Varol Tugce, Schneider Francine, Mesters Ilse, Ruiter Robert A C, Kok Gerjo, Ten Hoor Gill A
Department of Work and Social Psychology, Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Department of Health Promotion, CAPHRI, Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Vaccines (Basel). 2022 Feb 27;10(3):371. doi: 10.3390/vaccines10030371.
Halfway through 2021 in the midst of a public health crisis, a new academic year was fast approaching. Dutch universities were preparing to reopen their campuses to students and personnel in a safe manner. As the vaccination uptake was increasing and societies were slowly reopening, inviting students and personnel to campus became the next step to "the new normal". To absorb this change seamlessly, it was considered important to investigate personnel's beliefs about returning to campus and their perceptions of a safe working environment. An online survey was conducted among personnel ( = 1965) of Maastricht University, the Netherlands. University personnel's beliefs about a safe return to campus were assessed. The data were collected between 11 June and 28 June 2021. This study showed that, while most personnel (94.7%) were already vaccinated or willing to do so, not all personnel did feel safe to return to campus in September 2021. Over half of the respondents (58%) thought that the university is a safe place to return to work when the new academic year starts. However, the remainder of personnel felt unsafe or were uncertain for various reasons such as meeting in large groups or becoming infected. Moreover, when returning to campus, employees stated that they would require some time to reacclimate to their former work culture. The group who felt relatively more unsafe indicated that returning in September was too risky and that they worried about being infected. They wanted the safety guidelines to still be in force. On the other hand, the "safe" group stated safely returning to be "certainly possible" and trusted that others would still stick to the prevention guidelines. The findings led to practical recommendations for the University Board as they were preparing for organizing research and teaching for the upcoming academic year in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. A brief intervention was developed: a webinar in which the data were linked to the board's plans for safe returning. This study demonstrates that university boards may use research among personnel to develop adequate measures promoting safety and feelings of safety among personnel in similar future situations.
2021年年中，在一场公共卫生危机之中，新的学年即将来临。荷兰的大学正准备以安全的方式重新向学生和教职工开放校园。随着疫苗接种率的上升以及社会的逐步重新开放，邀请学生和教职工返校成为迈向“新常态”的下一步。为了无缝适应这一变化，调查教职工对返校的看法以及他们对安全工作环境的认知被认为是很重要的。荷兰马斯特里赫特大学对教职工（n = 1965）进行了一项在线调查。评估了大学教职工对安全返校的看法。数据收集于2021年6月11日至6月28日之间。这项研究表明，虽然大多数教职工（94.7%）已经接种了疫苗或愿意接种，但并非所有教职工都觉得在2021年9月返校是安全的。超过一半的受访者（58%）认为新学年开始时大学是一个安全的返校工作场所。然而，其余的教职工因各种原因感到不安全或不确定，比如参加大型聚会或被感染。此外，在返校时，员工们表示他们需要一些时间来重新适应以前的工作文化。感觉相对更不安全的群体表示9月返校风险太大，他们担心被感染。他们希望安全指南仍然有效。另一方面，“安全”群体表示安全返校“肯定是可能的”，并相信其他人仍会遵守预防指南。这些发现为大学董事会在为即将到来的学年在新冠疫情背景下组织研究和教学做准备时提供了实际建议。开发了一个简短的干预措施：一场网络研讨会，在其中将数据与董事会的安全返校计划联系起来。这项研究表明，大学董事会可以利用对教职工的调查来制定适当措施，在未来类似情况下促进教职工的安全及安全感。
