Organisational barriers to effective pain management amongst oncology nurses in Saudi Arabia
- Alqahtani, Mohammed, Jones, Linda, Holroyd, Eleanor
- Authors: Alqahtani, Mohammed , Jones, Linda , Holroyd, Eleanor
- Date: 2015
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Hospital Administration Vol. 5, no. 1 (2015), p. 81-89
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- Description: Cancer pain is a multi-dimensional syndrome with a combination of acute and chronic pain that causes physical, psycho-social, behavioural, emotional and spiritual problems resulting in adverse effects on patients’ quality of life. Nurses need to be well prepared with knowledge on pain assessment and management techniques in oncology units, due to their vital role in the decision-making process regarding pain management. However, limited research has been conducted regarding nurses’ barriers regarding pain management in oncology units, especially in Saudi Arabia. The overall aim of this study was to explore the nurses’ perceived barriers that hinder the delivery of effective pain management to cancer patients. Five focus group discussions were conducted using a purposive sampling of six to eight nurses in each group, with a total of 35 oncology nurses. The results of focus group analysis revealed two main thematic categories with associated sub themes, being nurses’ workloads, and the absence of health team collaboration. This study provides an increased awareness of the barriers that may hinder the efficacy of pain management provided to cancer patients in Saudi Arabia context. Significant implications will benefit nursing practice, administration and education, in addition to identifying potential future research.
- Authors: Alqahtani, Mohammed , Jones, Linda , Holroyd, Eleanor
- Date: 2015
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Hospital Administration Vol. 5, no. 1 (2015), p. 81-89
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Cancer pain is a multi-dimensional syndrome with a combination of acute and chronic pain that causes physical, psycho-social, behavioural, emotional and spiritual problems resulting in adverse effects on patients’ quality of life. Nurses need to be well prepared with knowledge on pain assessment and management techniques in oncology units, due to their vital role in the decision-making process regarding pain management. However, limited research has been conducted regarding nurses’ barriers regarding pain management in oncology units, especially in Saudi Arabia. The overall aim of this study was to explore the nurses’ perceived barriers that hinder the delivery of effective pain management to cancer patients. Five focus group discussions were conducted using a purposive sampling of six to eight nurses in each group, with a total of 35 oncology nurses. The results of focus group analysis revealed two main thematic categories with associated sub themes, being nurses’ workloads, and the absence of health team collaboration. This study provides an increased awareness of the barriers that may hinder the efficacy of pain management provided to cancer patients in Saudi Arabia context. Significant implications will benefit nursing practice, administration and education, in addition to identifying potential future research.
Progressive data stream mining and transaction classification for workload-aware incremental database repartitioning
- Kamal, Joarder, Murshed, Manzur, Gaber, Mohamed
- Authors: Kamal, Joarder , Murshed, Manzur , Gaber, Mohamed
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Conference proceedings
- Relation: IEEE/ACM International Symposium on Big Data Computing, BDC 2014; London, United Kingdom; 8th-11th December 2014; p. 8-15
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- Description: Minimising the impact of distributed transactions (DTs) in a shared-nothing distributed database is extremely challenging for transactional workloads. With dynamic workload nature and rapid growth in data volume the underlying database requires incremental repartitioning to maintain acceptable level of DTs and data load balance with minimum physical data migrations. In a workload-aware repartitioning scheme transactional workload is modelled as graph or hyper graph, and subsequently perform k-way min-cut clustering guaranteeing minimum edge cuts can reduce the impact of DTs significantly by mapping the workload clusters into logical database partitions. However, without exploring the inherent workload characteristics, the overall processing and computing times for large-scale workload networks increase in polynomial orders. In this paper, a workload-aware incremental database repartitioning technique is proposed, which effectively exploits proactive transaction classification and workload stream mining techniques. Workload batches are modelled in graph, hyper graph, and compressed hyper graph then repartitioned to produce a fresh tuple-to-partition data migration plan for every incremental cycle. Experimental studies in a simulated TPC-C environment demonstrate that the proposed model can be effectively adopted in managing rapid data growth and dynamic workloads, thus progressively reduce the overall processing time required to operate over the workload networks.
