Introduction An effective response to an emergency situation relies on health care workers’ preparedness. The main purpose of this study was to provide a comprehensive overview of relevant studies regarding the willingness to work in emergency and disaster situations, describe and classify the most important challenges and solutions, identifying knowledge gaps in the literature which could inform future research. Methods In this Systematic Mapping Review required information was searched from PubMed, Scopus, the web of science, Embase databases, and Google scholar search engine in the period 2000–2020. Data were analyzed using a content framework analysis. Results From 2902 article search results, 26 articles met the inclusion criteria. The studies varied in terms of aim, study design, and detail of reporting. The results showed that nearly three-quarters of studies were conducted in high and middle-income countries. Most of the studies were published in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, the most common types of crises reported in the included studies were emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases. The results show that most of the problems were in the dimension of mental and psychological issues, personnel health concerns, and management relationship with personnel. Conclusion This mapping review illustrated a big picture of health workers' resilience in disaster conditions. This review presents an overview of different kinds of strategies that address the challenges. One of the most important challenges in health workforce retention is poor communication between managers and staff. Being away from family, which leads to mental fatigue, puts staff in moral dilemmas. Attracting adequate health professionals, especially volunteers and regulating the shifts of health personnel in crisis time will largely prevent burnout.

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Background The patient discharge process is one of the most important factors affecting patient satisfaction, which can affect the quality of services of hospitals, and its prolongation can be detrimental in bed management and result in admission delays for new patients. This study aimed to investigate the factors contributing to the prolongation of the discharge process in Tehran's pediatric teaching hospital. Methods The present study was a descriptive cross-sectional study carried out on 300 patients discharged from one of the pediatric teaching hospitals in Tehran in 2019. This study was conducted using a mixed-method and composed of two parts: quantitative and qualitative. Initially, in the quantitative stage, the statistical form was used, the average discharge time in different wards of the hospital was measured using the stopwatch method, and the data were analyzed using SPSS V. 25 software and descriptive statistics. Subsequently, to identify the causes of the prolonged process in some departments and identify practical solutions, a qualitative approach was used, including observations, file reviews, Focus Group Discussion (FGD), brainstorming with experts from the Quality Improvement Office, ward secretaries, clearance unit experts, pharmacy experts, and ward supervisors. Finally, the factors were prioritized and approved using the nominal group method. Results The average discharge time was 3 hours and 7 minutes; the shortest discharge time belonged to the blood ward, and the longest discharge time belonged to the kidney ward. The causes of delay in discharge were divided into two categories: organizational and human factors. The most crucial elements were the time required to issue discharge orders, write patient summaries, and maintain patient files. Conclusion For improving the quality of the discharge process and patient satisfaction, solutions such as having assistants write file summaries before the morning round, sending files out of the ward on time, hiring a circular secretary to collect patients' files from various wards, and controlling them using a standard checklist, nurses' training, and continuous supervision were proposed.

Background: Infectious hospital waste, including needles and sharp instruments, is one of the most important causes of needle sticks. Objectives: The study aimed to investigate the factors affecting the disposal of special medical waste with needle sticks among healthcare workers in hospitals at the Iran University of Medical Sciences. Methods: This descriptive-analytical, retrospective, and cross-sectional study were done regarding the data in the autumn of 2019. Among 6119 medical-service staff, 180 subjects have been exposed to the needle stick at least once. Data were collected in two parts. The data were analyzed using correlation tests by SPSS software version 25. Results: The most devices leading to injury were needles (58%), angiocatheter (21%), ampoules (17%), suture needles (12%), scalpels (9%), other tools (8%), and razor blades (7%). The five wards with the highest needle sticks were the operating room (24.44%), surgery (22.22%), emergency (15%), internal wards (10%), and paraclinical (8.33%). Also, several factors, such as work shifts and the amount of work experience of individuals, can play an essential role in the rate of needle stitching of medical personnel. Importantly, we found a significant relationship between the volume of medical waste and employee needlestick rates. Conclusions: According to the results, we found a significant positive relationship between the volume of medical waste and employees' needle sticking rate. The observance of standard guidelines and the development and increase of occupational safety protection training courses have the most significant role in reducing needle sticks.