Objectives: Pediatric mortality in Latvia remains one of the highest among Europe. The purpose of this study was to assess the quality of pediatric acute care and pediatric readiness and determine their association with patient outcomes using a patient registry. Design: This was a prospective cohort study. Pediatric readiness was measured using the weighted pediatric readiness score based on a 100-point scale. The processes of care were measured using in situ simulations to generate a composite quality score. Clinical outcome data—including PICU and hospital length of stay as well as 6-month mortality—were collected from the Pediatric Intensive Care Audit Network registry. The associations between composite quality score and weighted pediatric readiness score on patient outcomes were explored with mixed-effects regressions. Setting: This study was conducted in all Latvian Emergency Departments and in the national PICU. Patients: All patients who were transferred into the national PICU were included. Interventions: None. Measurements and Main Results: All (16/16) Latvian Emergency Departments participated with a mean composite quality score of 35.3 of 100 and a median weighted pediatric readiness score of 31 of 100. A total of 254 patients were included in the study and followed up for a mean of 436 days, of which nine died (3.5%). Higher weighted pediatric readiness score was associated significantly with lower length of stay in both the PICU and hospital (adjusted ß, –0.06; p = 0.021 and –0.36; p = 0.011, respectively) and lower 6-month mortality (adjusted odds ratio, 0.93; 95% CI, 0.88–0.98). Conclusions: These data provide a national assessment of pediatric emergency care in a European country. Pediatric readiness in the emergency department was associated with patient outcomes in this population of pediatric patients transferred to the national PICU.

Educational scholars are implementing technologies into the educational process. They use virtual reality, simulations, augmented reality and other immersive technologies that provide entertainment and an interesting, immersive environment as well as engage and motivate students. The aim of this research is to understand the scope and the nature of studies where serious games for medical education are prospective research subjects for the development of learning motivation. There are specific research questions that are of interest to the authors: (1) how many studies are devoted to exploring how serious games and simulations develop learning motivation; (2) how many studies are devoted to medical education, especially continuing professional education; and (3) which professional fields are most reflected in the search results, and is interdisciplinary learning observed? To answer the research questions, a systematic analysis of publications was chosen as the research method. Altogether, 132 articles published from January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2018 were selected for the review.

Educational scholars are implementing technologies into the educational process. They use virtual reality, simulations, augmented reality and other immersive technologies that provide entertainment and an interesting, immersive environment as well as engage and motivate students. The aim of this research is to understand the scope and the nature of studies where serious games for medical education are prospective research subjects for the development of learning motivation. There are specific research questions that are of interest to the authors: (1) how many studies are devoted to exploring how serious games and simulations develop learning motivation; (2) how many studies are devoted to medical education, especially continuing professional education; and (3) which professional fields are most reflected in the search results, and is interdisciplinary learning observed? To answer the research questions, a systematic analysis of publications was chosen as the research method. Altogether, 132 articles published from January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2018 were selected for the review.

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Changes in technology use and globalization are leading to significant changes in the structure of the labor market, emphasizing the need for labor market participants to learn continuously and acquire new knowledge and skills in order to adapt to a rapidly changing work environment. Economists point to the risks posed by technological development, such as the reduction of low-skilled jobs as a result of digitalization and automation processes. Although professionals working with people, such as healthcare professionals and teachers, are less exposed to the risk of automation, they are still increasingly unstable as technology and artificial intelligence compete with human experts. This means that medical and education staff will also need more targeted, regular and labor market-oriented professional development in order to remain competitive and demonstrate demand-driven performance. In line with changes in the quality standards of professional performance for healthcare professionals and teachers, changes are also taking place in how the professional development of these groups is implemented. In addition to formal development activities such as courses and seminars, the need to accept the impact of informal learning is emphasized, not only expanding the aims and content of professional development activities but also offering new learning formats. The aim of the qualitative research conducted by the authors is to study the understanding of teachers and healthcare professionals about their professional development by analyzing their answers regarding their professional development. The focus of the study has been chosen to test the assumption that healthcare professionals and teachers view their continuing education more in the context of formal training, with less emphasis on professional development through informal learning. Within the framework of the research, a survey of random respondents within the said target groups has been conducted and the answers of the respondents have been analyzed, with attention paid to the aspects of formal and informal learning. The article presents the results of the content analysis, highlighting the most important trends of study results and the problematic aspects related to the improvement of the quality of professional development.