Embarking on an adventure of early career academic leadership.

Leading a research group as an early career researcher (ECR) in academia presents many challenges. First, it imposes many additional pressures on individuals, causing fear of missing out on a great opportunity that could advance your career. Together, the unsettling nature of short-term or temporary contracts, lack of guidance and the imposter syndrome can trigger a crisis in future leadership. Most leadership positions at universities are held by senior colleagues. ECRs have modest input in decision-making, due to a requirement for specific leadership training and experience with oversight that precedes suitable decision-making. The turbulence of the unprecedented world COVID-19 crisis has been felt disproportionally by many researchers, intensely by those with caring responsibilities. In the current academic climate, navigating either between your postdoctoral or fellowship project, leading others, taking strategic project directions, mentoring or networking may feel like too much. This editorial expresses views on the current state of the matter in academia with suggestions for helpful strategies to employ to meet research endpoints. It also addresses some challenges that new principal investigators and academic leaders may face due to external or institutional change, and provides some tangible advice with action points.

A Roadmap to a Comprehensive Evaluation of a Clinical Ladder Program.

Clinical ladder programs were designed to support nurse retention and professional development. Hospital systems are vigorously working to recover from the critical staffing shortages exacerbated by the pandemic. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention framework for program evaluation was utilized to assess a hospital professional nurse clinical ladder. These findings suggest favorable outcomes in commitment to stay and professional development. This evaluation can serve as a potential resource for organizations to evaluate and enhance programs to support nurse retention.

CURRENT CHALLENGES FOR THE HEALTH CARE SYSTEM DUE TO THE LACK OF MEDICAL STAFF AND THE CONTINUOUS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF DOCTORS.

OBJECTIVE: The aim: Research of the ways of adequate solving of problems with understuffed healthcare system and problems with continuous professional development of doctors. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Materials and methods: We have used a official statistical data for the period from 2009-2020 years. This data was analyzed with usage of systemic approach and statistical epidemiological analysis. RESULTS: Results: According to the data from Ministry of Health of Ukraine during the first year of the pandemic (2020) the quantity of our doctors has diminished by 6.9 thousands, and quantity of nurses - by 22,5 thousands which is much bigger deficit then in period of 2018-2019 years. The insufficiency of pediatric doctors in Ukraine has reached 1000 vacancies, general physicians - 1700, family doctors - more than 3000 vacancies, surgeons - more than 950 vacancies. It is also important to involve medical experts and medical associations and unions in the process of accreditation and licensing of providers of continuous medical education. CONCLUSION: Conclusions: Existing deficit of medical personnel should be replenished by increasing of medical education of students in medical universities and colleges funded by government. Existing system of continuous professional development of doctors requires a lot of changes (additional activities, new technologies) which must be implied with the help of professional medical associations and unions.

University pandemic policies raise equity worries.

Tenure delays and pandemic impact statements could backfire, some fear.

Engaging Rehabilitation Technicians Through a Career Ladder During a Pandemic.

PURPOSE: Nursing assistant turnover is a growing healthcare concern that negatively impacts healthcare organization work environments and has significant financial implications. The purpose of this study was to implement a career ladder program for rehabilitation nursing technicians-nursing assistants who specialize in performing care duties aligned with therapeutic goals in inpatient rehabilitation. The study evaluated the effect on organizational quality metrics of employee engagement, job satisfaction, and annual turnover of rehabilitation nursing technicians. DESIGN: This pilot study was conducted using a quality improvement approach and a between-subjects pretest-posttest design. METHODS: A three-tier career ladder intervention for rehabilitation nursing technicians in a 76-bed inpatient rehabilitation facility was implemented. Employee engagement and job satisfaction were evaluated in all rehabilitation nursing technicians (n = 44), with a pre-implementation sample size of n = 23 and a post-implementation sample size of n = 21, from January 2020 through December 2020. Twelve rehabilitation nursing technicians participated in the intervention, which consisted of online learning modules, added job responsibilities, and continuing education and were included in the post-implementation sample size. Nondirectional statistical tests were performed with the level of significance set at .05 (two tailed). FINDINGS: A majority of the pre-post intervention sample (n = 44) were female (91%), African American (91%), and aged 30-59 years. Employee engagement increased from 78% favorable in 2019 to 86% favorable in 2020. Overall job satisfaction improved from 74% favorable in 2019 to 86% favorable in 2020. Annual turnover decreased from 35% in 2019 to 31% in 2020. CONCLUSION: In this pilot study, a career ladder program for rehabilitation nursing technicians was effective in increasing and improving employee engagement and job satisfaction while reducing turnover. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Rehabilitation nursing technicians are crucial members of the interdisciplinary rehabilitation team providing direct bedside care to optimize patient function. Rehabilitation nursing technician career ladders have the capacity to engage an often underrecognized employee population by creating a positive work environment that promotes job growth and retention in the rehabilitation setting.

