Resilience and Well-Being of Professionals Working in Complex Environments

Dear Colleagues,

High reliability organizations (HROs) are organizations that “operate in a physical, psychological, social or political complex environment that has the potential for large-scale risk and harm, but which manage to balance effectiveness, efficiency, and safety”. The work sectors that usually fall under this conceptual framework are energy, aviation and transport, military and space, fires and disasters, healthcare, and education [1]. In turn, rapid response teams (RRTs)—commonly defined in the healthcare setting but also existing in other fields—are interdisciplinary teams of trained individuals prepared for rapid mobilization and deployment in critical situations or emergencies [2].

The professionals who make up the HROs or RRTs are relatively frequently exposed to critical situations that sometimes impact their physical or psychological health. The distress derived from these experiences and the proximity to trauma inevitably impacts the performance and responsiveness of professionals and may affect the quality of the service provided to the public [3,4].

Caring for the well-being of professionals, especially in the framework of HROs and RRTs, is crucial to ensure the resilience of organizations and the provision of a service in conditions of quality and safety. The COVID-19 pandemic has emphasized this need. The development of training and support programs (such as psychological first aid or peer support programs) specifically designed to restore the well-being of professionals and reinforce their resilience is fundamental in addressing this issue [5,6].

Papers adding relevant and valuable knowledge regarding the need to reinforce the resilience and well-being of professionals working in complex environments are welcome in this Special Issue.

1. About the Health Foundation. Available online: https://www.thehealthfoundation.org.za/about-the-foundation/ (accessed on 1 January 2011).
2. Greiner, Bet al Clinical trial registry searches are under-utilized in systematic reviews from critical care journals: A bibliometric analysis. J. Crit. Care. 2020, 63, 175–178.
3. Huo, Xiqian et al. Comment on Kim et al. The Effect of a Smartphone-Based, Patient-Centered Diabetes Care System in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes: A Randomized, Controlled Trial for 24 Weeks. Diabetes Care 2019, 42, 3–9. doi:10.2337/dc19-0535.
4. Schwappach, David L, and Till a Boluarte. The emotional impact of medical error involvement on physicians: a call for leadership and organisational accountability. Swiss Medical Weekly 2009, 139, 1–2. doi:10.4414/smw.2009.12417.
5. Katherine de Bienassis & Luke Slawomirski & Nicolaas S. Klazinga, The economics of patient safety Part IV: Safety in the workplace: Occupational safety as the bedrock of resilient health systems. OECD Health Working Papers 130, OECD Publishing. 2021.
6. Wu, Albert W et al. COVID-19: Peer Support and Crisis Communication Strategies to Promote Institutional Resilience". Annals of Internal Medicine Vol. 2020, 172, 822–823. doi:10.7326/M20-1236.

Prof. Dr. Irene Carrillo Murcia
Prof. Dr. Mercedes Guilabert Mora
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.