The effects of emotional intelligence training on the job performance of Australian aged care workers.

BACKGROUND: Emotional intelligence (EI) training is popular among human resource practitioners, but there is limited evidence of the impact of such training on health care workers. PURPOSE: In the current article, we examine the effects of EI training on quality of resident care and worker well-being and psychological empowerment in an Australian aged care facility. We use Bar-On's (1997) conceptualization of EI. METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: We used a quasiexperimental design in 2014-2015 with experimental (training) and control (nontraining) groups of 60 participants in each group in two geographically separate facilities. Our final poststudy sample size was 27 participants for the training group and 17 participants for the control group. Over a 6-month period, we examined whether staff improved their well-being, psychological empowerment, and job performance measured as enhanced quality of care (self-rated and client-rated) by applying skills in EI. RESULTS: The results showed significant improvement among workers in the training group for EI scores, quality of care, general well-being, and psychological empowerment. There were no significant differences for the control group. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Through examining the impact of EI training on staff and residents of an aged care facility, we demonstrate the benefits of EI training for higher quality of care delivery. This study demonstrates the practical process through which EI training can improve the work experiences of aged care workers, as well as the quality of care for residents.

Empirical exploration of brilliance in health care: perceptions of health professionals.

Objective The aim of the present study was to develop a positive organisational scholarship in health care approach to health management, informed by health managers and health professionals' experiences of brilliance in health care delivery. Methods A sample of postgraduate students with professional and/or management experience within a health service was invited to share their experiences of brilliant health services via online discussions and a survey running on the SurveyMonkey platform. A lexical analysis of student contributions was conducted using the individual as the unit of analysis. Results Using lexical analysis, the examination of themes in the concept map, the relationships between themes and the relationships between concepts identified 'care' as the most important concept in recognising brilliance in health care, followed by the concepts of 'staff' and 'patient'. Conclusions The research presents empirical material to support the emergence of an evidence-based health professional perspective of brilliance in health management. The findings support other studies that have drawn on both quantitative and qualitative materials to explore brilliance in health care. Pockets of brilliance have been previously identified as catalysts for changing health care systems. Both quality, seen as driven from the outside, and excellence, driven from within individuals, are necessary to produce brilliance. What is known about the topic? The quest for brilliance in health care is not easy but essential to reinvigorating and energising health professionals to pursue the highest possible standards of health care delivery. What does this paper add? Using an innovative methodology, the present study identified the key drivers that health care professionals believe are vital to moving in the direction of identifying brilliant performance. What are the implications for practitioners? This work presents evidence on the perceptions of leadership and management practices associated with brilliant health management. Lessons learned from exceptionally well-delivered services contain different templates for change than those dealing with failures, errors, misconduct and the resulting negativity.

Monitoring radionuclides in the atmosphere over the Czech Republic after the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant accident.

This paper presents the results of atmospheric radioactivity monitoring over the Czech Republic, as obtained by the Radiation Monitoring Network, following the Fukushima Dai-Ichi Nuclear Power Plant accident. Maximum values for (131)I were 5.6 mBq m(-3) in aerosol form and 13 mBq m(-3) in gaseous form. The maximum values for (134)Cs and (137)Cs were 0.64 and 0.72 mBq m(-3), respectively. The estimated effective half-time for removing the activity from the atmosphere was 6-7 d and 3.5 d for caesium and iodine, respectively. The gaseous-to-total activity ratios of (131)I ranged between 0.3 and 0.9, with an arithmetic mean value of 0.77. The mean value for the (134)Cs/(137)Cs ratios was close to 1.0. The effective inhalation dose due to the accident for an adult living in the Czech Republic was estimated at <4 × 10(-5) mSv, out of which the proportion of (131)I was 88%.

Recall of information received in hospital by female cardiac patients.

BACKGROUND: The type and source of health information supplied to patients following cardiac events significantly improve adherence and health behaviours. The impact of health information upon female patients, however, is not well documented. This study investigates women's recall of the type and source of information provided to them in hospital about resuming daily activities after a cardiac event. It also identified women least likely to recall receiving information. METHODS: Interviews were conducted with female cardiac patients consecutively admitted to four metropolitan hospitals after acute myocardial infarction or for coronary artery bypass graft surgery. The women were interviewed on admission and at 2, 4 and 12 months after discharge. Participants were asked about in-hospital information provision at the 2-month interview (n=224). RESULTS: Most women recalled receiving verbal information about medication, exercise and smoking cessation, but few recalled receiving verbal information about gardening, sexual activity, driving or sport. Women who were obese or physically inactive recalled limited advice about diet and physical activity, whereas women with diabetes or hypertension were no more likely than others to recall receiving information about medication, despite the personal relevance of this information. Older women were most at risk of recalling limited advice, including information about cardiac rehabilitation. Over half of the women attended a cardiac rehabilitation programme, with uptake being related to information provision. CONCLUSIONS: The findings support other research suggesting that advice about activities after a cardiac event is inadequate for some women and confirms the influence of information provision on participation in cardiac rehabilitation.