- Authors: Kamal, Joarder , Murshed, Manzur , Gaber, Mohamed
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Conference proceedings
- Relation: IEEE/ACM International Symposium on Big Data Computing, BDC 2014; London, United Kingdom; 8th-11th December 2014; p. 8-15
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Minimising the impact of distributed transactions (DTs) in a shared-nothing distributed database is extremely challenging for transactional workloads. With dynamic workload nature and rapid growth in data volume the underlying database requires incremental repartitioning to maintain acceptable level of DTs and data load balance with minimum physical data migrations. In a workload-aware repartitioning scheme transactional workload is modelled as graph or hyper graph, and subsequently perform k-way min-cut clustering guaranteeing minimum edge cuts can reduce the impact of DTs significantly by mapping the workload clusters into logical database partitions. However, without exploring the inherent workload characteristics, the overall processing and computing times for large-scale workload networks increase in polynomial orders. In this paper, a workload-aware incremental database repartitioning technique is proposed, which effectively exploits proactive transaction classification and workload stream mining techniques. Workload batches are modelled in graph, hyper graph, and compressed hyper graph then repartitioned to produce a fresh tuple-to-partition data migration plan for every incremental cycle. Experimental studies in a simulated TPC-C environment demonstrate that the proposed model can be effectively adopted in managing rapid data growth and dynamic workloads, thus progressively reduce the overall processing time required to operate over the workload networks.
An investigative study of burnout among university nurse academics in Australia
- Authors: Singh, Charanjit
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
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- Description: The overall aims of this study were to investigate the prevalence, extent and explore the experiences of Nurse Academics in Australia in relation to job satisfaction and burnout. Over the last three decades, university teaching has become increasingly challenging and stressful; this has affected the quality of life of academics. This is evidenced by the rapidly changing working conditions and stress experienced globally among university academics Consequently, the relationship between academics and their workplace are very demanding, more stressed, followed by lack of resources and eventually leading to burnout. Burnout is defined as a psychological syndrome emerging as a prolonged response to chronic interpersonal stressors on the job. Since, the move of nurse education into the university sector in Australia in the mid 1980’s, the stress and demands placed upon Nursing Academics has risen and intensified dramatically. Although the literature is replete about the work experiences among university academics very little research has been carried out to investigate the prevalence and explore the experiences among nurse academics, particularly within Australia (Bittner, & Bechtel, 2017) in relation to occupational stress and burnout. This research study utilized a mixed methods design, specifically, the sequential explanatory model A two phased approach was utilized. In phase one 234 nurse academics completed the survey comprised of the MBI, MSQ and demographics. In phase two, 19 participants were interviewed. The conceptual framework that underpins this study is influenced by the Job- Demands Resource Model (J-DR Model). In phase one, participants were drawn from a cross section from novice to experienced academics. 50% of participants reported low levels of burnout, whilst the other 50% reported either moderate or high levels of burnout. Out of these 50% who experienced burnout about 20% of respondents experienced a high-level of burnout. Similarly, 50% of the participants experienced low levels of job satisfaction and this correlated significantly with high levels of the total burnout scores (r = -0.56). Within the qualitative component, the main themes included a lack of work life balance, incivility towards staff, increasing workloads, challenging students, lack of recognition, negative workplace culture, lack of awareness of the importance of political astuteness, and lack of leadership skills and difficulty with retention of newly appointed staff. Many participants also expressed being threatened, felling intimidated, and unfairly treated coupled with facing personalities who were driven by power struggles. Overall, there appeared to be a sense of powerlessness, that participants were relatively powerless and unable to change their lot. Although personal resilience provided a buffering effect for some of the participants and acted as a protective factor against stress and burnout it is not well understood. This research study contributes to the ongoing body of work on the experiences of nurse academics globally and gives a further insight and understanding of the personal experiences of occupational stress and burnout among Australian nurse academics. However, a few potential limitations to this study should be noted. The study sample was only selected from within Australian universities which may limit the global generalisation of the findings and it was undertaken at an only one time point. Occupational stress leading to burnout is still considered an important factor and predictor of job satisfaction and intention to leave among Australian nurse academics. Effective mentoring and leadership styles that promote a nurturing work environment, a sense of belonging, being valued, heard, and recognised, are areas of priority. Strategies and policies should be revised for greater inclusiveness, academic freedom, institutional autonomy, and a better work-life balance. Further work is needed that examines the specific types of support systems that nurse leaders could initiate to reduce job stress leading to burnout. Ongoing evaluation is crucial to ensure the appropriateness, efficacy, and effectiveness of the support systems. The findings have important global implications in terms of recruitment and retention of nurse academic.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Singh, Charanjit
