Annual Retention Survey Results

Fiona Ellwood looks at the current recruitment landscape.

Compassionate mental healthcare relies on a valued workforce

A healthy and valued workforce is vital for safe and compassionate mental healthcare. That was my take-home from the recent senior leadership symposium on advancing and sustaining the mental health nursing workforce.

Inclusive policies for health financing towards universal health coverage in Pakistan: direct or indirect taxes

Purpose: The unresolved crisis scenario and a prolonged COVID-19 pandemic increased social inequalities, mainly affecting the most vulnerable groups to access health services. The data in Pakistan show that health coverage benefits less than half of the population and a weak health system forces households to finance their health with out-of-pocket expenses. Therefore, it is a pending task to guarantee universal health coverage and design sustainable and inclusive policies to finance and provide health services. This study aims to offer a unique solution for health financing to Pakistan. Design/methodology/approach: This study uses the VECM model by employing the data from Pakistan to indicate sustainable policies for health financing. Finding(s): The results of this research show that direct taxes have a positive impact on public health expenditure;on the contrary, indirect taxes have a negative impact;it also confirms the importance of considering the direct tax based on high-income quintiles to guarantee equality and Access to health for all that contributes to human development. Practical implications: This article leads to the design of a new health system that will be useful for improving the health of Pakistan by presenting a solution to enhance health financing. Meanwhile, Pakistan will experience better conditions in the face of health crises. Social implications: Improving health financing through the equality approach can provide public access to the health system and strengthen the positive effects of the health system on socio-economic relations. Originality/value: This paper provides a unique solution for the ministry of health of Pakistan, International organisations and national authorities to reach a high level of health coverage without any cost to the financial system and increase the cost of living of the Pakistani people. Highlights: Increase efficient health financing by integrating health coverage programmes. Implementing direct taxes based on income quintiles improves health equality. Indirect tax policies will not positively contribute to health financing. Improving health financing efficiency decreases health inequality.Copyright © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Employer perspectives on the living wage and minimum wage during Covid: evidence from New Zealand

New Zealand is a relatively low wage economy but living costs are high and rising. One government response has been to accelerate the Minimum Wage (MW) which is now converging on the Living Wage (LW) rate. This paper explores employer attitudes and practices regarding the LW, in the context of the rising MW and Covid disruption, based on a survey of over 600 organisations. Motivation for adopting the LW simultaneously derived from ethical considerations of fairness, especially given higher living costs, and prospective returns such as better recruitment, retention and motivation in the context of tighter labour markets. Implementing the LW had mixed employment effects with benefits more likely to accrue to larger organisations. However, difficulties relating to wage differentials were also more acute in larger firms. Where affordability inhibited the full restoration of wage differentials, which were narrowing in many organisations due to the higher MW or adoption of the LW, this resulted in a perceived inequity for relatively higher paid employees. The findings highlight how perceptions of ‘fairness' may vary. This could limit the wider adoption or potential gains arising from the LW, and employment relation processes need to be configured to defuse such potential indirect effects.

The Australian Economy in 2022–23: Inflation and Higher Interest Rates in a Post‐COVID‐19 World

Record levels of domestic and global stimulus during the COVID‐19 pandemic years helped to mitigate largely unparalleled downside risks. Post‐COVID‐19, inflation surged in Australia due to overseas factors such as the war in Ukraine, and domestic factors such as COVID‐related backlogs in the construction sector. To constrain inflation, the Reserve Bank shifted to a phase of aggressive monetary policy tightening in 2022. There are, however, cost of living ramifications associated with tighter monetary policy. Looking forward, there is significant uncertainty about the rate at which inflation will normalise, and the spending response of consumers to higher interest rates.

An Analysis of Employee Assistance Programs in the Workplace

Across the world among various industries, the concept of employee assistance and/or employee wellness programs are becoming increasingly more popular and widespread. Between the global pandemic, hybrid or fully remote working arrangements, increased cost of living and increasing inflation, this rapidly advancing society provides a new set of challenges that were either nonexistent or not as prominent as when employee assistance programs were first created. Originally instituted as a response to alcohol dependency, the desires and needs for employee assistance programs range from personal employee matters occurring both in the workplace and at home to general depression and anxiety support that is provided by the employer for any reason. This research presents an opportunity to better understand employee assistance programs from the perspectives of individual use and program effectiveness. A collection of literature spanning four consecutive decades is synthesized and referenced to help build a case for providing corresponding recommendations for the future implementation, management, and oversight of employee assistance programs. The major themes identified throughout the literature include but are not limited to program evaluation and effectiveness, employee retention, program participation, and mental health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Applied Professional Studies is the property of Marywood University, PhD Program in Strategic Leadership & Administrative Studies and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

