ORGANIZATIONAL FACTORS AND ETHICAL DECISION-MAKING PROCESS DURING THE COVID-19

Aim. The researcher's goal is to investigate how organizational characteristics affect the process of making ethical decisions. Methods. The study's focus was on certified accountants working in Kosovo during the Covid19 era. The task is qualitative in nature;SPPS is used to process the data after Excel has done so. This study used descriptive and regression analysis. Results. The study demonstrated that organizational criteria like size, industry, the presence of an ethics code, and ethical climate have an impact on how decisions are made. To identify organizational elements and, as a result, improve the ethical decision-making process, the paper's findings may have policy implications. Conclusions. This study provided insight into how to increase the influence of organizational elements in ethical decision-making, particularly in the accounting field. A sound foundation for an ethical decision-making process that is sustainable is provided by the recommendations at the end of the paper. © 2023, Institute for Human Rehabilitation. All rights reserved.

Experiences and needs of certified nursing assistants regarding coaching by bachelor-educated registered nurses in nursing homes: A qualitative study.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to gain insight into the experiences and needs of certified nursing assistants regarding their coaching by bachelor-educated registered nurses in nursing homes. BACKGROUND: Certified nursing assistants are key in providing day-to-day nursing home care. They are, however, not trained to meet the increasingly complex needs of nursing home residents. For certified nursing assistants to respond to high-complexity care, coaching by bachelor-educated registered nurses may be appropriate. Yet, knowledge of how bachelor-educated registered nurses can provide valid coaching is lacking. DESIGN: An explorative qualitative design was adopted. METHODS: Certified nursing assistants (n = 13) were purposively selected from 10 Dutch nursing homes. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in 2020 and 2021, and thematic analysis was applied. RESULTS: Two main themes emerged: connecting with certified nursing assistants, and the coaching activities themselves. Certified nursing assistants deemed several aspects important for bachelor-educated registered nurses to connect with them: respecting the autonomy of certified nursing assistants, being visible and reachable, adapting communication, clarifying own job description, and participating in care. Certified nursing assistants perceived coaching by bachelor-educated registered nurses as valuable when they fulfil their needs through activities such as empowering, teaching, and mediating between management and certified nursing assistants. CONCLUSIONS: Valid coaching of certified nursing assistants appears possible and requires specific competencies of bachelor-educated registered nurses. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Coaching certified nursing assistants is one way of addressing complex care needs in nursing homes, and coaching can contribute to both professional and team development. As coaching requires specific competencies of bachelor-educated registered nurses, nursing education profiles should be enriched with this most important role. Management can facilitate coaching by providing bachelor-educated registered nurses with a clear job description. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: Experts on coaching in nursing home settings informed the topic list. Furthermore, member check was performed.

Qualitative Study of Certified Peer Specialists' Experiences Delivering Peer Support Services During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the experiences of certified peer specialists (CPSs) in delivering telehealth services during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: Fourteen semistructured interviews with CPSs were conducted from August to November 2020. Data were analyzed by using thematic analysis. RESULTS: Helpful support from employers during the transition to telehealth included clear communication and access to training on telehealth technologies. Main barriers and facilitators were related to interpersonal relationships and logistical factors. CPSs reported that telehealth allowed them to continue to support the peers they serve but that the quality of interactions was not as good as with in-person services. Logistical challenges included inadequate equipment and Internet access. CONCLUSIONS: To support CPSs in delivering telehealth, employers can engage them in open and transparent communication about guidelines for service delivery, provide training and equipment, and allow them the flexibility to tailor service delivery modalities to the peers they serve.

