A Focus on Leadership Communication and Feeling Valued to Prevent Burnout and Turnover Among Healthcare Professionals.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine the relative importance of leadership communication in predicting burnout and intention to stay among faculty and staff while controlling for other factors such as satisfaction with compensation and work-home flexibility. METHODS: This study involved a secondary analysis of data derived from an organizational engagement survey that included 2336 faculty members (75% response rate) and 17,664 staff members (72% response rate). RESULTS: Effective leadership communication was a stronger predictor of burnout and intent to stay than satisfaction with compensation and work-home flexibility. Feeling valued by the organization mediated the relationship between leadership communication and the outcome variables. CONCLUSIONS: Leadership communication provides a low-cost solution to burnout and staff shortages and is primarily effective because it conveys to both faculty and staff that they are valued by the organization.

Introducing sit-stand desks increases classroom standing time among university students.

Excessive sedentary behavior has been associated with many negative health outcomes. While an understudied health topic, there is evidence that university students are excessively sedentary. Sit-stand desks have been shown to reduce sedentary time among pre-university students (ages 5-18 years) and sedentary workers but have not been tested in university classrooms. This study tested the effects of introducing sit-stand desks into a university classroom on student's classroom sitting and standing behaviors. Using a cross-over design, students received access to both traditional seated desks and sit-stand desks for six weeks. Data were collected between September and December, 2016. We recruited 304 healthy undergraduate university students enrolled in one of two small (25 seats) classrooms at a large Midwestern university during the fall of 2016. Average minutes of standing/hour/student, average percent class time spent standing, and the number of sit-stand transitions/student/hour were directly observed with video camera surveillance. Participants stood significantly more (p < 0.001) when provided access to sit-stand desks (7.2 min/h/student; 9.3% of class time spent standing) compared to when they had access to seated desks (0.7 min/h/student; 1.6% of class time spent standing) but no differences were observed for the number of sit-stand transitions (p = 0.47). Students reported high favorability for the sit-stand desks and improvements in several student engagement and affective outcomes while using the sit-stand desks. These findings support introducing sit-stand desks in university classrooms as an approach to reduce sedentary behaviors of university students.

Learning to Stand: The Acceptability and Feasibility of Introducing Standing Desks into College Classrooms.

Prolonged sedentary behavior is an independent risk factor for multiple negative health outcomes. Evidence supports introducing standing desks into K-12 classrooms and work settings to reduce sitting time, but no studies have been conducted in the college classroom environment. The present study explored the acceptability and feasibility of introducing standing desks in college classrooms. A total of 993 students and 149 instructors completed a single online needs assessment survey. This cross-sectional study was conducted during the fall semester of 2015 at a large Midwestern University. The large majority of students (95%) reported they would prefer the option to stand in class. Most students (82.7%) reported they currently sit during their entire class time. Most students (76.6%) and instructors (86.6%) reported being in favor of introducing standing desks into college classrooms. More than half of students and instructors predicted having access to standing desks in class would improve student's "physical health", "attention", and "restlessness". Collectively, these findings support the acceptability of introducing standing desks in college classrooms. Future research is needed to test the feasibility, cost-effectiveness and efficacy of introducing standing desks in college classrooms. Such studies would be useful for informing institutional policies regarding classroom designs.