COVID-19 and the financial crisis in the sports sector around the world

The COVID-19 pandemic is not only hugely disrupting the global economy but also virtually bringing the sports sector to its knees. Using a descriptive exploratory study approach, this paper identifies the challenges for the sports industry caused by COVID-19. The findings revealed that COVID-19 has led to shortfalls in revenue, loss of jobs and subsequently high unemployment levels, downturn in standards of living, people's fitness and general wellbeing, and rises in the cost of living. This study provides policy recommendations to sporting authorities and related bodies to adapt to this situation and find ways to overcome the serious problems created by the pandemic.

Global Social Policy Digest 23.1: Cost of living increases and looming crises

Gaps in global social policies are receiving greater attention amid ongoing and looming global crises. Intersectionality between crisis, including the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and armed conflict in Ukraine, intensify already heightened inflation rates and worsening clkimate crises. As a result, social policies are being implemented in response to the cost-of-living increases that are severely impacting more than 1.2 billion people. This issue of the GSP Digest focuses on cost-of-living increases amid these crises. Imminent public health crises and armed conflicts have impacted nearly all policy areas of international actors and their social aspects.

The NHS in crisis: what does this mean for neurology?

As 2022 draws to a close, the NHS has never been in a more fragile condition. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and, more recently, inflation and the cost-of-living crisis, the NHS is under some of the most significant pressures in its history. But how do these pressures impact on neurology services? Sue Thomas explores the main issues causing the NHS crisis and delves into how neurology services need to respond.

Sunak fiddles while the NHS burns

The collapse is undeniable—except that is if you are Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, one of his ministers, or someone senior in the health service whose denial of the collapse is an unedifying daily ritual.4 If your genuine concern is the health and wellbeing of the population, then you don't waste time contesting plausible data on excess deaths or refusing to hold meaningful talks with unhappy staff.56 The assumption here is that the people in charge do support the principles of universal health coverage funded by taxation. The problem is an unwillingness to tackle glaring failings.11 It doesn't take much common sense or empathy to understand that pensions and pay for junior doctors are driving the retention crisis.12 When people, even health professionals, aren't being heard, can't provide the level of service they believe they should be delivering, and can barely make ends meet, it is understandable that they see no option but to strike.1314 It's clear that unless you deliver and then implement your long promised plans for social care you won't fix the "flow” problems in acute care. Or that, without prioritising primary care, public health, the wider determinants of health, and ending austerity, you won't ease the pressure on hospital services or improve baseline population health and narrow inequalities. None of this is new or revelatory, yet none seems a priority for today's politicians.15 Other solutions are available.16 To begin with, investing in the workforce and a workable plan, as was the case with the waiting list initiatives of the first decade of this century, can seed optimism, catalyse change, and improve outcomes.17 Investing in early child health delivers longer term health and economic benefits;instead the health of children is worsening, and more and more families rely on food banks as the cost of living crisis deepens.1819 Innovations such as moving patients to "care hotels” while they await social care may improve access to acute hospital services.20 Any solution, however, must not be underfunded and ill thought out "political symbolism.”

Crunching the cost

Paul Swales outlines the cost-of-living crisis causes, and what you can do to aid your outgoings.

Editorial: What a year!

Accessible summary: In the last issue of 2022 I reflect on the uncertainty we have been living with again this year. While the impact of Covid‐19 may be lessening, war and the cost of living are affecting us all.Following some research with people with learning disabilities about getting further involved in the journal more changes are on the way.I am busy consulting with people with learning disabilities about what the focus of the 2024 special issue of the journal should be.Meanwhile, this issue of the journal has papers on many topics including eating, mothering, having friendships, staying well and ageing. [ FROM AUTHOR]

Canadian Jobs amid a Pandemic: Examining the Relationship between Professional Industry and Salary to Regional Key Performance Indicators

The COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to un-precedented rates of unemployment and greater uncertainty in the job market. There is a growing need for data-driven tools and analyses to better inform the public on trends within the job market. In particular, obtaining a 'snapshot' of available employment opportunities mid-pandemic promises insights to inform policy and support retraining programs. In this work, we combine data scraped from the Canadian Job Bank and Numbeo globally crowd-sourced repository to explore the relationship between job postings during a global pandemic and Key Performance Indicators (e.g. quality of life [QOL] index, cost of living) for major cities across Canada. This analysis aims to help Canadians make informed career decisions, collect a 'snapshot' of the Canadian employment opportunities amid a pandemic, and inform job seekers in identifying the correct fit between the desired lifestyle of a city and their career. We collected a new high-quality dataset of job postings from jobbank.gc.ca obtained with the use of ethical web scraping and performed exploratory data analysis on this dataset to identify job opportunity trends. When optimizing for average salary of job openings with QOL, affordability, cost of living, and traffic indices, it was found that Edmonton, AB consistently scores higher than the mean, and is therefore an attractive place to move. Furthermore, we identified optimal provinces to relocate to with respect to individual skill levels. It was determined that Ajax, Marathon, and Chapleau, ON are each attractive cities for IT professionals, construction workers, and healthcare workers respectively when maximizing average salary. Finally, we publicly release our scraped dataset as a mid-pandemic snapshot of Canadian employment opportunities and present a public web application that provides an interactive visual interface that summarizes our findings for the general public and the broader research community. © 2022 IEEE.

Sri Lanka sees scientists’ exodus amid economic crisis

The war in Ukraine only served to worsen the situation as Russia is Sri Lanka’s third biggest export market for tea and, together with Ukraine, are major sources of tourist arrivals. <span data-mce-type="bookmark" style="display: inline-block;width: 0px;overflow: hidden;line-height: 0;" class="mce_SELRES_start"></span> In April, the Rajapaksa government announced that it would default on payment to creditors totalling a staggering US$51 billion and begin a loan restructuring process. Vithanage, who is doing research on chronic kidney disease that affects farmers in remote rural areas, says it has become prohibitively expensive to do basic work, such as collecting water samples and talking to patients. “Initially, we cooked at our boarding house, but now we are forced to buy food from outside due to shortage of gas, but buying food outside is costly as prices doubled over a year,” says Madushika Sewwandi, a chemical technology graduate student from Matara, a town in southern Sri Lanka.

Uganda: Street Protests

Magistrate Douglas Singiza approved his release on bail of Sh2.5m ($667) on July 1st.The judge ordered Besigye not to make any public comments on the case and to appear in court again on July 29th.Besigye leads the People's Front for Transition pressure group, which is calling for "a fundamental re-set of the whole system". Police in Uganda fired tear gas to break up protests in three towns on July 25th over the soaring price of fuel and basic foodstuffs, with several people arrested, police and witnesses said.It was the second time in a month that demonstrators had taken to the streets to voice their anger over the rising cost of living in a country whose economy has been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic and more recently the war in Ukraine. (© AFP 25/7 2022) Besigye Bailed: A court released veteran opposition politician Kizza Besigye on bail after he had spent two weeks on remand on charges of holding illegal protests, the privately-owned Chimp Reports news website (1/7) reported. [Extracted from the article] Copyright of Africa Research Bulletin: Political, Social & Cultural Series is the property of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

The struggles facing student nurse in today's world

After research last year2 suggesting nearly a third of students were dropping out part way through their studies - with even higher rates for Māori (33 per cent) and Pasifika (37 per cent) - one of the questions we challenged the school leaders with was: "What is causing our nursing student colleagues drop out part way through their three-year or 18-month programmes?" We were met with a plethora of rationales, most challenging, some disturbing - however all were realistic about today's financial, social, political and academic climate. Money pressure The most common factor for tauira neehi (student nurses) not completing their study was financial stress, ranging from the cost of studying through to the cost of living while studying. [...]because of experiences within their learning environments, they themselves become vulnerable and discouraged.

Raising The Minimum Wage in Malaysia: Challenges and The Way Forward

The minimum wage order in Malaysia gazetted in July 2012 has since been revised four times. In the recent revision of the minimum wage, the rate was increased from RM1200 to RM1,500 per month effective 1 May 2020. In general, the minimum wage protects workers, especially the low-skilled and low-income groups. While still debatable, the minimum wage order is often seen as a tool to alleviate poverty and reduce income inequality. However, in the case of Malaysia, the minimum wage does not cover workers in informal sectors, and these are usually the lower-income group. The recent revision of the minimum wage in Malaysia has met with many challenges amidst the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Businesses were severely affected in unprecedented ways. A higher minimum wage may impose higher costs for business owners resulting in rising costs of goods and services for consumers. The cost of living varies in different states or regions in Malaysia. Therefore, the minimum wage should be implemented and revised gradually and differ by region. In the long run, businesses can increase their productivity by tapping into the skills and knowledge of their workers to create innovative products and processes. It is the purpose of this narrative review to draw attention to the current issues surrounding the recent increase in wage policy in Malaysia, with particular emphasis on the challenges and the way forward.