Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was declared a global pandemic on 11th March 2020. Vietnam has had a relatively low rate of infection, but the impact on health care is still significant. There is a need for increased understanding about nurses’ experiences working closely with infected patients. Aim: This study aimed to explore nurses’ experiences of caring for COVID-19 patients during the COVID-19 pandemic at hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Method: A qualitative descriptive research design was used and data were collected through semi-structured interviews. Seven nurses from three different hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, participated in this study. Categories were identified based on a qualitative content analysis. Results: The analyses identified generic categories that described organizational, work-related, and personal challenges that nurses faced whilst caring for COVID-19 patients. The generic categories were divided into three main categories: 1) Work challenges and adaptations faced by hospitals and nurses' due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact, 2) Nurses' experiences of providing care and emotional support to COVID-19 patients, and 3) Nurses' personal challenges of working with COVID-19 patients and the support system and mindset needed to overcome them. Discussion: According to the findings, nurses' high workload and stress may have negatively impacted the quality of care for COVID-19 patients as well as the nurses' personal health. As a result of the findings in the thesis and from a previous study on the subject, the authors believe that the nurses may have improved patients' recovery chances by providing them with motivation and hope. The findings were discussed in relation to Jean Watson's theory of human caring. / Bakgrund: Coronaviruset 2019 (COVID-19) förklarades som en global pandemi 11 mars 2020. Vietnam har haft en relativt låg infektionsspridning, men sjukvården har ändå påverkats signifikant. Det finns ett behov av ökad förståelse för sjuksköterskors erfarenheter av att arbeta nära inpå infekterade patienter. Syfte: Denna studie syftar till att utforska sjuksköterskors erfarenheter av att vårda COVID-19-patienter under COVID-19-pandemin på sjukhus i Ho Chi Minhstaden, Vietnam. Metod: En kvalitativ deskriptiv forskningsdesign användes och data samlades in genom semistrukturerade intervjuer. Sjuksköterskor från tre olika sjukhus i Ho Chi Minh-staden, Vietnam, deltog studien. Kategorier identifierades med hjälp av en kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultat: Analysen identifierade tre generiska kategorier som beskrev organisatoriska, arbetsrelaterade och personliga utmaningar som sjuksköterskorna mötte när de vårdade patienter med COVID-19. De generiska kategorierna delades in i tre huvudkategorier: 1) Arbetsutmaningar och anpassningar som sjukhus och sjuksköterskor ställdes inför på grund av COVID-19-pandemin och dess påverkan, 2) Sjuksköterskors erfarenheter av att ge vård och känslomässigt stöd till patienter med COVID-19, och 3) Sjuksköterskors personliga utmaningar av att arbeta med COVID-19-patienter och det stödsystem och tankesätt som behövs för att övervinna dem. Diskussion: Enligt resultaten så kan sjuksköterskornas höga arbetsbelastning och stress ha negativt påverkat kvaliteten på vården för COVID-19 patienter samt sjuksköterskornas personliga hälsa. Som ett resultat av fynden i uppsatsen och av en tidigare studie gjord på ämnet, så tror författarna att sjuksköterskorna kan ha förbättrat patienternas chanser att återhämta sig genom att ge motivation och hopp. Resultatet diskuterades i relation till Jean Watsons teori om mänsklig omsorg.

