Determinants of burnout among nurses and midwives at a tertiary hospital in Ghana: A cross-sectional study.

AIM: This study determined the prevalence and key determinants of burnout among nurses and midwives in Kumasi, Ghana. DESIGN: Hospital-based cross-sectional study. METHOD: A questionnaire was used to obtain data from 391 nurses and midwives at a tertiary hospital in Kumasi, Ghana using simple random sampling. RESULTS: About 84.4% of the participants were females. The majority of the study participants experienced low burnout for all dimensions (58% in emotional exhaustion, 55.5% poor personal accomplishment and 38.3% depersonalization). Multiple regression analysis revealed that high emotional exhaustion was independently predicted by post-graduate education (ß = 6.42, p = .003), lack of support from management (ß = 2.07, p = .024), dislike for leadership style, (ß = 3.54, p < .001) and inadequate number of staff (ß = 2.93, p = .005). Age (ß = 0.35, p = .004), lack of support from management (ß = 1.60, p = .012), and inadequate number of staff (ß = 1.49, p = .034) independently predicted high depersonalisation. Female sex (ß = 4.36, p < .001) and years of practice (ß = -0.26, p < .001) independently predicted low personal accomplishment.

Strengthening surveillance in Ghana against public health emergencies of international concern.

Among western African countries, the Republic of Ghana has maintained an economic growth rate of 5% since the 1980s and is now categorized as a middle-income country. However, as with other developing countries, Ghana still has challenges in the effective implementation of surveillance for infectious diseases. Facing public health emergencies of international concern (PHEIC), it is crucial to establish a reliable sample transportation system to the referral laboratory. Previously, surveillance capacity in Ghana was limited based on Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response, and therefore the "Surveillance and Laboratory Support for Emerging Pathogens of Public Health Importance in Ghana (SLEP)" was introduced to strengthen diarrhea surveillance. The SLEP project started with a sentinel diarrhea survey supported by SATREPS/JICA in collaboration with National Public Health Reference Laboratory (NHPRL) and Noguchi Memorial Institute of Medicine (NMIMR). The base-line survey revealed the limited capacity to detect diarrhea pathogens and to transfer samples from health centers to NHPRL. The involvement of private clinic/hospital facilities into the surveillance network is also crucial to strengthen surveillance in Ghana. The strong and interactive relationship between the two top referral laboratories, NHPRL under the Ministry of Health NMIMR and under the Ministry of Education, enables Ghana Health Services and is critical for the rapid response against PHEIC. In future, we hope that the outcome of the SLEP surveillance project could contribute to building a surveillance network with more timely investigation and transfer of samples to referral labs.

Skills and educational needs of accident and emergency nurses in Ghana: an initial needs analysis.

BACKGROUND: The specialty of emergency medicine is highly reliant on a well-trained team of providers. Ghana has recently begun a specialist training program for physicians and the need to train specialist emergency nurses has been recognized. The first step to developing this training is to conduct a needs assessment. This study was conducted to elucidate current nursing functioning and gain knowledge of the educational desires and needs for nurses in the Accident and Emergency Center (A&E) at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH). METHODS: Three nurses from the University of Michigan (UM) worked collaboratively with the nursing leadership at KATH to conduct a needs assessment of currently practising nurses in the A&E. The UM nurses observed nursing practice in the department and KATH nurses participated in a multiple choice exam, a self-assessment questionnaire of educational desires, answered written open-ended questions and participated in focus groups. RESULTS: KATH nurses scored relatively low on a general knowledge multiple choice exam, and indicated through the self-assessment that they would like to learn more about many topics. Open-ended questions gave further insight into areas of knowledge gaps. Several themes including Cohesion, Carrying out Orders/Decision Making and Overwhelming Volume, emerged from observations in the emergency department. DISCUSSION: Current nurse knowledge and function as well as areas to focus on for future specialty training in emergency nursing have been identified by this needs assessment. The emergency department nurses shared an overwhelming interest in increasing their skill level, learning new methods of patient care and implementing new technologies into their clinical practice.