Search

Background: Since nursing job is perceived as personally and professionally demanding, internal resources such as resilience and coping skills are essential to improve nurses' health and wellbeing and therefore work productivity and quality of patient care. Objective: To assess the effect of social support on nurses' resilience. Moreover, we investigated the impact of demographic characteristics of nurses on their resilience. Methods: We conducted an on-line cross-sectional study in Greece. Data were collected during October 2022. We used the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support to measure social support, and the Brief Resilience Scale to measure resilience. We measured gender, age, self-perceived health status, COVID-19 diagnosis, MSc/PhD diploma, and clinical experienceof nurses Results: Study population included 963 nurses with a mean age of 37.9 years. Nurses experienced moderate levels of resilience and high levels of social support. Multivariable linear regression analysis identified that increased significant others support and increased friends support were associated with increased resilience. Moreover, we found a positive relationship between age and resilience. Also, nurses with good/very good health had higher levels of resilience compared to nurses with very poor/poor/moderate health. Finally, resilience was higher among nurses with MSc/PhD diploma. Conclusions: We found a positive relationship between social support and resilience among nurses. Understanding of factors that influence nurses' resilience can add invaluable knowledge to develop and establish tailored programs. Peer support is essential to improve nurses' resilience and promote patient healthcare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Covid-19 pandemic has influenced stroke care in different ways. Recent reports demonstrated a sharp decline in acute stroke admissions worldwide. Even for patients presented to dedicated healthcare services, management at the acute phase may be sub-optimal. On the other hand, Greece has been praised for the early initiation of restriction measures which were associated with a ‘milder’ surge of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Methods Data derived from a prospective cohort multicenter registry. The study population consisted of first-ever acute stroke patients, hemorrhagic or ischemic, admitted within 48 hours of symptom onset in seven national healthcare system (NHS) and University hospitals in Greece. Two different time periods have been considered, defined as “before Covid-19” (15/12/2019-15/02/2020) and “during Covid-19” (16/02/2020-15/04-2020) era. Statistical comparisons on acute stroke admission characteristics between the two different time periods have been performed. Results This exploratory analysis of 112 consecutive patients showed a reduction of acute stroke admissions by 40% during Covid-19 period. No significant differences were observed regarding stroke severity, risk factor profile and baseline characteristics for patients admitted before and during Covid-19 pandemic period. There is a significant delay between symptom onset to CT scan during Covid-19 era compared to the period before pandemic reached Greece (p=0.03). Conclusions The rate of acute stroke admissions has been reduced by 40% during Covid-19 pandemic. Further research is needed to clarify whether the reduction in stroke volume is actual or not and identifying the reasons underlying the paradox. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because an annual COVID-19 booster vaccine appears to be required to control the pandemic, identifying the factors that influence individuals' decision to receive a booster dose is critical. Thus, our goal was to quantify the influence of COVID-19-related burnout on vaccination intention and to investigate the role of resilience in mediating the link between burnout and intention. We conducted a cross-sectional study with a convenience sample during October 2022. We used the COVID-19 burnout scale and the Brief Resilience Scale. The study sample included 1256 people who had received their primary COVID-19 vaccination. Among the participants, 34.1% reported being very likely to be vaccinated with a booster dose. COVID-19-related burnout was found to be inversely connected with vaccination intention. Moreover, our results suggested that resilience not only had a positive direct effect on vaccination intention but also mediated the relationship between burnout and vaccination intention. Although our study had limitations, such as a convenience sample and information bias, we demonstrate the critical role of resilience in reducing the impact of COVID-19-related burnout on the vaccination intention. Policymakers should develop and implement initiatives to address the issues of COVID-19-related burnout and enhance booster adoption by strengthening psychosocial resources such as resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 booster doses for high-risk groups such as nurses are necessary to reduce the impacts of the pandemic and promote public health. We examined the relationship between COVID-19-related burnout and booster vaccination willingness among nurses, and we assessed whether social support can buffer this relationship. We conducted a cross-sectional study with 963 fully vaccinated nurses working in healthcare settings in Greece. We used the multidimensional scale of perceived social support to measure