The COVID-19 pandemic was an unprecedented event in world history with a global impact. In the United States, emergency remote teaching (ERT) was utilized due to significant changes in the educational system, including temporary closures, shifts to remote and hybrid learning, and the addition of various infection control measures such as the wearing of masks, social distancing, and quarantine guidelines to reduce the community spread of COVID-19. These changes impacted those working and learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. This qualitative multiple-case study sought to describe and compare the professional experiences of four high school physical science teachers in the United States during the pandemic. Data was collected using surveys, participant artifacts, interviews, and focus groups between the spring of 2020 and the spring of 2022. The data were analyzed inductively using holistic and descriptive coding as well as inductively through a cross-case analysis by utilizing social reproduction theory (SRT) and teacher self-efficacy (TSE) theoretical frameworks. Four individual participant case descriptions and a cross-case analysis are reported. The findings indicate that teachers experienced significant changes to their schedules, technology use, instruction, and assessment. Teachers’ ability to communicate professionally was impacted, as was teacher professional development (PD) and evaluation. These changes resulted in learning gaps, which were more significant for struggling and marginalized students. The results demonstrate that the teachers and their students experienced the pandemic differently depending on various factors, such as resource access and school type. The findings indicate that the teachers’ students with more economic, social, and cultural capital were best positioned to access remote learning, which generated social reproduction and exacerbated inequalities. TSE decreased due to a lack of mastery and vicarious experiences, negative social and verbal persuasion, and the teachers’ adverse physiological and emotional states. TSE was also reduced due to ecological factors such as increased uncertainty and role demands, powerlessness, and isolation. The pandemic displayed how inequities across our educational system must be addressed and how the educational system must better prepare and support teachers and students during educational disruptions. The teachers gained a greater appreciation for in-person instruction, became more confident in their use and implementation of classroom technology and remote teaching, and became more aware of inequities among students.

Uninsured and undocumented immigrants risk deportation as well as other social and financial consequences when accessing healthcare in the US. Facing these risks head-on, they do the work necessary to ensure their friends, families, and communities receive medical care. Research at the intersection of linguistic and medical anthropology understands that work to be “communicative care.” Communicative care includes any way that we use language to maintain ourselves. This dissertation utilizes a communicative care framework to demonstrate that immigrant patients are not passive recipients of whatever policymakers determine they deserve; instead, they are structurally competent experts who do communicative care at the institutional and community levels to make a more equitable, accessible, and affordable healthcare system for themselves, their communities, and all patients. The dissertation relies on ethnographic data collected during five years of Philadelphia-based research and fieldwork completed during two overlapping inflection points in the history of US healthcare and immigration – the Trump administration and the COVID-19 pandemic. Ethnographic data includes field notes from longitudinal participant observation, transcriptions of interviews and conversations with undocumented and uninsured Latinx immigrant patients and healthcare professionals, and a corpus of audio-visual materials and policy artifacts. Analysis of this qualitative data revealed that undocumented and uninsured immigrants complete various essential roles within the healthcare system beyond that of the patient. They learn through personal experience what the structural barriers to healthcare are as they navigate through Philadelphia’s patchwork of access points and build lived expertise of sociopolitically constructed inequities. Ultimately, they use this knowledge at the institutional and community level to facilitate access to healthcare in their community. Within the institutional level, they serve as educators and trainers of medical professionals who want to understand the policy-based limitations placed on different patient populations and the clinical strategies needed to improve patient services. At the community level, they serve as advocates who organize and participate in large-scale systems change and representatives for the full ratification of immigrant access to healthcare. This project contributes to anthropological research on two of the most defining sociopolitical issues of the 21st century - immigration and healthcare. Often portrayed as victims and undeserving of our charity, we have yet to fully consider the lived expertise of uninsured and undocumented immigrant patients as we draft responses and solutions to urgent and emerging problems like the simultaneous drop in US life expectancy and rise in healthcare spending. This dissertation recasts immigrant patients as experts who actively engage in healthcare reform through everyday responses to the structural barriers that subvert their access to healthcare and undercut healthcare professionals’ capacity to provide medicine. By illuminating the roles of undocumented and uninsured immigrant patients and the manifestation of their lived expertise across multiple levels of analytic granularity, this project offers new possibilities for future healthcare policies, politics, and practices in and beyond the US. / Anthropology

