Emergency physician personnel crisis: a survey on attitudes of new generations in Slovenia.

BACKGROUND: Emergency departments globally are overburdened, and emergency medicine residency is losing popularity among students and physicians. This raises concerns about the collapse of a life-saving system. Our goal was to identify the key workforce reasoning and question medical staff employment behavior. METHODS: This was a prospective cross-sectional study. In December 2022, medical students and pre-residency doctors in Slovenia were invited to complete a web-based questionnaire. The data were analyzed using T-test, chi-square test, Mann‒Whitney-Wilcoxon tests, and principal component analysis. Open-ended questions were hand-categorized. RESULTS: There were 686 participatns who clicked on the first page and 436 of those finished the survey. 4% of participants gave a clear positive response, while 11% responded positively regarding their decision to pursue emergency medicine residency. The popularity of emergency medicine decreases significantly among recent medical school graduates upon their initial employment. People who choose emergency medicine are less concerned about its complexity and pressure compared to others. Most respondents preferred 12-hour shift lengths. The preferred base salary range for residents was I$ 3623-4529, and for specialists, it was I$ 5435-6341. The sample's primary personal priorities are achieving a satisfactory work-life balance, earning respect from colleagues, and engaging in academic activities. Factors that attract individuals to choose emergency medicine include high hourly wages, establishment of standards and norms, and reduced working hours. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that enhancing compensation, establishing achievable standards and norms, facilitating a beneficial work-life equilibrium, providing assistance with initial property acquisition, stimulating participation in deficit residency programs, fostering collegiality among peers, restricting the duration of shifts, and enabling pension accrual may be imperative in attracting more individuals to pursue emergency medicine residency.

How Can Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest (OHCA) Data Collection in Slovenia Be Improved?

Background and Objectives: The prevalence of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) has been established as a significant contributor to mortality rates in developed nations. Due to the challenges associated with conducting controlled randomized trials, there exists a necessity for the collection of high-quality data to enhance the comprehension of the impact of interventions. Several nations have initiated efforts to gather information pertaining to out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). The Republic of Slovenia has been collecting data from interventions; however, the variables and data attributes have not yet been standardized to comply with international standards. This lack of conformity poses a challenge in making comparisons or drawing inferences. The aim of this study is to identify how to better gather OHCA data in Slovenia. Materials and methods: The Utstein resuscitation registry protocol (UP) was compared to the Slovenian data points that must be gathered in accordance with the Rules on Emergency Medical Service (REMS) during interventions. In addition, we have proposed alternative measures of digitization to enhance pre-hospital data. Results: Missing data points and attribute mismatches were detected in Slovenia. Eight data points necessitated by the UP are gathered in several databases (hospitals, the National Institute of Public Health, dispatch services, intervention reports from first responders, and defibrillator files), but not in the mandated protocols based on REMS. Two data points have variables that do not match those of the UP. A total of 16 data points according to UP are currently not being collected in Slovenia. The advantages and potential drawbacks of digitizing emergency medical services have been discussed. Conclusions: The study has identified gaps in the methods employed for collecting data on OHCA in Slovenia. The assessment conducted serves as a basis for enhancing the process of data collection, integrating quality control measures across the nation, and establishing a nationwide registry for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) in Slovenia.

Factors Affecting Attitudes towards COVID-19 Vaccination: An Online Survey in Slovenia.

While the problem of vaccine hesitancy is not new, it has become more pronounced with the new COVID-19 vaccines and represents an obstacle to resolving the crisis. Even people who would usually trust vaccines and experts now prefer to wait for more information. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted in Slovenia in December 2020 to find out the attitudes of the population regarding COVID-19 vaccination and the factors that affect these attitudes. Based on 12,042 fully completed questionnaires, we find that higher intention to get vaccinated is associated with men, older respondents, physicians and medical students, respondents who got the influenza vaccination, those who knew someone who had gotten hospitalised or died from COVID-19 and those who have more trust in experts, institutions and vaccines. Nurses and technicians were less likely to get vaccinated. In answers to an open question, sceptics were split into those doubting the quality due to the rapid development of the vaccine and those that reported personal experiences with side effects of prior vaccinations. Although the Slovenian population is diverse in its attitudes towards vaccination, the results are comparable to those found in other countries. However, there are potential limitations to the generalizability of the findings that should be addressed in future studies.