population and disproportionately for some workers. This study explored which factors were the most salient contributors to mental health through a cross-sectional 68-item questionnaire that addressed topics related to the pandemic. Data were collected through an address-based sampling frame over the two months from April 2022 to June 2022. A total of 2,049 completed surveys were collected throughout Chicago's 77 Community Areas. Descriptive statistics including frequency and percentages were generated to describe workplace characteristics, work-related stress, and sample demographics and their relationship to psychological distress. Independent participant and workplace factors associated with the outcomes were identified using multivariable logistic regression. The weighted prevalence of persons experiencing some form of psychological distress from mild to serious was 32%. After adjusting for potential confounding factors, certain marginalized communities experienced psychological distress more than others including females, adults over the age of 25 years of age, and people with higher income levels. Those who had been laid off, lost pay, or had reduced hours had increased odds of psychological distress (aOR = 1.71, CI95% 1.14-2.56; p = 0.009) as did people that reported that their work-related stress was somewhat or much worse as compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic (aOR = 2.22, CI95% 1.02-4.82; p = 0.04, aOR = 11.0, CI95% 4.65-26.1; p < 0.001, respectively). These results warrant further investigation and consideration in developing workplace and mental health interventions.

Advantages and disadvantages of mobile applications for workplace health promotion: A scoping review

Different interventions and methods are used for workplace health promotion (WHP) programmes, including mobile applications (apps), which have proven effective among different health outcomes if properly communicated and developed. However, knowledge is lacking on the potential advantages and disadvantages of using this technology for WHP compared with nontechnical WHP programmes to support employers in their decision making and effective development of such an intervention. To obtain an overview of factors that decision-makers should consider when deciding whether to implement an WHP app, we conducted a scoping review of studies that have evaluated WHP apps. Potential advantages and disadvantages of using mobile apps for WHP were summarised using a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis. Articles were included if they focussed on a WHP app, were published between 2007 and 2022 in German or English, and evaluated an app for the general employee population. Altogether, 38 studies were included in the review, demonstrating WHP apps' effectiveness among various use cases in terms of content, e.g., mindfulness or sleep, and target groups, e.g., office workers, nurses or pilots. Strengths were found in the context of adoption, convenience for users, the targeted employee group's reach and cost-effectiveness. However, the review also identified some disadvantages in apps, including technical difficulties and usage barriers, as well as challenges, e.g., privacy issues and maintenance costs. Generally, our review found that different factors need to be considered when deciding whether to implement a WHP app based on the individual company situation, e.g., shift work, content to be communicated, and expectations for health parameter screening, among many others. By summarising recent literature on WHP apps, this review uses scientific knowledge to give employers an overview of potential factors to consider in their decision making.

A qualitative analysis of STEM female's coping strategy under the COVID-19 pandemic

The purpose of the research was to realize the STEM female's career coping under the pandemic. We conducted in-depth interviews with three STEM female engineers in Silicon Valley, California. After analyzing the research results, we found that: (1) In response to the impact of the pandemic, technology companies and female workers have demonstrated their ability to respond quickly; (2) While working from home, STEM females experienced five notable challenges, but also developed corresponding coping strategies; (3) Corporate systems and teamwork in the STEM fields utilize external resources to help female workers respond effectively to the pandemic.