Kommersiella fastigheter har länge setts som en realvärde säker tillgång för placeringar men det är också en bransch som har skakats om av flera finans- och fastighetskriser. Eftersom fastighetsbranschen är en kapitalintensiv bransch och upptar en stor del av bankernas omslutning påverkar sektorerna varandra i hög grad och en kris i den ena sektorn spiller lätt över på den andra. Under de två senaste åren har coronapandemin drabbat världen och människors rörelsemönster och sociala kontakter har begränsats. Pandemin har uppenbarligen haft negativa konsekvenser på människors liv och hälsa men även delvis på den ekonomiska utvecklingen. Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka coronapandemins effekter på kommersiella fastighetsbolag samt utreda likheter och skillnader från finanskrisen 2008. För att möjliggöra detta undersöks vidare relationen mellan banker och fastighetsbolag och båda sektorernas perspektiv lyfts in för att svara på arbetets frågeställningar. Undersökningen baseras på intervjuer med 6 representanter från banker och 8 respondenter från kommersiella fastighetsbolag. Dessa intervjuer visar att coronapandemin inte har haft en större påverkan på de kommersiella fastighetsbolagen och således inte heller på bankerna. Pandemin har snarare accelererat vissa trender som fastighetsbranschen redan var på väg emot och pandemin kan inte ses som en finansiell kris. Vidare framkom inga direkta likheter med finanskrisen 2008, skillnader finns det däremot gott om, finanskrisen ledde till kapitalförluster för bankerna och fastighetsbolagen saknade likviditet. / Commercial properties have long been seen as a real value secure asset for investments, but it is also an industry that has been shaken by several financial- and real estate crises. As the real estate industry is a capital- intensive industry and takes up a large part of the banks' balance sheets, the sectors are highly interdependent and a crisis in one sector easily spills over to the other. Over the past two years, the corona pandemic has affected the world and peoples movement patterns and social contact have been restricted. The pandemic has clearly had a negative impact on human lives and health, but also partly on economic development. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of the corona pandemic on commercial real estate companies and to investigate similarities and differences from the 2008 financial crisis. To enable this, the relationship between banks and real estate companies is further investigated and both sector’s perspectives are highlighted to answer the research question. The survey is based on interviews with 6 representatives from banks and 8 representatives från real estate companies. These interviews express that the corona pandemic has not had a major impact on commercial real estate and thus on banks. Rather, the pandemic has accelerated certain trends that the real estate industry was already facing and the pandemic can not be seen as a financial crisis. Furthermore, there were no direct similarities with the 2008 financial crisis, but there are plenty of differences: the financial crisis led to capital losses for the banks and a lack of liquidity for the real estate companies.

Background: The first wave of Somali-Canadian refugees arrived in the 1990s following the civil war, with many settling in Toronto. First generation Somali-Canadians faced significant discrimination and settlement challenges. Previous research on Canada immigrants found that second generation youth tend to have a bright socioeconomic outlook. However, this outlook is not so certain for Somali-Canadian youth as they face unique long-term challenges with systemic barriers. Additionally, the pandemic has disproportionately impacted Black communities. Thus, it is important to explore how the pandemic has impacted the employment and health of Somali-Canadian youth living in Rexdale. Methods: Through an IPA approach, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 8 Somali-Canadian youth between the ages of 18-25 living in the Rexdale neighbourhood. The interviews were then analyzed through the IPA perspective to generate themes. Results: Somali-Canadian youth experience precarious employment, unsafe working conditions, lost income, faced financial difficulties and an increased risk of exposure to COVID-19. Furthermore, these impacts were exacerbated by living with large families and immunocompromised family members. Participants accessed government COVID-19 supports but some were ineligible due to precarious work or concerns associated with accessing governmental assistance. The pandemic negatively impacted the mental health of youth due to financial worries, educational and interpersonal challenges, and cultural stigma. Additionally, the intersectional identities of the participants resulted in limited choices and access to coping strategies. Conclusions: In order to improve the physical and mental wellbeing of Somali-Canadian youth, and those who share their experiences, there needs to be greater investments into the social determinants of health including employment, healthcare, housing, income, and education. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc) / In the 1990s, Somali refugees arrived in Canada following a civil war, with many settling in Toronto. The first wave of Somali refugees faced discrimination and settlement challenges. Generally, children of immigrants have a bright socioeconomic outlook. However, second-generation Somali-Canadian youth face unique challenges and systemic barriers. This study explores how the pandemic impacts the health and employment of the Somali-Canadian youth living in Rexdale. Eight semi-structured interviews with youth aged 18-25. The findings illustrated impacts such as precarious employment, unsafe work, lost income, and increased risk of exposure to COVID-19. The mental health of the youth was negatively impacted due to financial worries, educational and interpersonal challenges, and cultural stigma. Sadly, the intersectional identities of the participants resulted in limited choices and access to coping strategies. To improve the health and wellbeing of Somali-Canadian youth, there needs to be greater investments into the social determinants of health including employment, healthcare, housing, income, and education.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been an unprecedented public health crisis around the world and has created novel needs in the healthcare industry. Primary among these needs is a vast shortage in personal protective equipment (PPE) such as masks and gloves. This is problematic due to the near constant of COVID-19 cases in hospitals around the United States. In an effort to meet the need for more PPE, new disinfection techniques must be found to "recycle" used PPE. UVC light has previously been used by healthcare facilities for years to disinfect surfaces such as stainless steel and are frequently used in operating room sterilization and dentist offices. UVC light's effectiveness on porous materials such as masks has not been substantially investigated prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. This work shows the effectiveness and efficiency of UVC disinfection on porous surfaces for the COVID-19 virus and other bacteria.