Impact of COVID-19 on USDA-certified organic producers: exploring the role of sociodemographic and contextual factors

The demand of local and organic products increased during the first years of the COVID-19 pandemic, and farmers' risk for transmission and infection also increased. A comprehensive picture on the effects of the pandemic on the organic farmer is not available. This was a cross-sectional survey study on the impact of COVID-19 on United States (US) certified organic producers, specifically on the challenges the pandemic imposed on the farm and the farming community. Data were collected in 2020–2021 through an electronic and paper survey. Participants included organic producers listed in the USDA Organic Integrity Database. Respondents represented producers from 40 states. The most frequently reported farm impacts were market availability (45.6%) and contact with the customer base (34.9%). The most frequently cited farming community impacts were economic hardship (44.2%), customer interaction and access (33.4%), and market availability (32.6%). Female respondents reported slightly more impacts than did male respondents (1.8 vs 1.3, p <.001). Hispanic reported more impacts on average than did non-Hispanic respondents (2.1 vs 1.4, p =.002). Differences by age and education were also found. Only a small percentage applied for and received emergency financial assistance. Results indicate that the pandemic had a multilevel impact on the workforce and on access to the market and costumers. They highlight the role of personal and contextual factors on how the producer experienced the pandemic. Also of relevance is that a high majority of participants did not pursue pandemic-specific assistance. The results of this study may inform research and policy, and interventions to protect and support organic producers in future emergencies. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.

Organizational Factors Associated with Certified Nursing Assistants' Job Satisfaction during COVID-19.

Given the instability of the nursing home (NH) certified nursing assistant (CNA) workforce and the challenging demands during COVID-19, it is important to understand the organizational factors that are correlated with job satisfaction which is a major predictor of CNA turnover. The purpose of this study was to determine the associations between quality of supervisor relationships, organizational supports, COVID-19 work-related stressors, and job satisfaction among CNAs in NHs. The results indicate that CNAs who reported a more optimal relationship with their supervisors, felt appreciated for the job they do and worked in NHs with lower COVID-19 resident infection rates tended to report higher rates of job satisfaction. The COVID-19 work-related stressors of increased workload demands and understaffing were associated with lower rates of job satisfaction. The study has practical implications for employers regarding how to support CNAs to improve job satisfaction especially during a crisis.

Corporate social responsibility as an effective promotional tool for the Malaysian halal certified companies in the era of Covid-19

Purpose>This paper aims to intend to ascertain whether corporate social responsibility (CSR) can serve as an effective promotional tool for the Malaysian halal certified companies in the era of Covid-19 pandemic. Starting from being nice to do, the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic has brought CSR to the forefront of businesses, forcing them to rapidly shift from profit maximisation to business preservation. Thus, it is practically crucial to ascertain whether CSR could be effectively used to promote halal brands in this era.Design/methodology/approach>To achieve the stated aim, a survey questionnaire was developed and used to collect data from 295 participants who are familiar with the concepts of CSR and halal in Malaysia. The data collected were analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics.Findings>The findings reveal that the commitment to halal best practices, zakat and charitable donations, environmental responsibility, employee welfare and responsible dealings with clients are the most important CSR activities that can promote halal certified companies in the era of Covid-19. Whilst there is a positive relationship between halal economic responsibility and CSR as a promotional tool, such relationship is not significant. Nevertheless, the relationship between legal responsibility and CSR as a promotional tool is negative and insignificant.Research limitations/implications>Limitations are inevitable in any study where a convenient sampling technique is used. Respondents from Klang Valley in Malaysia make up a large proportion of the study's sample. This may consequently limit the generalisability of the findings of this study. Hence, future research should adequately collect data from other cities in Malaysia. Moreover, this paper does not differentiate between perceptions of Muslims and non-Muslims or between male and female;this might have an effect, as Muslims are likely to favour most of the items in the questionnaire used to collect data for this study. Thus, future research may collect sufficient data to shed more light on this issue.Originality/value>The researchers have revealed that CSR is an effective promotional tool for the Malaysian halal certified companies in the era of Covid-19 pandemic. Study of this nature is rare in academic literature.

[Prevention of Infection and the Practice of Dementia Nursing by Certified Nurses During the COVID-19 Pandemic].

