WORKPLACE BASED CHALLENGES FOR POSTGRADUATE TRAINEE DOCTORS WORKING IN A PUBLIC SECTOR HOSPITAL
Keywords:
workplace based challenges, workload, financial issues, environmental issues, postgraduate trainees, security threats, time constraints, personal issuesAbstract
Background: Workplace-based challenges are experiences that are seen as inappropriate by the person experiencing or observing the challenge. These challenges may arise every day in different situations or may be a one off incident that is disturbing and affects one’s productivity. The study aims to identify and analyse the major hurdles that healthcare professionals encounter in their daily practice. Methods: A qualitative approach was employed to collect data from a diverse group of doctors at a public sector hospital in Sialkot. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in groups from different departments of the hospital in 2023. The consenting participants were interviewed regarding the challenges they face day to day working in government setup. Themes were extracted and data was tabulated to draw results. Results: We interviewed 21 consenting doctors from different departments mainly, Medicine, Surgery, Paediatrics and Gynaecology and identified six main themes which were high workload, security threats, financial Issues, resource constraints, time constraints, and inadequate work-life and personal-life balance. Amongst the 21 doctors, (47.62%) were females and (52.38%) were males. the challenges of high workload was stated by all (100%) of the participants, followed by security threats (91.5%), resource constraints (85.7%), financial issues (76.1%), time constraints (71%) and work and personal life imbalance (71.4%). Conclusion: Doctors reported significant levels of work-related stress, poor work-life balance, inadequate work capacity, and about one-third of them burned out, a sign of unfavourable working conditions.
Pak J Physiol 2023;19(4):15–8
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