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: The overall aims of this study were to investigate the prevalence, extent and explore the experiences of Nurse Academics in Australia in relation to job satisfaction and burnout. Over the last three decades, university teaching has become increasingly challenging and stressful; this has affected the quality of life of academics. This is evidenced by the rapidly changing working conditions and stress experienced globally among university academics Consequently, the relationship between academics and their workplace are very demanding, more stressed, followed by lack of resources and eventually leading to burnout. Burnout is defined as a psychological syndrome emerging as a prolonged response to chronic interpersonal stressors on the job. Since, the move of nurse education into the university sector in Australia in the mid 1980’s, the stress and demands placed upon Nursing Academics has risen and intensified dramatically. Although the literature is replete about the work experiences among university academics very little research has been carried out to investigate the prevalence and explore the experiences among nurse academics, particularly within Australia (Bittner, & Bechtel, 2017) in relation to occupational stress and burnout. This research study utilized a mixed methods design, specifically, the sequential explanatory model A two phased approach was utilized. In phase one 234 nurse academics completed the survey comprised of the MBI, MSQ and demographics. In phase two, 19 participants were interviewed. The conceptual framework that underpins this study is influenced by the Job- Demands Resource Model (J-DR Model). In phase one, participants were drawn from a cross section from novice to experienced academics. 50% of participants reported low levels of burnout, whilst the other 50% reported either moderate or high levels of burnout. Out of these 50% who experienced burnout about 20% of respondents experienced a high-level of burnout. Similarly, 50% of the participants experienced low levels of job satisfaction and this correlated significantly with high levels of the total burnout scores (r = -0.56). Within the qualitative component, the main themes included a lack of work life balance, incivility towards staff, increasing workloads, challenging students, lack of recognition, negative workplace culture, lack of awareness of the importance of political astuteness, and lack of leadership skills and difficulty with retention of newly appointed staff. Many participants also expressed being threatened, felling intimidated, and unfairly treated coupled with facing personalities who were driven by power struggles. Overall, there appeared to be a sense of powerlessness, that participants were relatively powerless and unable to change their lot. Although personal resilience provided a buffering effect for some of the participants and acted as a protective factor against stress and burnout it is not well understood. This research study contributes to the ongoing body of work on the experiences of nurse academics globally and gives a further insight and understanding of the personal experiences of occupational stress and burnout among Australian nurse academics. However, a few potential limitations to this study should be noted. The study sample was only selected from within Australian universities which may limit the global generalisation of the findings and it was undertaken at an only one time point. Occupational stress leading to burnout is still considered an important factor and predictor of job satisfaction and intention to leave among Australian nurse academics. Effective mentoring and leadership styles that promote a nurturing work environment, a sense of belonging, being valued, heard, and recognised, are areas of priority. Strategies and policies should be revised for greater inclusiveness, academic freedom, institutional autonomy, and a better work-life balance. Further work is needed that examines the specific types of support systems that nurse leaders could initiate to reduce job stress leading to burnout. Ongoing evaluation is crucial to ensure the appropriateness, efficacy, and effectiveness of the support systems. The findings have important global implications in terms of recruitment and retention of nurse academic.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Association between preseason training and performance in elite Australian football
- McCaskie, Callum, Young, Warren, Fahrner, Brendan, Sim, Marc
- Authors: McCaskie, Callum , Young, Warren , Fahrner, Brendan , Sim, Marc
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance Vol. 14, no. 1 (2019), p. 68-75
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- Description: Purpose: To examine the association between preseason training variables and subsequent in-season performance in an elite Australian football team. Methods: Data from 41 elite male Australian footballers (mean [SD] age = 23.4 [3.1] y, height =188.4 [7.1] cm, and mass = 86.7 [7.9] kg) were collected from 1 Australian Football League (AFL) club. Preseason training data (external load, internal load, fitness testing, and session participation) were collected across the 17-wk preseason phase (6 and 11 wk post-Christmas). Champion Data© Player Rank (CDPR), coaches’ ratings, and round 1 selection were used as in-season performance measures. CDPR and coaches’ ratings were examined over the entire season, first half of the season, and the first 4 games. Both Pearson and partial (controlling for AFL age) correlations were calculated to assess if any associations existed between preseason training variables and in-season performance measures. A median split was also employed to differentiate between higher- and lower-performing players for each performance measure. Results: Preseason training activities appeared to have almost no association with performance measured across the entire season and the first half of the season. However, many preseason training variables were significantly linked with performance measured across the first 4 games. Preseason training variables that were measured post-Christmas were the most strongly associated with in-season performance measures. Specifically, total on-field session rating of perceived exertion post-Christmas, a measurement of internal load, displayed the greatest association with performance. Conclusion: Late preseason training (especially on-field match-specific training) is associated with better performance in the early season.
