ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Paramedics play a pivotal role in delivering emergency medical care, contributing to excellence in the prehospital environment and ensuring a seamless continuum of healthcare. Achieving this objective is subject to various factors. This review aims to explore, the relationship between paramedic personality profiles and key factors including stress, burnout and employment retention or attrition. METHODS: The JBI approach was used to perform a scoping review. Key words including paramedic* , ambulance* , personalit* , retention OR attrition and burnout OR stress were inserted into the search engines OVID, CINAHL Plus, Scopus, Web of Science Core Collection, Psychology ProQuest, and Nursing ProQuest. Titles and abstracts of 226 results were screened and inclusion and exclusion criteria applied. Full texts of the remaining 18 results were screened to inform the results. RESULTS: Three themes emerged relevant to the objective including the correlation of neuroticism with stress and burnout, personality types and mental illness with the ability to cope during stressful situations and finally resilience and burnout with the intention to quit. CONCLUSION: Further research should be completed into specific personality characteristics, including neuroticism, perfectionism, and excitability to facilitate the development of strategies aimed at improving the health and wellbeing of paramedics and EMT workers internationally.
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Asthma is a leading cause of respiratory illness in Australia and has a significant prevalence in rural areas. Literature suggests living in rural areas can act as a barrier to receiving emergency healthcare for asthma exacerbations resulting in the need for further resources and advocacy in educating rural asthmatics about managing their condition and knowing when to access further help. This study aims to explore decision-making in accessing emergency healthcare for people with moderate to severe asthma exacerbations in rural New South Wales (NSW). METHODS: A qualitative interpretative design involving semi-structured interviews with 12 participants was conducted between May and July 2021. Interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Participants were asthmatics who had accessed emergency healthcare for a moderate to severe asthma exacerbation in NSW over the last five years. Data was thematically analysed and grouped into four overarching themes. Due to the depth and range of data this paper will be reporting on two of those themes. RESULTS: Past experiences as education and the impact of self-management strategies were both shown to be prominent influences that affected decisions on choosing to access emergency healthcare during a moderate to severe asthma exacerbation. Participants shared how their decision-making was shaped by health literacy gained from their past experiences of asthma exacerbations and dealing with emergency healthcare. In addition, self-management strategies were utilised to minimise the need to access emergency healthcare. This was achieved through telehealth appointments, lifestyle changes and non-pharmacological strategies. CONCLUSION: This study shows that an increase in health promotion activities throughout rural areas can help to reassure people about uncertainties that may be associated with their past experiences and improve health literacy. Additionally, providing tools to allow confident self-management of asthma effectively using evidence-based techniques to prevent it progressing to a moderate or severe exacerbation would also be of benefit.