The purpose of this study is to clarify the practices of Certified Nurses in Dementia Nursing during the 2019 Coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) from two perspectives: 1) protecting elderly people with dementia from contracting the virus and 2) providing basic care for dementia to ensure the maintenance of cognitive function and comfort and safety. A self-constructed questionnaire was used to survey 386 Certified Nurses in Dementia Nursing working at hospitals in 23 prefectures where more than 30% of the population is 65 years old and over about their nursing practices and the measures they were taking during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was clarified that the certified nurses devised ways to prevent infection without undue imposition on people with dementia, and that they facilitated interactions with people and created a comfortable environment while paying attention to the prevention of infection.

Impact of COVID-19 on initial emergency medical services certification in the United States.

Objective: As the COVID-19 pandemic began, there were significant concerns for the strength and stability of the emergency medical services (EMS) workforce. These concerns were heightened with the closure of examination centers and the cessation of certification examinations. The impact of this interruption on the EMS workforce is unclear. Our objective was to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on initial EMS certification in the United States. In addition, we evaluated mitigation measures taken to address these interruptions. Methods: This study was a cross-sectional evaluation of the National Certification Cognitive Examination administration and results for emergency medical technician (EMT) and paramedic candidates. We compared the number of examinations administered and first-attempt pass rates in 2020 (pandemic) to 2019 (control). Descriptive statistics and 2 one-sided tests of equivalence were used to assess if there was a relevant difference of ±5 percentage points. Results: Total number of examinations administered decreased by 15% (EMT, 14%; paramedic, 7%). Without the addition of EMT remote proctoring, the EMT reduction would have been 35%. First-time pass rates were similar in both EMT (-0.9%) and paramedic (-1.9%) candidates, which did not meet our threshold of a relevant difference. Conclusion: COVID-19 has had a measurable impact on examination administration for both levels of certification. First-time pass rates remained unaffected. EMT remote proctoring mitigated some of the impact of COVID-19 on examination administration, although a comparison with mitigation was not assessed. These reductions indicate a potential decrease in the newly certified workforce, but future evaluations will be necessary to assess the presence and magnitude of this impact.

AN ANALYTICAL STUDY OF POTATO SEED PRODUCTION IN JALANDHAR DISTRICT OF PUNJAB

Seed is an essential input for the potato crop. Much of the efforts and investment would be infructuous if the farmers did not get the quality seeds. Only the seed with assured purity-genetic and physical can be expected to respond to fertilizers and other inputs in a respected manner. The present study attempted to analyze the source, SRR of potato seed and assess the effect on potato crop yield by using certified seed in the Jalandhar district of Punjab. The current study was conducted on primary data collected from 120 farmers during the 2020-21 agricultural year. The data were analyzed using simple tabular analysis and other suitable statistical techniques. The study found that the most preferred source of seed was the self-retained seed which came out to be 48 per cent, the second most preferred source was private seed dealers, as 17 per cent procured seed from these dealers. The high use of self-retained seed was due to the high cost of purchased seed, and the other reason was that farmers had more confidence in the self-retained seed. The study found that large farmers’ Seed Replacement Rate (SRR) was higher. It was 11.2 per cent for small farmers, 19.5 per cent for medium farmers and 27.5 per cent for large farmers. The yield of potato crop using certified seed was higher than non-certified seed. The per cent difference in yield of potato grown by certified and non-certified seed among small and medium farmers was 17 per cent, 11 per cent among large farmers and 15 per cent overall in the Jalandhar district of Punjab. The study highlighted that the primary constraint faced by potato seed growers were high prices of certified seed (69.1 per cent), high cost of pesticides and insecticides (65.8 per cent), fluctuations in the price of potato seed (55 per cent), lack of public procurement at MSP (53.3 per cent), covid related restrictions (52.5 per cent) and lack of extension facilities (48.3 per cent). The study suggested that the government should provide certified seed to the farmers at the lowest cost to increase the seed replacement rate. Awareness regarding the use of certified seed should be given to farmers through extension services. Government institutes like Central Potato Research Station (CPRS) (ICAR), the Centre of Excellence (Dogri) and the Department of Horticulture should expand the production of certified seeds as only 18 per cent of potato growers purchased seeds from these agencies in the study area. The minimum support price of potatoes should be fixed to promote the production of potatoes in the state. © 2022, Indian Potato Association. All rights reserved.