social support and the COVID-19 burnout scale to measure COVID-19-related burnout. We measured vaccination willingness with a scale from 0 (extremely unlikely to take a booster dose) to 10 (extremely likely). Among nurses, 37.1% reported being very likely to be vaccinated, 34.4% reported being uncertain about their likelihood of vaccination, and 28.6% reported being very unlikely to be vaccinated with a booster dose. We found that COVID-19-related burnout reduced vaccination willingness, while social support functioned as a partial mediator of this relationship. In conclusion, nurses who experienced burnout were less likely to accept a booster dose. Furthermore, increasing nurses' social support reduced the negative effects of burnout, resulting in improved booster vaccination willingness. Immunization awareness programs should be implemented in order to address nurses' concerns and support booster doses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Covid-19 pandemic stretched healthcare systems' capacity, imposed the reorganization and re-prioritization of services under the burden of scarce resources, and altered the traditional way that care was provided. Palliative care, though designed to address complex needs such as relief from severe suffering, difficult decision making and complicated grief was not an exception; its holistic approach of care was seriously challenged due to infection spread restrictions. Objective: To review the impact on palliative care services from healthcare professionals' perspective. Methodology: A systematic review according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) was conducted via PubMed in October 2022. Eligibility criteria included original studies that had used a qualitative, quantitative, or mixed design approach to evaluate the impact on services, delivery of care, and emotional status of palliative healthcare professionals. Results: Out of 2040 initial records, 32 studies were included in the review coming from various countries and settings with representative participation of multidisciplinary palliative care teams' members. Reported impacts concerned organizational aspects and provision of services, altered delivery of care, and implications for the mental health of involved staff. Increased workload, visiting restrictions, use of Personal Protective Equipment, and remote contact were perceived as factors compromising the quality of care provided and impeding palliative healthcare professionals from fulfilling their holistic care role. Moral distress was the most exacerbated emotional impact. Conclusions: Despite the important role that palliative care can play during a health crisis, this was not always adequately reflected on pandemic plans. In the era of the Covid-19, Palliative care entered a phase of change; whether this fact may compromise or accelerate its evolvement depends on how lessons learned will be used in future planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The huge spread of the internet and especially of social media has led to new ways of communication, even erotic communication, especially among young people, replacing, in many cases, activities that until now required the face-to-face meeting of individuals. Aim: To investigate the relationship between sexting and self-esteem, depression, anxiety, and stress among young people. Also, we investigated the impact of demographic characteristics on sexting. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 368 young people aged 18-30 years old. We created an anonymous form of the study questionnaire with Google forms and we disseminated it through social media. Thus, we obtained a convenience sample. We used valid scales to measure sexting, self-esteem, depression, anxiety and stress among young people. All scales in our study had very good Cronbach's alpha. Results: Mean age of the participants was 23.7 years, while 82.3% was females. Mean every day time that participants spent on social media/platforms/applications was 4.7 hours. Participants used more often to communicate with others Instagram (86.8%) and Facebook (62.8%), and then Viber (29.9%), TikTok (9.8%), Snapchat (6%) and WhatsApp (5.1%). Frequency of texting was low among participants, while self-esteem level was average. Moreover, participants had higher levels of stress than depression and anxiety. We found that increased sexting was associated with decreased self-esteem (r=-0.3, p=0.02), increased depression (r=0.4, p=0.001), increased anxiety (r=0.3, p=0.005), and increased stress (r=0.4, p<0.001). Multivariable linear regression analysis identified that increased number of accounts on social media/platforms/applications (coefficient beta=0.07, 95% confidence interval=0.01 to 0.13, p-value=0.023) and increased age (coefficient beta=0.08, 95% confidence interval=0.01 to 0.13, p-value=0.003) was associated with increased sexting. Conclusions: Understanding the relationship between sexting and self-esteem, depression, anxiety, and stress in young people will give policy makers the opportunity to develop appropriate health education programmes to reduce risky sexual behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Various COVID-19 vaccines with proven safety and effectiveness are available now but vaccine hesitancy remains a public threat. COVID-19 vaccines uptake appears to have an essential role in the successful control of the COVID-19 pandemic. Objective: To examine predictors of COVID-19 vaccination