Workplace Safety and Security in Indian Healthcare Settings: A Cross-Sectional Survey

2024-10-29T07:12:52+00:00

Introduction: Workplace safety and security are critical concerns in healthcare settings, where incidents of violence against healthcare workers are increasingly reported. This study aimed to assess the current status of security and safety measures in Indian healthcare institutions, focusing on the perceptions of healthcare workers across various settings.

Method: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 1,566 health- care workers from diverse medical institutions across India using a pre-tested, self-administered online questionnaire, which assessed various dimensions of workplace safety. Logistic regression was used to find differences among groups. Open-ended responses were anal-ysed using thematic analysis.

Results: The findings revealed that 58.2% of healthcare profession-als felt unsafe at the workplace due to various threats. Perception of low safety was more in undergraduates (74.2%) than faculty (51%).
A high proportion of health workers (78.4%) reported having been threatened on duty. Nearly half of the healthcare professionals lacked a dedicated duty room. The existing duty rooms were found to be grossly inadequate in providing the basic amenities. State-funded public healthcare settings were found to have poor living conditions, inadequate security measures, and a low perception of safety as com-pared to private institutions. Male healthcare professionals had high-er odds of feeling unsafe at the workplace.

Conclusion: The study highlighted the significant gaps in the security infrastructure within Indian healthcare settings. Over half of the health workforce feels that their workplace is unsafe, particularly in state and central government medical colleges. A comprehensive, need-based approach with legislative support is necessary to enhance workplace security, which may improve doctor-patient relationships, workforce well-being, and overall healthcare quality.

How to cite this article:
Chadhar K, Mishra R, Das S, Prasad I S, Gupta
P. Workplace Safety and Security in
Indian Healthcare Settings: A Cross-Sectional
Survey. Epidem Int. 2024;9(3):1-12.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.24321/2455.7048.202403

Teacher’s Competence in First-Aid Management of Giddiness in School Children

2024-11-15T06:32:38+00:00

Introducti on: Giddiness in children might interfere with daily tasks, make it diffi cult to go to school. Causes of pediatric giddiness are diffi cult to elucidate and manage. Parents and educators can off er valuable informati on regarding the symptomology and other signs associated with this conditi on, like nystagmus, altered consciousness, gait abnormaliti es, motor skills changes. Teachers are the fi rst responders involved with
the safety and well-being of their students.
Objecti ve: To evaluate school personnel’s knowledge of handling first aid for giddiness.
Methodology: A pretested semi-structured questi onnaire was used to collect data from research parti cipants from 3 randomly selected schools located in the urban area of Chengalpatt u district, Tamil Nadu. The diff erence in mean scores was used to assess the eff ect of the awareness program, and a paired t test was used for signifi cant diff erences.
Results: Before the session, only 16% of respondents believed it was appropriate to send the student to the emergency room when giddiness lasted > 10 minutes or was accompanied by loss of consciousness, and only 21% of respondents wanted a child experiencing giddiness to be escorted to a staff nurse or medical team. Aft er the session, about 5.7% teachers felt that there is no need for health educati on about giddiness among students as they might use the knowledge for self- medication and conceal the problem from the knowledge of parents.
Conclusion: Giddiness among school children can be bett er managed by providing fi rst aid in emergency rooms by teachers, however more studies with larger populati ons and raising awareness in schools is required.

How to cite this arti cle:
Lakshana R, Prabakaran S, Namasivaya Navin
R B, Balaji D, Gowthame K, Rajasekaran S,
Muthukumar R, Sarath K B. Teacher’s Compe-
tence in First-Aid Management of Giddiness in
School Children. Epidem Int. 2024;9(3):13-17

DOI: htt ps://doi.org/10.24321/2455.7048.202406

Epidemiology International (E-ISSN: 2455-7048)

Workplace Safety and Security in Indian Healthcare Settings: A Cross-Sectional Survey

Teacher’s Competence in First-Aid Management of Giddiness in School Children