Search

To promote high job satisfaction departments should strive to achieve good working conditions, strong inter departmental relationships and appropriate resources.

Departments should promote working conditions known to provide job satisfaction, including varied work, input into individual anaesthetist’s job plans and opportunities for colleagues to contribute their ideas and skills to the department.

Departments should promote a caring and supportive culture, in which every effort is made to identify and support those who may be in difficulty and have a means of offering appropriate support.¹⁵

Poor teamwork can impact on the wellbeing of all staff and can lead to lower job satisfaction. Departments should consider providing team-based training to promote cohesiveness and collaboration.

Departments should encourage a voluntary local mentorship programme with properly trained mentors and informed mentees who know what to expect, and should encourage staff engagement with national mentorship schemes.^15,43,44,43

Departments should offer newly appointed consultants and SAS doctors the opportunity to work with a trained mentor to facilitate their development in their new role as well as at key transition points in a consultant’s career.^14,45

The department should have a policy on providing breaks for anaesthetists working solo which might include discussing breaks as part of the theatre team brief and providing a ‘floating’ anaesthetist to help with breaks in the theatre suite. If breaks are unavailable, then this should be formally recorded and included in the organisation’s risk register.

Environmental hazards should be considered by staff before the start of each operating list. Pregnant personnel may be particularly at risk in these environments and should follow local occupational health policies.^45,44,45

Policies and equipment must be in place to protect patients and staff from cross infection, including the safe disposal of sharps and healthcare waste.⁴⁴

Departments should have mechanisms in place to clearly communicate personal protective equipment (PPE) requirements to staff, particularly where these vary between specialties and areas of the hospital. Any staff concerns should be escalated to clinical managers.⁴⁶