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This paper documents Nova Scotia Health’s progress in operationalizing integrated needs-based workforce planning as part of its ongoing response to the pandemic. A multidisciplinary workforce planning team with representation spanning key portfolios was created to facilitate the organization’s response to the pandemic. Analyses applied early in Wave 3 of the pandemic showed large projected shortages in several professions and identified which services would likely be scarcest among the available workforce relative to patient need. Based on these results, the workforce planning team recommended and supported operational teams in implementing a multi-faceted set of interventions aimed at increasing the availability of individuals with these competencies. These interventions collectively yielded an adequate supply of additional competent personnel to meet the needs of COVID-19 inpatients across the province through the third wave of the pandemic. Lessons learned are proving critical to maintaining core operations during Wave 4 of the pandemic.

Background Untreated pain in infants is associated with adverse health outcomes. Despite strong evidence for accessible, effective, and low-cost parent-led pain-relieving interventions such as breastfeeding or chestfeeding and skin-to-skin contact, these interventions are not routinely used. Objective The objective of this study is to support the implementation of parent-led pain interventions by identifying barriers to and facilitators of parent-led, evidence-informed pain care in infants during acute procedures. In addition, this study aims to develop theory-informed, contextually relevant implementation interventions for supporting the use of parent-led pain care for infants in hospital and community contexts. Methods This study will consist of 2 phases that follow a systematic, theoretically informed approach guided by the Theoretical Domains Framework and Behavior Change Wheel. In phase 1, we will use a qualitative descriptive design to explore barriers and facilitators to using parent-led pain care in infants from the perspectives of hospital and community-based clinicians, clinical leaders, and families. In phase 2, we will use the Behavior Change Wheel to design tailored implementation interventions that have evidence for effectively addressing identified barriers in collaboration with an advisory committee of administrative, clinical, and family leaders. Results Ethics approval for this study was obtained in December 2020. As of May 2022, a total of 15 participants have been enrolled in phase 1. The results from all phases will be reported in 2023. Conclusions Following the completion of this study, we will have co-designed theoretically informed implementation interventions that can be pilot-tested and experimentally applied. The findings will be used to implement parent-led interventions that improve patient safety and health outcomes for diverse families. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) DERR1-10.2196/33770

This paper takes a retrospective view of the year 2020, with a focus on how Higher Education policy development was undertaken on a Transnational Education (TNE) program between the University of Glasgow (UofG) and the University of Electronics, Science and Technology in Chengdu (UESTC), China in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It explores the approach to policy development under normal circumstances, contrasting this with the approach taken during the emergence of the epidemic and how the unfolding situation impacted on those policies. It demonstrates how the application of management tools for scenario planning and crisis management can be used effectively to develop a clear and prescriptive policy for staff. It also demonstrates how the use of such tools, combined with careful analysis and planning, can minimize disruption to student learning, teaching, and assessment. The paper then goes on to explain the creation and implementation of policies addressing three main areas: learning and teaching, Final Year Projects, and assessment. Finally, it reflects on the student and staff perspectives on the policies, considering how this information might be used to enhance the policy development process in future. © Copyright © 2021 Bremner, Ansari, MacDougall, Hussain, Ma, Ponciano, Liu, Gamage, Abbas and Imran.

In recent years, the place of sexuality and gender identity in the ESOL classroom has been the subject of much debate among UK-based ESOL practitioners. This has partly been prompted by changes in the UK legal context: the 2010 Equality Act identifies a variety of settings, including education, where discrimination, harassment or victimisation on the basis of nine protected characteristics is explicitly forbidden; these protected characteristics include sexual orientation, gender identity and marriage status. This chapter reflects on the co-development of the resource ‘Engaging with LGBT and Migrant Equalities: Activities for the ESOL Classroom’, which aimed to address the dearth of LGBT representations in commercial ELT material. Its development was informed by conversations with Scotland-based ESOL practitioners about their practice and about how the resource might build on and fit into current delivery. The chapter considers the resonance and limitations of the resource, and the potential questions these raise for critical LGBT-friendly pedagogies.

Analyses marketing strategies relevant to public library managers at a time of change in the reviewing of public library services with reference to a material questionnaire and case‐study investigation of public library and leisure services marketing. Targeting and the role of marketing in library services were of particular concern.

This paper is based on a research project conducted on consumer health information (CHI) in the Republic of Ireland, the results of which were published in a report entitled Well Read: Developing Consumer Health Information in Ireland. The paper describes the research methodology and the Irish experience in relation to CHI followed by a discussion of access problems, illustrated with examples from the special needs and primary care sectors. The role of information providers in relation to primary healthcare and libraries is examined briefly, and finally the main research conclusions and recommendations are highlighted.

Following the 1995 research report Information for Health 2, which investigated access to healthcare information in Ireland, the report Well Read 1 looks in detail at a number of examples of best practice and initiatives worldwide. The research also involved detailed consultations with over 70 Irish health organisations, study visits to 12 CHI services in the UK, a case study in Wexford, and extensive literature searching and document collection. A review of international best practice and the development of a pilot database of CHI sources were also undertaken.

In 1994 the Irish Department of Health published its first national health strategy,1 which set out objectives for the reorientation of the health service. Also in 1994 An Bord Altranais (the Nursing Board) published a report on the future of nurse education,2 which presented recommendations for fundamental changes in nursing organisation and education.