- Authors: McCaskie, Callum , Young, Warren , Fahrner, Brendan , Sim, Marc
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance Vol. 14, no. 1 (2019), p. 68-75
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Purpose: To examine the association between preseason training variables and subsequent in-season performance in an elite Australian football team. Methods: Data from 41 elite male Australian footballers (mean [SD] age = 23.4 [3.1] y, height =188.4 [7.1] cm, and mass = 86.7 [7.9] kg) were collected from 1 Australian Football League (AFL) club. Preseason training data (external load, internal load, fitness testing, and session participation) were collected across the 17-wk preseason phase (6 and 11 wk post-Christmas). Champion Data© Player Rank (CDPR), coaches’ ratings, and round 1 selection were used as in-season performance measures. CDPR and coaches’ ratings were examined over the entire season, first half of the season, and the first 4 games. Both Pearson and partial (controlling for AFL age) correlations were calculated to assess if any associations existed between preseason training variables and in-season performance measures. A median split was also employed to differentiate between higher- and lower-performing players for each performance measure. Results: Preseason training activities appeared to have almost no association with performance measured across the entire season and the first half of the season. However, many preseason training variables were significantly linked with performance measured across the first 4 games. Preseason training variables that were measured post-Christmas were the most strongly associated with in-season performance measures. Specifically, total on-field session rating of perceived exertion post-Christmas, a measurement of internal load, displayed the greatest association with performance. Conclusion: Late preseason training (especially on-field match-specific training) is associated with better performance in the early season.
Work experiences of nurse academics : a qualitative study
- Singh, Charanjit, Jackson, Debra, Munro, Ian, Cross, Wendy
- Authors: Singh, Charanjit , Jackson, Debra , Munro, Ian , Cross, Wendy
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Nurse Education Today Vol. 106, no. (2021), p.
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- Description: Background: The evidence suggests that heavy workloads, pressure to publish, lack of recognition and job insecurity has led to increased job stress among nurse academics. Lack of proper mentoring, reorientation and transition into an academic role are contributory factors towards the lack of retention and recruitment among nurse academics. Internationally, the sustainability of the nurse academic workforce is an area of great concern. The experiences of nurse academics have not been extensively investigated. Objectives: To explore the work experiences of nurse academics. Design: Qualitative Exploratory study. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. Participants: A purposive sample of nurse academics (n = 19), recruited from all states and territories of Australia, lecturer to professor level and work experiences from 2 to 30 years. Methods: Data were collected using semi-structured face to face and telephone interviews. Data were transcribed verbatim and thematically analysed based upon Braun & Clark's model. The study is reported in accordance with the COREQ guidelines. Ethical approval was granted by the relevant University Human Research Ethics Committee. Results: Four main themes were identified (a) Helping students achieve, finding satisfaction through student engagement, (b) working with challenging students, (c) increased workloads, lack of support and resources and (d) difficulty with retention of newly appointed staff. Conclusions: Although the findings highlighted the interactions with nursing students were a positive experience, many of the participants raised great concern about the challenging, difficult, academically weak, rude, and manipulative students. The growing workload increased non-academic administrative work, and the inability to sustain newly appointed staff were areas of great concern. Doing more with less and not being recognized were pertinent factors that needed to be addressed. © 2021
- Authors: Singh, Charanjit , Jackson, Debra , Munro, Ian , Cross, Wendy
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Nurse Education Today Vol. 106, no. (2021), p.