Suturing the gender gap through sponsorship: The role of sponsorship in female entry and advancement through their surgical careers.

BACKGROUND: Sponsorship promotes female entry and advancement through the surgical field, and can mitigate gender inequities that persist in the surgical field. METHODS: 35 women in surgery, including 14 surgeons, 11 residents, and 10 fourth-year medical students, were interviewed from July 30, 2021 to August 18, 2021 at a single institution. RESULTS: All participants had provided or received sponsorship. Main themes included: (1) Evolving needs of sponsorship, (2) Decreased Access to Sponsorship as Career Level Advances, (3) Evolving importance of sponsorship, (4) Perceived limitations of receiving sponsorship, and (5) Perceived limitations of providing sponsorship. Faculty members most frequently reported barriers to both receiving and providing sponsorship. CONCLUSIONS: The lack of sponsorship for female faculty limits their ability to rise to organizational leadership, and consequently, their ability to sponsor others. Increasing access to sponsorship for female surgeons can help to bridge the gender gap in the surgical field.

Empowering Women as Leaders in Pediatric Anesthesiology: Methodology, Lessons, and Early Outcomes of a National Initiative.

Research has shown that women have leadership ability equal to or better than that of their male counterparts, yet proportionally fewer women than men achieve leadership positions and promotion in medicine. The Women's Empowerment and Leadership Initiative (WELI) was founded within the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia (SPA) in 2018 as a multidimensional program to help address the significant career development, leadership, and promotion gender gap between men and women in anesthesiology. Herein, we describe WELI's development and implementation with an early assessment of effectiveness at 2 years. Members received an anonymous, voluntary survey by e-mail to assess whether they believed WELI was beneficial in several broad domains: career development, networking, project implementation and completion, goal setting, mentorship, well-being, and promotion and leadership. The response rate was 60.5% (92 of 152). The majority ranked several aspects of WELI to be very or extremely valuable, including the protégé-advisor dyads, workshops, nomination to join WELI, and virtual facilitated networking. For most members, WELI helped to improve optimism about their professional future. Most also reported that WELI somewhat or absolutely contributed to project improvement or completion, finding new collaborators, and obtaining invitations to be visiting speakers. Among those who applied for promotion or leadership positions, 51% found WELI to be somewhat or absolutely valuable to their application process, and 42% found the same in applying for leadership positions. Qualitative analysis of free-text survey responses identified 5 main themes: (1) feelings of empowerment and confidence, (2) acquisition of new skills in mentoring, coaching, career development, and project implementation, (3) clarification and focus on goal setting, (4) creating meaningful connections through networking, and (5) challenges from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the inability to sustain the advisor-protégé connection. We conclude that after 2 years, the WELI program has successfully supported career development for the majority of protégés and advisors. Continued assessment of whether WELI can meaningfully contribute to attainment of promotion and leadership positions will require study across a longer period. WELI could serve as a programmatic example to support women's career development in other subspecialties.

Work-Life Balance and Productivity Among Academic Faculty During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Latent Class Analysis.

Background: For faculty in academic health sciences, the balance between research, education, and patient care has been impeded by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This study aimed to identify personal and professional characteristics of faculty to understand the impact of the pandemic on faculty and consequent policy implications. Methods: A 93-question survey was sent to faculty at a large urban public university and medical center. Demographic, family, and academic characteristics, work distribution and productivity before and during the pandemic, stress, and self-care data information were collected. Latent class analysis (LCA) was performed to identify classes of faculty sharing similar characteristics. Comparisons between latent classes were performed using analysis of variance and chi-square analyses. Results: Of 497 respondents, 60% were women. Four latent classes of faculty emerged based on six significant indicator variables. Class 1 individuals were more likely women, assistant professors, nontenured with high work and home stress; Class 2 faculty were more likely associate professors, women, tenured, who reported high home and work stress; Class 3 faculty were more likely men, professors, tenured with moderate work, but low home stress; and Class 4 faculty were more likely adjunct professors, nontenured, and had low home and work stress. Class 2 reported significantly increased administrative and clinical duties, decreased scholarly productivity, and deferred self-care. Conclusions: The pandemic has not affected faculty equally. Early and mid-career individuals were impacted negatively from increased workloads, stress, and decreased self-care. Academic leaders need to acknowledge these differences and be inclusive of faculty with different experiences when adjusting workplace or promotion policies.

The challenges of lockdown for early-career researchers.

Thousands of UK doctoral students and early-career researchers shared the repercussions of lockdown on their work and wellbeing.