Work Climate Scale in Emergency Services: Abridged Version

Methodological procedure based on quantitizing/liquefying: a case study to assess work climate in an emergency department

Introduction

In the assessment of health organizations, results-based indicators are mainly used, with no consideration of internal work dynamics. This type of assessment forfeits much of the rich, useful information needed to make decisions on improving the organization. In order to address this, a rigorous procedure based on mixed methods is laid out here on gathering, analyzing, and interpreting data associated with the implementation process.

Methods

A 55-year-old doctor was selected at random from among the staff who volunteered to be interviewed at the emergency department at a public hospital located in southern Spain for an interview. Qualitative data obtained from the in-depth interview (indirect observation) were progressively systematized (liquefied and quantitized) based on a theoretical framework until a code matrix was obtained, without losing or distorting any information. Afterwards, data quality was controlled using Cohen's kappa (κ) coefficient. A quantitative polar coordinate analysis was then carried out using the free software HOISAN (v. 1.6.3.3) to obtain robust results, vectorizing the relationships between codes and specifying whenever such relationships were statistically significant (and if they resulted in behavior activation or inhibition). Finally, a supplementary quantitative and qualitative assessment was carried out.

Results and discussion

The proposed method was applied to the needs assessment of teams in order to evaluate that work climate in the hospital's emergency department Health Services of a hospital. Data quality control yielded an adequate result (κ = 0.82). Significant activation and inhibition of behaviors occurred, both prospectively and retrospectively. For instance, We seek to understand the needs of our clients and We readily adapt to new circumstances showed a significant activation (vector length = 3.43, p < 0.01) both prospectively (Zsum = 0.48) and retrospectively (Zsum = 3.4).An adequate method to obtain detailed information about group dynamics in a work environment is presented, based on an in-depth interview. Practical applications for implementations to improve the functioning of organizations are presented.

Work climate in emergency health services during COVID-19 pandemic-An international multicenter study

Introduction

A good working climate increases the chances of adequate care. The employees of Emergency in Hospitals are particularly exposed to work-related stress. Support from management is very important in order to avoid stressful situations and conflicts that are not conducive to good work organization. The aim of the study was to assess the work climate of Emergency Health Services during COVID-19 Pandemic using the Abridged Version of the Work Climate Scale in Emergency Health Services.

Design

A prospective descriptive international study was conducted.

Methods

The 24-item Abridged Version of the Work Climate Scale in Emergency Health Services was used for the study. The questionnaire was posted on the internet portal of scientific societies. In the study participated 217 women (74.5%) and 74 men (25.4%). The age of the respondents ranged from 23 to 60 years (SD = 8.62). Among the re-spondents, the largest group were Emergency technicians (85.57%), followed by nurses (9.62%), doctors (2.75%) and Service assistants (2.06%). The study was conducted in 14 countries.

Results

The study of the climate at work shows that countries have different priorities at work, but not all of them. By answering the research questions one by one, we can say that the average climate score at work was 33.41 min 27.0 and max 36.0 (SD = 1.52).

Conclusion

The working climate depends on many factors such as interpersonal relationships, remuneration or the will to achieve the same selector. In the absence of any of the elements, a proper working climate is not possible.