The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Tenure-Track Librarians

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic brought about significant disruptions in higher education, including changes within the field of academic librarianship. This paper reports on a March 2021 survey of tenure-track faculty librarians. The purpose was to identify the challenges they faced because of the pandemic, the effect on their confidence, and the impact on job responsibilities, workload, and promotion and tenure requirements. Key findings showed that several factors, including colleague retirements and changes in instructional needs, precipitated workplace changes during the pandemic. Furthermore, support for the meeting of promotion and tenure requirements diminished for most participants, as evidenced by decreases in funding for professional development and lack of time to devote to research and writing. Respondents also provided personal reflections regarding how work changed during the pandemic. This paper adds to the growing body of pandemic-related literature and proposes future research. © 2022, Johns Hopkins University Press. All rights reserved.

Improving Language Access for Patients with Limited English Proficiency (LEP) During Emergency Room Care

Purpose/Objectives: Patients with Limited English proficiency (LEP) are at greater risk for hospital admissions and representations to the emergency department (ED) in comparison to patients with English proficiency (EP). Improved communication with language services has been shown to decrease these health disparities. In our free-standing Children's Hospital yearly ED representation rates for patients with LEP (4.6%) are over 20% higher than for our patients with EP (3.7%). We aimed to decrease the 7-day representation rate for patients with LEP in the emergency department by 20% over 18 months using the Plan Do Study Act (PDSA) method for quality improvement. Design/Methods: Our first cycle was the deployment of video remote interpretation (VRI). Second and third cycles included focused teaching for Faculty, House staff and staff on VRI use. PDSA cycles were interrupted with the unexpected event of Covid-19 and issues obtaining Cerner data. We evaluated outcomes quantitatively based on data from our language service provider and electronic medical record (EMR). We also conducted an electronic survey of Faculty and Staff to evaluate quantitatively over time VRI reception and frequency of obtaining preferred language. Results: LEP representation rates initially increased followed by a decreasing trend with the Covid19 pandemic and opening of an ED observation unit but this trend was not sustained and average representation rates after PDSA cycles increased to 6.1%. EP representation rates overall remained unchanged at 3.7%. Utilization of interpretation carts increased from 0 to >250 total calls made per month over the course of 18 months. The monthly average number of identified patients with LEP decreased after changes were made to the recording system in the EMR. Monthly rates of interpretation carts used for un-identified patients with LEP were found to range from 27% to 78%, signifying significant under identification in the EMR. 75% of ED Faculty and staff reported that they only ask preferred language or offer interpretation services for medical discussions infrequently when patients appear to speak English well but is clearly not their native language. Total ED visit numbers decreased after March of 2020 to 30-50% of expected due to Covid-19 pandemic. Conclusion/Discussion: ED Patients with LEP had an unexpectedly high rate of un-identification in addition to ED faculty and staff reporting not asking preferred language if the patient seems to speak English well. This has likely led to an underestimation of our LEP representation rate and lack of representative change during our PDSA cycles. Without identifying this vulnerable population, we will always be lacking in providing care in the preferred language which is critical for improving outcomes for our patients with LEP. Our next steps are to develop interventions to increase the identification of patients with LEP to provide safe and comprehensive care for this vulnerable population.

CELEBRATING AND CULTIVATING COMMUNITY AND COLLABORATION

As has been often said, 2020 was a year marked by the ‘unprecedented’ events and experiences brought about by the global Covid-19 pandemic, which continues to mark our public and private lives in various ways. While the pandemic has had a ‘global’ reach, ‘local’ experiences have been very different, perhaps no more so than in the relational space of Oceania from where we, and the authors in this Special Issue, write. For the Oceania Comparative and International Education Society (OCIES) - the official sponsor of this journal - 2020 presented new challenges to sustaining connections across our regional society, but also new opportunities. For the first time in the Society’s 37 year history, we were unable to hold our usual annual conference face to face. Instead, we held an online conference entitled the Festival of OCIES. As with other initiatives undertaken by OCIES during these ‘unprecedented’ times (see, for example, Sanga, Reynolds, Ormond & Southon, 2021), we sought to embrace the new opportunities offered by being unable to travel and gather together physically, while also responding to the challenges of the year with a call for celebration. Organised by a small geographically dispersed team of volunteers, the Festival was deliberately created as a space to recognise, celebrate and affirm the rich diversity of our OCIES community. We take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank Rhonda Di Biase, Maggie Flavell, and Carmel Mesiti for their time and energy in convening the conference, as well as the wider group of OCIES members who contributed their time and support in planning the event and facilitating sessions, including our New and Emerging Researcher Fono team, David Fa’avae, Sonia Fonua, Tepora Afamasaga-Wright and Ben Levy. Particular efforts were made to craft the Festival as an inclusive and supportive online space, with participation free to all, dedicated sessions for New and Emerging Researchers, the use of Pacific indigenous collaborative discussion formats such as talanoa and tok stori, a journal workshop for reviewers, and social sessions. © 2021. International Education Journal. All Rights Reserved.

"Short and sweet": a randomized controlled initial investigation of brief online psychological interventions with endurance athletes

There is potential in delivering brief, educational interventions online, particularly for recreational athletes. This initial investigation examined how two online interventions were perceived by endurance participants and how they affected outcomes of interest. After measuring self-efficacy, 142 people were randomized to one of three groups (self-talk, implementation intentions, and control) before an endurance event. Ninety-four completed postevent measures, which were self-efficacy, goal attainment, performance satisfaction, coping, stress appraisals, and social validity. The interventions involved approximately 10 min of initial engagement with online material. Perceptions of stress controllability were significantly higher in the implementation intention group compared with the control. There were no other statistically significant effects. Nevertheless, both intervention groups were satisfied with their interventions, found them useful, and were planning to continue using them. The findings demonstrate the feasibility and value of using brief, online psychological interventions, which may be timely in our changing profession, as COVID-19 has moved many interventions online.