Center for Primary Care and Public Health (Unisanté), Department of Epidemiology and Health Systems, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
La Source School of Nursing, HES-SO University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Western Switzerland, Lausanne, Switzerland.
PLoS One. 2024 Aug 29;19(8):e0309665. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0309665. eCollection 2024.
Healthcare professionals' shortage, low job satisfaction, high levels of burnout, and excessive staff turnover are some of the challenges health systems face worldwide. In Switzerland, healthcare stakeholders have called to address the health workforce crisis and have pointed out the scarcity of data on the conditions of healthcare professionals (HCPs). Hence, the Swiss Cohort of Healthcare Professionals and Informal Caregivers (SCOHPICA) was developed to study the career trajectories, well-being, intention to stay in or leave the position/profession/health sector, and their determinants, of HCPs and informal caregivers, respectively. This paper describes the protocol for the HCPs cohort of SCOHPICA and discusses its implications.
SCOHPICA is a prospective open cohort using an explanatory sequential mixed methods design. All types of HCPs working directly with patients and practicing in Switzerland are eligible, irrespective of their healthcare setting and employment status. Baseline and annual follow-up electronic surveys will take place once a year, featuring both core questions and modules developed according to information needs. While outcome variables are HCPs' trajectories, well-being, intention to stay in or leave the position/profession/health sector, independent variables include organizational, psychosocial, and psychological determinants, as well as occupational (professional) and sociodemographic factors. The qualitative phase will be organized every two years, inviting participants who agreed to take part in this phase. The findings from quantitative analyses, along with the issues raised by healthcare stakeholders in the field, will guide the topics investigated in the qualitative phase.
Using innovative methodologies, SCOHPICA will gather nationwide and longitudinal data on HCPs practicing in Switzerland. These data could have numerous implications: promoting the development of research related to HCPs' well-being and retention intentions; supporting the development of policies to improve working conditions and career prospects; contributing to the evolution of training curricula for future or current healthcare professionals; aiding in the development of health systems capable of delivering quality care; and finally, providing the general public and stakeholders with free and open access to the study results through an online dashboard.
医疗保健专业人员短缺、工作满意度低、职业倦怠程度高和员工流动率过高是全球卫生系统面临的一些挑战。在瑞士，医疗保健利益相关者呼吁解决卫生人力危机，并指出缺乏关于医疗保健专业人员（HCPs）状况的数据。因此，开发了瑞士医疗保健专业人员和非正式护理人员队列研究（SCOHPICA），以分别研究 HCPs 和非正式护理人员的职业轨迹、幸福感、留任或离职的意愿及其决定因素。本文介绍了 SCOHPICA 的 HCPs 队列研究方案，并讨论了其意义。
SCOHPICA 是一项使用解释性序贯混合方法设计的前瞻性开放队列研究。所有直接与患者合作并在瑞士执业的 HCPs 均符合条件，无论其医疗保健环境和就业状况如何。每年将进行一次基线和年度随访电子调查，包括核心问题和根据信息需求开发的模块。而轨迹、幸福感、留任或离职的意愿是 HCPs 的结果变量，而独立变量包括组织、心理社会和心理决定因素，以及职业（专业）和社会人口因素。定性阶段将每两年组织一次，邀请同意参加该阶段的参与者。定量分析的结果以及该领域医疗保健利益相关者提出的问题将指导定性阶段的研究主题。
使用创新的方法，SCOHPICA 将收集瑞士执业 HCPs 的全国性和纵向数据。这些数据可能具有多种影响：促进与 HCPs 的幸福感和留任意愿相关的研究发展；支持制定改善工作条件和职业前景的政策；为未来或当前医疗保健专业人员的培训课程发展做出贡献；有助于发展能够提供优质护理的卫生系统；最后，通过在线仪表板为公众和利益相关者提供对研究结果的免费和开放访问。
