The COVID-19 pandemic impact on the Polish medical personnel work: a survey and in-depth interviews study

Objective

The objective of the study was to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the work of medical personnel in terms of: task scope, preparation to perform medical tasks related to the pandemic, team collaboration, involvement in tasks performed, concerns about performing tasks related to the pandemic, stress levels.

Methods

The mixed-method approach was applied to this cross-sectional study. The online questionnaire which included 40 questions was completed via Google among medical personnel in Poland. Eight semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted to deepen the data obtained with the questionnaires.

Participants

The questionnaire was completed by 215 healthcare professionals, with the largest group being nurses (56.3%) followed by physicians (22.3%), midwives (11.6%) and other healthcare professionals (e.g., physiotherapists, paramedics, nutritionists - 9.8%). Among the respondents were people who worked in the hospital in the so-called "covid wards" (31.2%) and other hospital wards (60%) as well as people who were employed outside the hospital (8.8%).

Results

The pandemic affected the nature and range of tasks performed by health professionals. Initially, respondents felt unprepared to work under pandemic conditions, but over time their ratings increased in all areas studied. More than half of respondents reported no change in interpersonal relationship within the team, but nearly 35% noted a worsening and only one in 10 claimed improvement. Study participants rated their own commitment to tasks slightly higher than that of their colleagues (mean 4.9 and 4.4 respectively) but the overall rating was high. The mean self-rating of work stress increased from 3.7 before the pandemic to 5.1 during the pandemic. Most of the respondents were afraid of transmission of the infection to their relatives. Other fears included the possibility of making a medical error, not being able to help the patient, not having enough personal protective equipment (PPE) and contracting SARS-CoV-2.

Conclusion

The conducted study revealed that the organization of medical care in the initial period of the pandemic, especially the hospital care of patients infected with SARS-CoV-2, was quite chaotic. The most affected were the people who were transferred to work in the covid wards. Not all medical professionals were prepared to work with the COVID-19 patients, as they lacked experience working in such facilities, especially in intensive care units (ICU). Working under time pressure and under new conditions led mainly to an increase in perceived stress and conflicts between staff.

The Polish version of the Cultural Intelligence Scale: Assessment of its reliability and validity among healthcare professionals and medical faculty students

Background

Healthcare professionals and students of medical faculties in Poland increasingly encounter culturally diverse patients. It is necessary to support the development of cultural intelligence in order to improve the medical care provided to patients from different cultural backgrounds. At present there are no standardized tools in Poland that can accurately and reliably assess cultural intelligence, which is defined by Ang et al. as “an individual’s capability to function and manage effectively in culturally diverse settings”. As argued in the present paper, this (cap)ability may be important for providing patient-centred care that is culturally adequate and competent.

Purpose

The aim of the research was to show the multistage process of validation of the Polish version of The Cultural Intelligence Scale by Ang et al. and Van Dyne et. al.

Methods

Across two studies we examined the psychometric properties of the Cultural Intelligence Scale, including reliability (i.e. internal consistency, test-retest reliability, factor structure) and validity (i.e. theoretical, criteria, convergent). In the first two-session study, 349 participants (98% were healthcare professionals, e.g. nurse, student nurse, medical student; mainly women, 89%) completed the Polish version of the Cultural Intelligence Scale twice with an interval of at least 22 days. In addition, across two study sessions participants completed questionnaires constructed to measure (a) cultural competence, (b) need for cognitive closure, (c) emphatic sensitiveness, (d) emotional intelligence, (e) self-esteem, (f) social desirability, (g) personality, and (h) positive/negative attitudes towards culturally divergent people. Finally, to additionally examine the theoretical validity, 36 professional cross-cultural competence trainers completed the Cultural Intelligence Scale during a one-session study.

Results

The Cultural Intelligence Scale has been shown to have satisfactory psychometric properties. It has high reliability (Cronbach’s alpha, respectively .94 and .95 in the first and second sessions) and the factor structure seems to approach the postulated one. Theoretical and criterion accuracy are well proven; convergence is less straightforward, but it correlates well with tools that examine variables such as cultural competence, cognitive closure, empathy/emphatic sensitiveness, emotional intelligence, self-esteem, personality, and social desirability. The results suggest that these factors contribute to the development of the cultural intelligence.

Conclusion

The Cultural Intelligence Scale can be successfully used in empirical research of cultural intelligence of medical professionals and students of medical majors and their education in Polish conditions.

The Cross-Cultural Competence Inventory: Validity and psychometric properties of the Polish adaptation

Background

Due to changes in Polish society resulting from a significant inflow of immigrants to Poland, the need to develop the cultural competences of various professional groups who have contact with immigrants in their work has increased. These groups should include healthcare professionals, especially because of the significant increase in the number of culturally diverse patients. Therefore, medical education in Poland has had to rapidly adapt to this novel situation. For instance, the teaching process should be now more focused on the development and evaluation of the cultural competences of prospective health care workers. However, there is still a lack of standardized, valid and reliable instruments to assess cross-cultural competences among healthcare professionals. The purpose of the present paper was to describe, for the first time, the translation, adaptation, and psychometric evaluation of the Polish version of the Cross-Cultural Competence Inventory.

Methods

Across two studies, we examined psychometric properties of the Cross-Cultural Competence Inventory (CCCI) such as reliability (i.e. internal consistency, test-retest reliability, factor structure) and validity (i.e. theoretical, criteria, convergent). In the first study, 408 participants (75% were healthcare professionals) completed the Polish version of the CCCI and the Positive/Negative Attitude Towards Culturally Divergent People Questionnaire. In the second study, 317 participants (97% were healthcare professionals) completed the CCCI twice, with an interval of at least 22 days. In addition, across two study sessions, participants completed questionnaires constructed to measure (a) cultural intelligence, (b) need for cognitive closure, (c) emphatic sensitiveness, (d) emotional intelligence, (e) self-esteem, (f) social desirability, and (g) personality. Finally, to additionally examine the theoretical validity, 36 professional cross-cultural competence trainers completed the CCCI during a one-session study.

Results

Our findings confirm the reliability and validity of the CCCI. More precisely, in study 1 we proved the theoretical validity and reliability (i.e. internal consistency) of the CCCI. While the assumed structure did not fit the data well, all items were significantly related to the general factor, thus providing strong support for the usage of the total score of the CCCI. In study 2, we additionally estimated the test-retest reliability and theoretical, criterion and convergent validity. Across two studies we were able to successfully confirm these psychometric properties. The reliability was satisfactory and ranged from .83 to .86. We also observed a high and significant positive correlation between CCCI and the Cultural Intelligence Scale, which measures a concept similar to the one measured by CCCI. In addition, a significant relationship between intercultural competences (CCCI) and other variables such as personality, empathic sensitivity, emotional intelligence, self-esteem (positive correlations) and the need for cognitive closure (mainly negative correlation) were demonstrated.

Conclusions

The obtained results support the usage of the CCCI questionnaire in scientific research, such as, for example, among healthcare professionals (nurses, doctors) and students of medical fields (nursing, medicine).