Factors associated with nursing home direct care professionals' turnover intent during the COVID-19 pandemic.

OBJECTIVE: To identify factors related to turnover intent among direct care professionals in nursing homes during the pandemic. METHODS: Cross-sectional study with surveys administered via an employee management system to 809 direct care professionals (aides working in nursing homes). Single items assessed COVID-19-related work stress, preparedness to care for residents during COVID-19, job satisfaction, and intent to remain in job. A two-item scale assessed quality of organizational communication. RESULTS: Path analysis demonstrated that only higher job satisfaction was associated with a higher likelihood of intent to remain in job. Higher quality of employer communication and greater preparedness were also associated with higher job satisfaction, but not with intent to remain. Higher quality communication and greater preparedness mediated the negative impact of COVID-19-related work stress on job satisfaction. CONCLUSION: Provision of high-quality communication and training are essential for increasing job satisfaction and thus lessening turnover intent in nursing homes.

Real-Time Monitoring the Effects of Storage Conditions on Volatile Compounds and Quality Indexes of Halal-Certified Kimchi during Distribution Using Electronic Nose.

The food logistics system is an essential sector for maintaining and monitoring the safety and quality of food products and becoming more crucial, especially during and after the pandemic of COVID-19. Kimchi is a popular traditional fermented food originally from Korea and easily changes because of the storage conditions. This study aims to evaluate the effects and the contributions of temperature to volatile compounds, quality indexes, and the shelf life of Halal-certified Kimchi, and to identify alcohol and find the correlation between the identified variables using an electronic nose and conventional method with the integration of multivariate analysis. Thirty-two volatile compounds (VOCs) were detected and correlated with pH, titratable acidity (TA), and lactic acid bacteria (LAB) counts during storage time. Ethanol was also found in the ripened Kimchi and possibly became the critical point of halal Kimchi products besides total acidity, pH, and LAB. Furthermore, the correlation between pH and benzaldehyde, titratable acidity and 3-methylbutanoic acid, and among lactic acid bacteria with ethanol, acetic acid, ethyl acetate, and 3-methylbutanoic acid properly can be used as a given set of variables in the prediction of food quality during storage and distribution.

Professional Sports Trainers' Burnout in Fully Online and Blended Classes: Innovative Approaches in Physical Education and Sports Training

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many educational institutions worldwide to establish emergency remote teaching systems. Although online teaching has long been applied in many other subjects, online sports training is still under-researched in developing countries like Vietnam. In Vietnam, sports trainers are innovatively making many efforts to teach sports online amidst such a once-in-many-generations event. Particularly, a gym center chain has been offering two special formats of online courses utilizing virtual reality (VR) and three-dimensional (3D) technologies, namely, fully online and blended courses. The first format comprises 50% asynchronous sessions using VR and 3D technologies to provide trainees with theoretical knowledge and 50% offline sessions for practical skills training. The second format also includes 50% asynchronous sessions using the same technologies;however, the training for practical skills is conducted via an e-conferencing platform (Zoom). Fortunately, the blended courses have attracted significant attention from many sports trainees. However, as sports trainers in Vietnam had minimal opportunities to teach online before this epidemic, it is likely that, while teaching these courses, they can encounter moments of burnout, which comprises three dimensions, such as exhaustion, cynicism, and low professional efficacy. Thus, we aim to investigate factors that affected each dimension of burnout among sports trainers, using the mixed-method approach with questionnaires and focus-group interviews within this study. This study suggests practical pedagogical implications for sports trainers and administrators to curb stress and burnout in online sports training courses in times of crisis.