Studien syftar till att undersöka och beskriva budgetprocessens hantering från ett urval av svenska restauranger som har påverkats av Covid-19 pandemin. Det visar nämligen sig att det förekommer olika svar från forsknings- och litteraturperspektiv om budgetprocess kopplat till externa störningar samt att budget och dess process kan förbättras, ändras eller bli irrelevant. Denna studie ämnar därför ha inriktningen restaurangbranschen eftersom ekonomin under Covid-19 har varit problematisk för dessa företag. Vidare i denna studie tillämpas också en kvalitativ metod som använder sig utav semistrukturerade intervjuer.  Resultatet visar att inriktning och geografisk plats spelar en väsentlig roll för de ekonomiska budgetförutsättningarna gällande restauranger. Resultatet visar även på att budgetprocessen har gjort mer skada än det faktiskt hjälpt under pandemin för restauranger och hantering som rullande prognoser är mer av ett komplement att använda. Budgetprocessen bryts konstant av störningar, men att budgeten ändå används för att ha en ekonomisk plan. / The purpose of this study is to conduct research of and describe the budget process and its value and methods to various Swedish restaurants, all affected by the pandemic of Covid-19. Reality shows that research as well as literature about the budget process lacks answers connected to external threats and that there are improvements or alterations that can be made regarding adaptation or make it obsolete. This study will focus on the restaurant industry since Covid-19 has gravely affected these companies and their economies. This study uses the qualitative method of semi-structured interviews.  The result shows that niche and geographical location plays a critical role for the conditions of budget for restaurants. It also shows that the budget process has done more harm than good during the pandemic for the restaurants and that rolling forecasts is more of a complementary tool. The budget process is constantly disrupted from disturbance, but a budget can still be used for an economic plan.

Covid-19-pandemin har påverkat alla och inte minst kollektivtrafiken i landet kraftigt. Detta har gjort att många regioner och kommuner har tvingats att tänka om vad gäller investeringar och trafikutbud till kollektivtrafiken. Den här studien behandlar Hallands län, och kollektivtrafiken i Halland eftersom Halland är ett län med en blandning av stad och landsbygd som kan göra länet mer representativt för Sverige jämfört med storstadslänen.Studiens syfte var att studera hur pandemin har påverkat kollektivtrafikresandet i Hallands län, samt att utreda hur kollektivtrafikens aktörer i Halland vill utveckla trafiken efter pandemin. Studien baserades på strategiska dokument från tre offentliga aktörer, Region Halland, Hallandstrafiken, som ansvarar för kollektivtrafiken i länet, och länets sex kommuner. Dessutom gjordes intervjuer med Hallandstrafiken och fyra av sex kommuner. Utöver dokument och intervjuer studerades tidigare forskning på området för att utreda hur pandemin har påverkat kollektivtrafiken i övriga Sverige samt hur man bäst ökar kollektivtrafikens marknadsandel. Detta för att jämföra likheter och skillnader mellan hur situationen är i Halland och i övriga Sverige.Resultatet visade att Covid-19-pandemin gjorde att kollektivtrafikresandet minskade i länet med ungefär 40% för år 2020 och 2021, om man jämför med år 2019. Marknadsandelen sjönk från 18% till som lägst ungefär 9%. Dock ses en relativt tydlig tillbakagång mot 2019 års nivåer under början av 2022. I framtiden tror Hallandstrafiken att resandet kommer förändras, dock är man inte helt säkra på hur, men man är tillsammans med forskare överens om att distansarbetet troligtvis kommer öka som en följd av pandemin. Troligt är även enligt flera intervjuer att resandet i framtiden i större utsträckning sker på andra tider än de traditionella rusningstiderna och att sträckan man pendlar till arbetet blir längre. Region Halland och Hallandstrafikens huvudsakliga mål i framtiden är att öka attraktiviteten för kollektivtrafiken och därmed höja marknadsandelen. Detta görs bland annat genom att koncentrera kollektivtrafiken i stråk, att öka medelhastighet på bussarna. För att få tillbaka resenärer efter pandemin har man infört en ny biljettyp, samt gjort satsningar på marknadsföring och kampanjer.Slutsatserna som dras är främst att pandemin påverkat kollektivtrafiken både i Halland och Sverige kraftigt, samt att framtidens resande troligtvis kommer förändras i form av att vi arbetar mer på distans. Däremot är det i nuläget mycket svårt att säga i