Home Healthcare Workers’ Willingness to Report to Work During an Influenza Pandemic: A Systematic Literature Review
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Healthcare Workers’ Willingness to Report to Work During an Influenza Pandemic: A Systematic Literature Review

  • Caren C. Rossow ORCID logo EMAIL logo , Lana V. Ivanitskaya , Lawrence V. Fulton and William D. Fales
Published/Copyright: June 4, 2015
Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management
From the journal Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management Volume 12 Issue 4

Abstract

Objective: An effective response to a pandemic influenza assumes an adequate supply of a variety of skilled healthcare workers (HCWs). But what is known of HCWs’ willingness to report to work?

Method: We identified 206 relevant studies from 9 healthcare databases. Of 28 heterogeneous studies that met inclusion criteria, 18 used common methods for calculating percentages of HCWs willing to report to work. Their findings were evaluated in greater depth.

Results: In 28 studies that summarized willingness to report to work of 31,633 workers, the percentage of HCWs willing to report to work varied between 23.10% and 93.10%. Scale type and dichotomization of self-report scales led to significantly different results. In 4 studies where 2097 workers responded to a survey during an actual event (2009 H1N1 pandemic influenza) percentage willing to report to work varied from 23.1% to 90.1%. In 6 studies with hypothetical scenarios of avian influenza 50%–82.50% of HCWs were willing to report to work.

Conclusion: The studies we reviewed have methodological problems and inconsistencies in findings, even within relatively homogenous study subgroups. We caution emergency planners from relying on findings from any single study that estimates HCWs’ mean willingness to report to work in a pandemic influenza outbreak.

Keywords: emergency management; healthcare workers; pandemic influenza; scale design; willingness to report to work
Corresponding author: Caren C. Rossow, Health Administration, Governors State University, 1 University Parkway G-182, University Park, IL 60484, USA, Tel.: +7085344033, e-mail: .

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Published Online: 2015-6-4
Published in Print: 2015-12-1

©2015 by De Gruyter

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Communications
  3. Reflections on 40 Years in the Hazards and Disasters Community
  4. Opinion
  5. Communicable Disease and Homeland Security: An Assessment of the US 2014 Ebola Incident
  6. Border Security: Defining it is the Real Challenge
  7. Tax Stimulus: The Third Direction for U.S. Government Cybersecurity Policy
  8. Research Articles
  9. Reducing Public Health Risk During Disasters: Identifying Social Vulnerabilities
  10. Healthcare Workers’ Willingness to Report to Work During an Influenza Pandemic: A Systematic Literature Review
  11. Understanding Comprehension Levels of Emergency Notifications by Limited English Proficient US Residents: Case Study of Korean-Americans in New York City
  12. Bioterrorism and Local Agency Preparedness: Results from an Experimental Study in Risk Communication
  13. Human Resource Management Practices to Support Emotional Labor in Emergency Response
  14. Examining Coordination in Disaster Response Using Simulation Methods
  15. A Genetic Algorithm Based Approach to Provide Solutions for Emergency Aid Stations Location Problem and a Case Study for Pendik/İstanbul
  16. A Socio-Demographic Analysis of Responses to Terrorism
  17. Are Emergency Departments in Istanbul Ready for the Earthquakes? Past Experience and Suggestions for Future Preparedness from Employees’ Viewpoint and the Literature
https://doi.org/10.1515/jhsem-2014-0115
Keywords for this article
emergency management; healthcare workers; pandemic influenza; scale design; willingness to report to work

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Communications
  3. Reflections on 40 Years in the Hazards and Disasters Community
  4. Opinion
  5. Communicable Disease and Homeland Security: An Assessment of the US 2014 Ebola Incident
  6. Border Security: Defining it is the Real Challenge
  7. Tax Stimulus: The Third Direction for U.S. Government Cybersecurity Policy
  8. Research Articles
  9. Reducing Public Health Risk During Disasters: Identifying Social Vulnerabilities
  10. Healthcare Workers’ Willingness to Report to Work During an Influenza Pandemic: A Systematic Literature Review
  11. Understanding Comprehension Levels of Emergency Notifications by Limited English Proficient US Residents: Case Study of Korean-Americans in New York City
  12. Bioterrorism and Local Agency Preparedness: Results from an Experimental Study in Risk Communication
  13. Human Resource Management Practices to Support Emotional Labor in Emergency Response
  14. Examining Coordination in Disaster Response Using Simulation Methods
  15. A Genetic Algorithm Based Approach to Provide Solutions for Emergency Aid Stations Location Problem and a Case Study for Pendik/İstanbul
  16. A Socio-Demographic Analysis of Responses to Terrorism
  17. Are Emergency Departments in Istanbul Ready for the Earthquakes? Past Experience and Suggestions for Future Preparedness from Employees’ Viewpoint and the Literature
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