Age-Friendly Nursing Homes: Opportunity for Nurses to Lead.

Age-Friendly Health Systems is a movement to ensure that all care and support for and with older adults across all settings is age-friendly care. Age-Friendly Health Systems provide staff, leadership, and care partner education based on the 4M Framework (What Matters, Medications, Mentation, Mobility). Nursing homes and other settings are often left out of local, state, or federal strategic plans on aging. In addition, limited quality and quantity of nursing home staff impact new program implementation. We consider how programs and services to support older adults can create and sustain an Age-Friendly Ecosystem, including a meaningful role for nursing homes.

Hand Washing Observations in Fast-Food and Full-Service Restaurants: Results from the 2014 U.S. Food and Drug Administration Retail Food Risk Factors Study.

ABSTRACT: Properly executed hand washing by food service employees can greatly minimize the risk of transmitting foodborne pathogens to food and food contact surfaces in restaurants. However, food service employee hand washing is often not done correctly or does not occur as often as it should. The purpose of this study was to assess the relative impact of (i) the convenience and accessibility of hand washing facilities; (ii) the maintenance of hand washing supplies, (iii) multiunit status, (iv) having a certified food protection manager, and (v) having a food safety management system for compliance with proper hand washing. Results revealed marked differences in hand washing behaviors between fast-food and full-service restaurants; 45% of 425 fast-food restaurants and 57% of 396 full-service restaurants were out of compliance for washing hands correctly, and 57% of fast-food restaurants and 78% of full-service restaurants were out of compliance for employee hands being washed when required. Logistic regression results indicated the benefits of accessibility and maintenance of the hand washing sink and of a food safety management system for increasing the likelihood of employees washing hands when they are supposed to and washing them correctly when they do.

Expanding certified professional midwife services during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Given concerns of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) acquisition in health care settings and hospital policies reducing visitors for laboring patients, many pregnant women are increasingly considering planned home births. Several state legislatures are considering increasing access to home births by granting licensure and Medicaid coverage of certified professional midwife (CPM) services. In this commentary, issues surrounding the expansion of CPM services including safety, standardization of care, patient satisfaction, racial and income equity, and an overburdened health care system are discussed. Lawmakers must account for these factors when considering proposals to expand CPM practice and payment during a pandemic.

Employee engagement, well-being, and flourishing in certified B corporations: Can B lab's workers impact score be relied upon to measure a company's effectiveness at being "good for workers"?

Recent philosophical and cultural shifts in society's definition of the purpose of a corporation have generated a call for systemic change in how companies are governed and conduct business. One movement that has been at the forefront of this paradigm shift is the certified B corporation movement. B Lab, the nonprofit that oversees the certification process, uses the B Impact Assessment (BIA) to evaluate an organization's social and environmental impact. The BIA is a multi-impact area and multi-step certification process overseen by an independent Standards Advisory Council that evaluates the best practices in each area of the certification: governance, workers, community, customers, and the environment. In order for these policies and standards of practice to gain widespread legitimacy as concrete, measurable, and actionable steps for creating organizations that are "a force for good," measurement tools, such as the BIA, need to be empirically tested to ensure that the policies and practices rewarded truly create the positive effects they claim to create. This comparative correlational case study offers one such empirical assessment.The purpose of this study was to explore whether the policies and standards of practice rewarded in the Workers Impact Score (WIS) of B Lab's BIA can be relied upon to measure a company's effectiveness at being "good for workers." "Good for workers" was measured using the independent variables employee engagement (BEE) and employee well-being (BWB). A Model of Employee Flourishing was created and used to supplement the data analysis. The sample for this study was a convenience sample of eight certified B corporations gathered from personal and professional contacts within the certified B corporation community as well as snowball sampling from those contacts. Notably, it appears this research is the first study ever to gather data directly from employees, not just leadership, from a variety of certified B corporations to test this hypothesis.Even though many of the 427 respondents self-reported they were on average experiencing high levels of engagement and well-being, there was no significant correlation between the participating companies' median engagement and well-being scores and the participating companies' WISs. Nor was there any relationship between the engagement and well-being scores and the participating companies' size or the percentile into which those companies fell within the population of all certified B corporations. There was, however, a significant positive relationship between the constructs of engagement and well-being in the eight participating certified B corporations.While the small sample size of this study limits its findings, the lack of correlation does raise several questions worth investigating. Are there concepts missing from the model used in this study that could be added in future studies? Do the engagement and well-being scores in this study more appropriately connect with a specific impact topic area of the WIS? Are there concepts in the BIA that B Lab should consider refining in order to improve the certification? Did external societal events (COVID-19, social unrest, and political unpredictability) during the data collection period influence the data collected? Each of these questions is considered, and future research is suggested. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Perspectives of certified nursing assistants and administrators on staffing the nursing home frontline during the COVID-19 pandemic.

