Search

Introduction Environmental public health (EPH) professionals are responsible for ensuring that people are safe from environmental hazards such as disease vectors, potential contaminants in food and water, and exposure to [...], Understanding workforce demographics is important to ensure equitable recruitment, training, and retention. Previous studies have reported demographics of the environmental public health workforce; however, demographic data on professionals who conduct retail food regulatory duties are lacking. We conducted a workforce training needs assessment that examined demographic frequencies and associations between demographic factors and job levels. Findings indicate an educated workforce, and a high percentage of respondents self-reported that they were >40 years, White, and female. We also found, however, that female respondents were significantly less likely than male respondents to hold leadership positions, even when accounting for age, years of experience, and education. Our study also shows an underrepresentation of retail food regulatory professionals from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds. Future training should account for the need to fill experience gaps in the field when current employees retire. Additionally, there is a need to increase the recruitment of diverse professionals while supporting equitable retention and advancement in the field. Keywords: diversity, environmental public health, equity, leadership, retail food, workforce development

Background: MemorialCare Medical Group (MCMG) designed and implemented an advanced health care practitioner (AHP)-led home-visit primary care program to address the needs of a frail older adult population, who struggled with arriving for in-office care. We sought to perform a preliminary analysis to determine the program's efficacy. Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of patients enrolled in the program through tabulation of total costs of care, inpatient visits (IPVs), emergency department visits (EDVs), and 30-day readmissions (30DRs) 1-year pre-enrollment and postenrollment. Results: For the prior year and postyear windows, per-member per-month total cost of care decreased 21.4% ($5,883.44–$4,622.31), reflecting a gross savings of $2,693,480.32. Mean IPVs (2.42–1.56), EDVs (1.53–0.93), and 30DRs (0.27–0.13) were reduced. Conclusions: Initial analysis of an AHP-led in-home primary care program for frail seniors shows promise for improved outcomes with a clear decrease in the total cost of care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study measured the frequency of nurse-provided spiritual care and how it is associated with various facets of nurse religiosity. Data were collected using an online survey accessed from the home page of the Journal of Christian Nursing. The survey included the Nurse Spiritual Care Therapeutics Scale, six scales quantifying facets of religiosity, and demographic and work-related items. Respondents (N = 358) indicated high religiosity yet reported neutral responses to items about sharing personal beliefs and tentativeness of belief. Findings suggested spiritual care was infrequent. Multivariate analysis showed prayer frequency, employer support of spiritual care, and non- White ethnicity were significantly associated with spiritual care frequency (adjusted R1 = .10). Results not only provide an indication of spiritual care frequency but empirical encouragement for nurse managers to provide a supportive environment for spiritual care. Findings expose the reality that nurse religiosity is directly related, albeit weakly, to spiritual care frequency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]