vilken omfattning det kommer förändras. Metoderna som Hallandstrafiken använder för att utveckla trafiken är förankrade i forskningen och bör således leda till en ökad marknadsandel, men de kan också innebära att vissa grupper som exempelvis äldre och funktionsnedsatta får svårare att använda sig av kollektivtrafiken. / The Covid-19-pandemic has affected everyone, and not least the public transport sector. This has caused problems for counties and municipalities in Sweden who have been forced to rethink decisions on investments towards the public transport sector. This study discusses Halland county, Sweden, because it has a better balance between urban and rural areas and is more representative for Sweden compared to the more populated counties.The purpose of the study was to study how the pandemic affected the public transport sector in Halland county, and to investigate how public transport actors in Halland want to develop the public transport in the future. The study is based on documents from Halland county, Hallandstrafiken, which is the responsible public transport company in Halland, and the municipalities. Interviews were also made with these actors. Prior studies on the topic were studied to see how the pandemic affected other parts of Sweden, and how to best increase the market share of public transport.The results showed that the Covid-19 pandemic caused the number of public transport users in the county to drop by 40% for the years 2020 and 2021, compared to 2019. The market share for public transport dropped from 18% to 9%. There is however a relatively clear return towards the 2019 levels in the beginning of 2022. Hallandstrafiken believe that travelling will change in the future, but they are unsure of how it will change. Everyone involved in the study, as well as prior studies, think that the amount of teleworking in the future will increase because of the pandemic. The study also shows that it is likely that we to a bigger extent travel on other times than the morning and afternoon peaks, and that the commuting distance will increase. Halland county and Hallandstrafiken have a goal to reach a market share of 30% by 2030 and will work towards that by concentrating the public transport to a smaller number of routes and increase the average speed of the buses. To get users back to using public transport after the pandemic, a new ticket has been introduced, and there will be further campaigns and an increased focus on marketing.The conclusions that can be drawn from the study are foremost that the pandemic has affected the public transport sector both in Halland and Sweden a lot, and that how we travel in the future will most likely change due to an increase in teleworking. However, it is very difficult to tell what extent it will change. The methods used by Hallandstrafiken to increase the market share have been used many times before and will most likely work in Halland too, but they may cause problems for older people and those who are disabled.English

The modern society is characterized by an increased implementation of digitalization. With new technological innovations our social lives are increasingly becoming more digitalized. The past two years the pandemic has set the conditions of human interaction, and therefore the pandemic increased digitalization further. Organizations that had the possibility to reconstruct their work towards more digital approaches did so and therefore the social premises of work changed where individuals are working from home to a greater extent. The aim of this essay is to investigate Swedish women and their perception of telework and the digitalization’s effects on social relations/communication between colleagues, and how the individual experiences telework in regards to the increased pace of life. Finally this essay will explore how individuals deal with work-life balance during telework. Previous research has shown that telework has negative effects on informal communication between colleagues, and that teleworking and its demands on autonomy, flexibility and efficiency leads to increased emotions of stress for the individual. Finally, previous research showed difficulties with the managing of the work-life balance during telework, especially for women. This essay is based on qualitative interviews with six women and has shown that teleworking enables them to become more flexible and effective in their life, which has made it easier for them to manage the work-life balance than before. Another result of the essay is that telework has had a negative effect on informal communication