The shortage of healthcare workers is a growing concern. The COVID-19 pandemic and retirement wave have accelerated turnover rates. This systematic review aimed to identify and analyse the existing interventions for job retention of healthcare workers, in terms of nurses and physicians, in a hospital setting. A comprehensive search was conducted within three electronic databases, guided by the preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analyses (PRISMA) and synthesis without meta-analysis (SWiM) guidelines, this resulted in 55 records that met the inclusion criteria. The intervention outcomes are categorized into substantial themes: onboarding, transition program to a different unit, stress coping, social support, extra staffing, coping with the demands of patient care, work relationships, development opportunities and department resources, job environment, work organization, recruitment approach, and technological innovations. Considering the literature, onboarding programs and mentoring for nurses and physicians are recommended. Additionally, other interventions described in this review could positively affect the retention of nurses and physicians. When selecting an intervention for implementation, managers and human resources should consider the intervention that matches the determinant of intention to leave of their healthcare workers and the hospital’s mission, vision, and values. Sharing the success stories of implemented interventions may benefit healthcare organizations.

The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has become a global pandemic. Drastic measures are being taken to flatten the peak and slow down its progression to reduce fatalities caused by the collapse of healthcare systems and overstretched hospital capacity [1]. Intensive care physicians, emergency doctors, general practitioners, nurses and even cleaning staff are making a huge effort to support patients. As we have learned from China, Italy and previous outbreaks (e.g. SARS and MERS), medical professionals and first responders have a very high risk of infection. During the SARS outbreak, for example, one in five cases globally were healthcare workers [2]. Recent data from the COVID-19 crisis in Italy are equally alarming, indicating that 20% of Italian healthcare workers were infected [3].

Introduction: Burnout is a growing problem among young researchers, affecting individuals, organizations and society. Our study aims to identify burnout profiles and highlight the corresponding job demands and resources, resulting in recommendations to reduce burnout risk in the academic context.Methods: This cross-sectional study collected data from young researchers (n = 1,123) at five Flemish universities through an online survey measuring burnout risk, work engagement, sleeping behavior, and the most prominent job demands (e.g., publication pressure) and resources (e.g., social support). We conducted Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) to identify burnout profiles in young researchers and subsequently compared these groups on job demands and resources patterns.Results: Five burnout profiles were identified: (1) High Burnout Risk (9.3%), (2) Cynical (30.1%), (3) Overextended (2.3%), (4) Low Burnout Risk (34.8%), and (5) No Burnout Risk (23.6%). Each burnout profile was associated with a different pattern of job demands and resources. For instance, high levels of meaningfulness (OR = −1.96) decreased the odds to being classified in the Cynical profile.Conclusion: Our findings show that the Cynical profile corresponds to a relatively high number of young researchers, which may imply that they are particularly vulnerable to the cynicism dimension of burnout. Additionally, work-life interference and perceived publication pressure seemed the most significant predictors of burnout risk, while meaningfulness, social support from supervisor and learning opportunities played an important protective role.

Background: Burnout is a growing problem in medical education, and is usually characterised by three dimensions: emotional exhaustion, cynicism, and reduced professional efficacy. Currently, the majority of burnout studies have been conducted in western high-income countries, overshadowing findings from low- and middle-income countries. Our objective is to investigate burnout and its associated predictive factors in Morocco, aiming to guide intervention strategies, while also assessing differences between the preclinical and clinical years. Methods: A cross-sectional, self-administered online survey assessing burnout dimensions and its main determinants was distributed among medical students at Université Mohammed VI des Sciences et de la Santé (UM6SS, Casablanca, Morocco). Descriptive analyses involved computing mean scores, standard deviations and Pearson correlations. Further, t-tests were performed to check for significant differences in burnout dimensions across the preclinical and clinical learning phase, and stepwise linear regression analyses were conducted using a backward elimination method to estimate the effects of the selected variables on the three burnout dimensions. Results: A t-test assessing the difference in cynicism found a significant difference between students at the preclinical phase and the clinical phase, t(90) = -2.5, p = 0.01. For emotional exhaustion and reduced professional efficacy no significant difference was observed. A linear regression analysis showed that emotional exhaustion was significantly predicted by workload, work-home conflict, social support from peers and neuroticism. Cynicism was predicted by the learning phase, workload, meaningfulness and neuroticism; and reduced professional efficacy by neuroticism only. Conclusions: Our findings suggest a potential gradual increase in cynicism during medical education in Morocco. Conducting this study in a low- and middle income country has enhanced the scientific understanding of burnout in these regions. Given the identified predictive factors for burnout, such as workload, work-home conflict, support from peers, neuroticism, and meaningfulness, it is necessary to focus on these elements when developing burnout interventions.

Healthcare organizations worldwide face challenges in retaining their healthcare workforce, with individual and organizational factors influencing their intentions to leave. This study conducted eight online co-creation workshops and four Delphi sessions to gain qualitative and in-depth insights into job retention interventions, involving healthcare workers, hospital managers, and policymakers. A thematic analysis was conducted, resulting in multiple interventions that were clustered in four pre-defined themes: professional and personal support, education, financial incentives, and regulatory measures. Professional and personal support interventions included regular interprofessional team meetings, leadership training programs, self-scheduling and sabbaticals, support for administrative and non-clinical work, and the provision of psychological counselling. Educational interventions encompassed facilitating development opportunities, periodic evaluations, onboarding, mentorship programs, and peer support groups. Financial incentives included the provision of competitive salaries, adequate infrastructure, extra benefits, transport possibilities, and permanent employment contracts. Regulatory measures addressed the need for complementary legislation across various levels, fixed healthcare worker-to-patient ratio, and instruments to monitor workload. To optimize retention strategies, healthcare organizations should tailor these interventions to address the unique factors influencing their workforce’s intentions to leave within their specific context. The study concludes that combining personal and professional support, educational opportunities, financial incentives, and regulatory measures is necessary because there is no one-size-fits-all solution.

Introduction: Co-creation is becoming increasingly popular to develop interventions that can achieve results beyond scientific findings. Workshops are one of the main ways to collect data and generate ideas in co-creation, which traditionally have been conducted at a fixed, physical location. However, organising face-to-face workshops is considered challenging, due to the transportation time, low flexibility and high costs. This study aims to investigate the online format of co-creation workshops and to discuss methodological considerations. Methods: Co-creation workshops were organised with 78 medical students, general practitioner (GP) trainees and specialist trainees from five Belgian universities. The study included four different cohorts, namely first-year bachelors ( n = 12), first-year masters ( n = 13), first-year GP trainees ( n = 14) and first-year specialist trainees ( n = 39). Three consequential online workshops were organised for each cohort, resulting in 12 workshops in total. The collected data included qualitative data (video-and audio recordings, notes from interdisciplinary team discussions, Miro boards) and quantitative data (registrations and actual attendance rates). All workshops were transcribed verbatim and thematically analysed using NVivo. Results: The participants reported increased flexibility and reduced costs as main benefits of the online format. In addition, the online platforms Miro and Microsoft Teams were considered dynamic and inspiring, facilitating high levels of engagement and interactivity. However, the online format also showed some challenges, such as the need for a digitally educated population and a stable internet connection. Conclusion: This study has shown that online workshops, also in the highly interactive method of co-creation, provide a viable alternative to collect data and generate ideas. This is particularly the case, when the target population is geographically dispersed, has a high workload and is digitally educated. Online workshops, however, also face limitations and challenges that need to be considered when choosing this format.