OBJECTIVE: To identify best practices to support and grow the frontline nursing home workforce based on the lived experience of certified nursing assistants (CNAs) and administrators during COVID-19. STUDY SETTING: Primary data collection with CNAs and administrators in six New York metro area nursing homes during fall 2020. STUDY DESIGN: Semi-structured interviews and focus groups exploring staffing challenges during COVID-19, strategies used to address them, and recommendations moving forward. DATA COLLECTION: We conducted interviews with 6 administrators and held 10 focus groups with day and evening shift CNAs (n = 56) at 6 nursing homes. Data were recorded and transcribed verbatim and analyzed through directed content analysis using a combined inductive and deductive approach to compare perceptions across sites and roles. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: CNAs and administrators identified chronic staffing shortages that affected resident care and staff burnout as a primary concern moving forward. CNAs who felt most supported and confident in their continued ability to manage their work and the pandemic described leadership efforts to support workers' emotional health and work-life balance, teamwork across staff and management, and accessible and responsive leadership. However, not all CNAs felt these strategies were in place. CONCLUSIONS: Based on priorities identified by CNAs and administrators, we recommend several organizational/industry and policy-level practices to support retention for this workforce. Practices to stabilize the workforce should include 1) teamwork and person-centered operational practices including transparent communication; 2) increasing permanent staff to avoid shortages; and 3) evaluating and building on successful COVID-related innovations (self-managed teams and flexible benefits). Policy and regulatory changes to promote these efforts are necessary to developing industry-wide structural practices that target CNA recruitment and retention.

'Who will do it if I don't?' Nurse anaesthetists' experiences of working in the intensive care unit during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the workload on the intensive care unit (ICU) increased nationally in Sweden as well as globally. Certified registered nurse anaesthetists (CRNAs) in Sweden were transferred at short notice to work with seriously ill patients with COVID-19 in the ICU, which is not part of the CRNAs' specialist area. However, limited research has shed light on healthcare professionals' experiences of the pandemic. OBJECTIVES: This study illuminates CRNAs' experiences of working in the ICU during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: This study used a qualitative method with an inductive approach to interview nurse anaesthetists who worked in the ICU during the COVID-19 pandemic. FINDINGS: The participants experienced ambivalent feelings towards their work in the ICU. They also lacked information, which created feelings of uncertainty and resulted in expectations that did not correspond to the reality. They described that owing to an inadequate introduction, they could only provide "sufficient" care, which in many cases caused ethical stress. Not being able to get to know their new colleagues well enough to create effective cooperation created frustration. Even though the participants experienced the work in the ICU as demanding and challenging, overall, they enjoyed their time in the ICU and were treated well by their colleagues. CONCLUSIONS: Although CRNAs cannot replace intensive care nurses, they are a useful resource in the ICU in the care of patients with COVID-19. Healthcare workers who are allocated from their ordinary units to the ICU need adequate information and support from their work managers to be able to provide the best possible care and to stay healthy themselves.