The development of clinical judgment and decision-making skills is complex, requiring clinicians—whether students, novices, or experienced practitioners—to correlate information from their own experience; from discussions with colleagues; from attending professional meetings, conferences and congresses; and from studying the current literature. Feedback from treated cases will consolidate retention in memory of the complexities and management of past cases, and the conversion of this knowledge base into daily clinical practice. The purpose of this narrative review is to discuss factors related to clinical judgment and decision-making in clinical dentistry and how both narrative, intuitive, evidence-based data-driven information and statistical approaches contribute to the global process of gaining clinical expertise.
Professionals leave their positions for varied reasons. Attrition is defined as a gradual reduction of the workforce, which may be due to either voluntary or involuntary factors. 1 Involuntary factors are factors that either the employer or employee has no control over, such as retirement, ill health or death, while voluntary factors are those that lead to resignation but can be prevented or addressed by the employer. 1 Voluntary factors that influence attrition may include people seeking improved remuneration, better benefits, an improved work/life balance, more opportunities to progress in their careers, time to address personal issues like health problems or relocations, increased flexibility or to escape a toxic environment. [1][2][3] Attrition rates in healthcare professions vary from country to country although the highest attrition rates are reported among lowand middle-income countries (LMICs) as compared to high-income
Oral health care workers constitute a high-risk profession to contract COVID-19. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and clinical experience of COVID-19 infected oral health workers at an academic hospital in Gauteng, South Africa. A cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study was conducted among staff who contracted COVID-19 betweenMay and December 2020. Data was captured in Excel and analyzed with Stata (StataCorp, USA). COVID-19 prevalence among 219 members of staff was 22.4%, and 46 participated. The majority ranged in age between 31- 40 years (n=18, 39%, 95% CI 25.78-54.32) and 41 – 50 years (n=19, 41%, 95% CI 7.88-56.4). Clinicians and dental assistants constituted 48%, while 76% perceived to be infected at work, with 72.7% sharing an office with ≥ 3 persons. Twenty-four staff members received post-test counselling, of whom 21.7% were counselled at work. Sixteen participants remained asymptomatic while most prevalent self-reported COVID-19 symptoms included cough (47.7%), sore throat (27.3%) and shortness of breath (20.5%). Significantly more females (55%) reported no COVID-19 symptoms than males (Chi2test, p = 0.01). The COVID-19 prevalence in this study was much higher than previously reported for oral health workers in an academic setting. The high percentage of staff who remained asymptomatic raises the possibility of more staff being infected without being tested. Infection prevention and awareness training of all staff should be routinely provided and mitigating measures instituted to reduce office occupancy, including adequate post-test counselling
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