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Background: The evidence suggests that heavy workloads, pressure to publish, lack of recognition and job insecurity has led to increased job stress among nurse academics. Lack of proper mentoring, reorientation and transition into an academic role are contributory factors towards the lack of retention and recruitment among nurse academics. Internationally, the sustainability of the nurse academic workforce is an area of great concern. The experiences of nurse academics have not been extensively investigated. Objectives: To explore the work experiences of nurse academics. Design: Qualitative Exploratory study. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. Participants: A purposive sample of nurse academics (n = 19), recruited from all states and territories of Australia, lecturer to professor level and work experiences from 2 to 30 years. Methods: Data were collected using semi-structured face to face and telephone interviews. Data were transcribed verbatim and thematically analysed based upon Braun & Clark's model. The study is reported in accordance with the COREQ guidelines. Ethical approval was granted by the relevant University Human Research Ethics Committee. Results: Four main themes were identified (a) Helping students achieve, finding satisfaction through student engagement, (b) working with challenging students, (c) increased workloads, lack of support and resources and (d) difficulty with retention of newly appointed staff. Conclusions: Although the findings highlighted the interactions with nursing students were a positive experience, many of the participants raised great concern about the challenging, difficult, academically weak, rude, and manipulative students. The growing workload increased non-academic administrative work, and the inability to sustain newly appointed staff were areas of great concern. Doing more with less and not being recognized were pertinent factors that needed to be addressed. © 2021
The training-performance puzzle : how can the past inform future training directions?
- Authors: Gabbett, Tim
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Athletic Training Vol. 55, no. 9 (2020), p. 874-884
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- Description: Over the past 20 years, research on the training-load-injury relationship has grown exponentially. With the benefit of more data, our understanding of the training-performance puzzle has improved. What were we thinking 20 years ago, and how has our thinking changed over time? Although early investigators attributed overuse injuries to excessive training loads, it has become clear that rapid spikes in training load, above what an athlete is accustomed, explain (at least in part) a large proportion of injuries. In this respect, it appears that overuse injuries may arise from athletes being underprepared for the load they are about to perform. However, a question of interest to both athletic trainers (ATs) and researchers is why some athletes sustain injury at low training loads, while others can tolerate much greater training loads? A higher chronic training load and well-developed aerobic fitness and lower body strength appear to moderate the training-injury relationship and provide a protective effect against spikes in load. The training-performance puzzle is complex and dynamic-at any given time, multiple inputs to injury and performance exist. The challenge facing researchers is obtaining large enough longitudinal data sets to capture the time-varying nature of physiological and musculoskeletal capacities and training-load data to adequately inform injury-prevention efforts. The training-performance puzzle can be solved, but it will take collaboration between researchers and clinicians as well as an understanding that efficacy (ie, how training load affects performance and injury in an idealized or controlled setting) does not equate to effectiveness (ie, how training load affects performance and injury in the real-world setting, where many variables cannot be controlled). © by the National Athletic Trainers' Association, Inc www.natajournals.org
- Authors: Gabbett, Tim
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Athletic Training Vol. 55, no. 9 (2020), p. 874-884
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Over the past 20 years, research on the training-load-injury relationship has grown exponentially. With the benefit of more data, our understanding of the training-performance puzzle has improved. What were we thinking 20 years ago, and how has our thinking changed over time? Although early investigators attributed overuse injuries to excessive training loads, it has become clear that rapid spikes in training load, above what an athlete is accustomed, explain (at least in part) a large proportion of injuries. In this respect, it appears that overuse injuries may arise from athletes being underprepared for the load they are about to perform. However, a question of interest to both athletic trainers (ATs) and researchers is why some athletes sustain injury at low training loads, while others can tolerate much greater training loads? A higher chronic training load and well-developed aerobic fitness and lower body strength appear to moderate the training-injury relationship and provide a protective effect against spikes in load. The training-performance puzzle is complex and dynamic-at any given time, multiple inputs to injury and performance exist. The challenge facing researchers is obtaining large enough longitudinal data sets to capture the time-varying nature of physiological and musculoskeletal capacities and training-load data to adequately inform injury-prevention efforts. The training-performance puzzle can be solved, but it will take collaboration between researchers and clinicians as well as an understanding that efficacy (ie, how training load affects performance and injury in an idealized or controlled setting) does not equate to effectiveness (ie, how training load affects performance and injury in the real-world setting, where many variables cannot be controlled). © by the National Athletic Trainers' Association, Inc www.natajournals.org
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