uptake and reasons for decline of vaccination. Methods: We followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis guidelines for this systematic review. We searched Medline, PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, ProQuest, CINAHL, and a preprint service (medRxiv). We used the following key-words: vaccin*, COVID-19, and uptake. We included all types of studies (quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods) reporting COVID-19 vaccination uptake. The review protocol was registered with PROSPERO (CRD42021267460). Results: Twelve studies met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. COVID-19 vaccination uptake ranged from 28.6% to 98% in the general population, while among healthcare workers ranged from 33.3% to 94.5%, and among patients ranged from 36% to 80%. The main predictors of COVID-19 vaccination uptake were male gender, white race, older age, higher socioeconomic status, higher self-perceived COVID-19 vulnerability, increased information about COVID-19 vaccines, and chronic illness. The most important reasons for decline of vaccination were concerns about the safety and effectiveness of vaccines, illness, medication, pregnancy, fertility, breastfeeding, religious reasons, ethical reasons, previous COVID-19 diagnosis, self-estimation that COVID-19 is not a severe disease, and limited knowledge about the vaccines. Conclusions: Several factors affect COVID-19 vaccination uptake, while various reasons affect people's decision to refuse to take a COVID-19 vaccine. These findings are essential to further enhance our understanding of COVID-19 vaccination uptake and design specific interventions. Given the high prevalence of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, our findings have major implications for the delivery of COVID-19 vaccination programmes in the public with special attention to people who are undecided or unlikely to take a COVID-19 vaccine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Work related quality of life can show the effects of the work environment in a person's professional life and life in general. The work-related quality of life questionnaire (WRQoL) consists of six subscales measuring Control at work, General wellbeing, Home--work interface, Job career satisfaction, Stress at work, Working conditions. It was developed by researchers at the University of Portsmouth, UK to measure this theoretical construct, and includes 24 items, answered on a 5-point Likert Scale ranging from 1=completely disagree to 5= completely agree. OBJECTIVE: To translate, culturally adapt and validate the WRQoL questionnaire into the Greek language to use it for hospital nurses. METHODS: A forward and backward translation was performed. Cultural adaptation, construct validity (confirmatory factor analysis) and internal consistency were evaluated in a study including 353 nurses from three Greek public hospitals. Statistical analysis was performed using a SPSS 22.0 for Windows. RESULTS: WRQoL demonstrated good reliability and validity. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the Greek translation of the instrument follows the same construct with the original. Cronbach's alpha coefficients were very good (á=0.91 for the total scale), except in one subscale, indicating good internal consistency. CONCLUSIONS: The Greek version of WRQoL is a reliable and valid instrument for use in measuring hospital Greek nurses' work-related quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Access to health services for vulnerable groups such as migrants is a major public health issue worldwide. Aim: To assess the use of health services by migrants in Greece. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from April to June 2022. We collected data from migrants that have visited the outpatients clinics in three hospitals in Attica. A convenience sample was obtained and the response rate was 36.7% (=770/2100). Results: Mean age of the migrants was 40.6 years, while mean length of stay in Greece was 8.3 years. Most of the participants were females (59%), had a health insurance (83.6%), and had a bad/very bad financial status (40.1%). Among migrants, 34.7% reported that they did not medicine due to cost, while 33.8% reported that they cannot use health services although there was a need for them. Level of migrants' knowledge of the rights to use health services was moderate. Moreover, self-assessment of cost as an obstacle to use health services and the complexity of the health system was moderate. Migrants from Asian and African countries were more often unable to use health services (p<0.001). Also, migrants from Asian and African countries considered cost as an obstacle to use health services in a greater way (p=0.008). The most frequent reasons that migrants have not been able to use health services were lack of knowledge about finding health services (59.2%), inability to make an appointment (56.9%), high cost (56.2%), communication and understanding problems (56.2%), long waiting time (48.5%), and lack of health insurance (34.2%). Conclusions: Improving access to health services for vulnerable groups, such as migrants, and reducing prejudice and inequalities is an obligation for all countries, especially European countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Choosing a country for medical tourism is a complex decision that is influenced by eral factors. Emphasis should be placed on the quality and safety of the health services provided. Aim: To evaluate the experiences of individuals from foreign countries that undergone in vitro fertilization (IVF) in Greece. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study with a convenience sample. We collected our data from May to December 2019. The response rate was 71%. We used a self-administrated questionnaire to collect our data. All participants gave their informed consent to participate in the study. Demographic data were the independent variables. We used as dependent variables the following: cost of health services, quality of health services, and total experiences from health services. Results: Study sample included 216 individuals that undergone IVF in Greece. Mean age of participants was 39,4 years. Among the participants, 40,7% (n=88) evaluated their total experience as very good, 46,8% (n=101) as good, 12% (n=26) as moderate, and 0,5% (n=1) as poor. Multivariable linear regression analysis identified that males had higher score on health services cost than females, individuals with public insurance or no insurance had higher score on health services cost than individuals with private insurance, and decreased annual income was associated with increased score on health services cost. Also, increased educational level and increased annual income were associated with increased score on health services quality. Conclusions: Greece, due to its geographical location and climatic conditions, is an excellent choice for medical tourism for many people and for this reason special emphasis should be placed on developing and establishing the appropriate conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Health inequalities are a long-standing and complex issue with fundamental human rights and the principles of social justice, equality and solidarity being directly related to issues of social inclusion and public health. A particular aspect of health inequalities has emerged, which mainly relates to the barriers and difficulties encountered by migrants in accessing health services. Aim: To assess the experiences of migrants in Greek public hospitals. Methods: A cross-sectional study with a convenience sample was conducted during April-June 2022. Data were collected from migrants that have visited the outpatients clinics in three hospitals in Attica. We distributed 2100 questionnaires and 770 were returned in a complete form (response rate = 36.7%). A valid instrument was used to measure the experiences of migrants regarding their visit in public hospitals. Results: The sample consisted of 770 migrants with a mean age of 40.6 years. The level of continuity and comprehensiveness of healthcare was high. Also, medical and nursing staff quality was high. Level of facilities of health services and access to health services was moderate. Multivariable analysis identified that several sociodemographic characteristics of migrants influence their experiences of using health services in Greece. In particular, we found that the experiences were better for migrants: from Albania and countries of the former Soviet Union, with a longer length of stay in Greece, with health insurance, with a better financial situation, with better ability to communicate with health professionals, with a higher level of education, with a chronic disease, older age and females. Conclusions: Better access to health services for migrants will enable them to improve their quality of life and achieve better health outcomes. In this way, the living conditions of migrants will be improved and their better integration in Greece will be achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: High levels of stress and anxiety in nurses negatively affect their physical and mental health and lead to poor job performance, limited job satisfaction, high levels of burnout and increased intention to leave the profession. By promoting resilience in nurses it is possible to reduce negative consequences for those working in highly stressful workplaces. Objective: To summarize the evidence about the relationship between social support and resilience among nurses. Methods: We performed a systematic review according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. We searched Pubmed, Medline, Scopus, Web of Science, and Cinahl from inception to August 28, 2022 using the following search strategy in all fields: ((resilience) AND ("social support")) AND (nurses). Results: Applying the inclusion criteria, we found six studies that investigated the relationship between social support and resilience among nurses. Two studies were conducted in China, two studies in Turkey, one study in Haiti, and one study in Taiwan. All studies were cross-sectionals and used convenience samples. All studies found a positive relationship between social support and resilience among nurses. In studies that used multivariable analysis, coefficient beta ranged from 0.13 to 0.69, while in studies that used correlation analysis, correlation coefficient ranged from 0.18 to 0.37. Conclusions: We found that social support improves resilience among nurses. It is necessary to make systematic efforts to support nurses especially in the workplace. This need is even greater for inexperienced nurses, as it is more difficult for them to cope effectively with the difficulties of the profession. A harmonious working environment is essential to reduce the psychological pressure of nurses and improve job performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]