between colleagues. / Det moderna samhället karaktäriseras av ökad implementering av digitalisering. Med nya tekniska innovationer blir våra sociala liv alltmer digitaliserade. De senaste två åren har pandemin satt nya förutsättningar för interaktionen mellan människor, och därmed ökat implementeringen av digitalisering ytterligare. Organisationer som haft möjligheten att omstrukturera sitt arbete mot mer digitala lösningar har gjort det och därmed förändrat de sociala aspekterna av arbete - där individer arbetar alltmer hemifrån. Syftet med studien är att undersöka svenska kvinnor och deras upplevelser av distansarbete och digitaliseringens effekter på sociala relationer/kommunikation mellan kollegor, och om distansarbete och digitaliseringen har lett till ett ökande livstempo. Slutligen intresserar sig denna uppsats för kvinnors gränsdragning mellan arbets- och privatliv under distansarbete. Tidigare forskning visar att distansarbete har negativa effekter på informell kommunikation mellan kollegor, att distansarbetets krav på autonomi, flexibilitet och effektivitet lett till ökad upplevelse av stress. Slutligen visar tidigare forskning problematik med work-life balansen under distansarbete, speciellt för kvinnor. Denna studie, som är baserad på kvalitativa intervjuer med sex kvinnor, har resulterat i att distansarbete tillåter dem att vara mer flexibla och effektiva i sitt arbete, vilket underlättat balansen mellan arbets- och privatlivet och lett till att kvinnorna känner sig mindre stressade än vid arbete på plats. Ett ytterligare resultat av uppsatsen är distansarbetets negativa påverkan på informell kommunikation mellan kollegor.

In the field of sociology there is an established idea that risk has importance for identity-building, and existing research shows that risk is a part of transitioning into adulthood. The Covid-19 pandemic has, on the one hand, introduced new risks for young people to consider, and on the other restrictions aiming to prevent the spread of infection. The restrictions have to a varying degree, limited us in everyday life, and constructed new norms which may have influenced youth’s identity-building. This qualitative study aims to examine young people's experience of risk and how those and other experiences during pandemic have affected their identity-building. The results show that youths' understanding of risk was informed by their unique context. Further, the study establishes that young people’s disciplinary attitudes and actions reflected those on the institutional level, whilst other risk behaviour was dependent on the context of the action. Young people have also revealed a level of flexibility and adaptation which enabled them to maintain social practices important for identity-building. Through the integration of feelings of loss and gratitude, establishment of a new everyday life, and wider perspectives on life, young people maintained the feeling of ontological security. Further research should examine how experiences of risk during the pandemic may have long term effects on identity-building, and the possible need for supportive interventions. / Betydelse av risk för identitetsskapande har under lång tid varit ett etablerat forskningsfält där tidigare studier fastslår att risk är en viktig del i ungas vuxenblivande. Coronapandemin introducerade dels en ny risk för unga att förhålla sig till, dels olika former av restriktioner för att minska smittspridning. Dessa begränsade oss i det vardagliga livet samt etablerade nya normer som möjligtvis påverkat människors identitetsskapande, inte minst de ungas. Syftet med denna kvalitativa studie var att genom semistrukturerade intervjuer undersöka ungas upplevelser i förhållande till risk och hur dessa och andra upplevelser under pandemin har påverkat ungas identitetsskapande. Resultatet visar att de ungas förhållande till risk präglades av deras unika situation och kontext. Disciplinering mot sig själv och andra speglade de institutionella riskuppfattningarna, däremot kunde riskbeteendet vara kontextdrivet. När det gäller ungas identitetsskapande visar resultatet på en anpassningsbarhet som till viss del möjliggjort för unga att fortsätta utöva för dem viktiga sociala praktiker. De skapade också ontologisk trygghet genom att integrera upplevelser av både förlust och tacksamhet, skapa en ny vardag och sätta in sin egen livsberättelse i ett större narrativ. Vidare forskning kan med fördel undersöka hur ungas upplevelser i förhållande till risk under pandemin har påverkat deras identitetsskapande på längre sikt för att upptäcka eventuella behov av stödinsatser.