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Background. The physical and mental burden of the hospice workers is increasing in Hungary. The development of physical, psychological and social symptoms might enhance the fluctuation of caregivers. Our main goal is to help the hospice care professionals more effectively in preventing physical and mental fatigue. Material and methods. Based on the international databases we reviewed the literature on the physical and mental state of health care workers who deal primarily with terminally ill patients. We focused on English language articles published between 2000 and 2013, primarily on studies presenting research results related to palliative and hospice care workers. Results. Among40 international studies found in our search, we discarded those that concentrated only on a specific area of the issue leaving 16 international studies subject to a more detailed examination. A great advantage of reviewing the literature was the detailed examination of the mental state and coping strategies of hospice health workers. A relatively new element in research is the analysis of the relationship between compassion satisfaction, compassion fatigue, and burnout (relationship between negative and positive effects), that covers symptomatology and coping as well. Conclusion. All these aspects lead to a better understanding of causes and to more effective methods that are helpful in preventing physical and mental fatigue of hospice professionals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The coronavirus pandemic has focused attention on the importance of critical care and highlighted the shortage of critical care specialists. Due to increasing workloads and high mortality rates, healthcare professionals were exposed to higher levels of physical and psychological stress during the pandemic than before., Objective: Our study investigated the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on the emotional, mental and moral stress of intensive care professionals., Method: Our workgroup performed paper-based surveys among caregivers in the Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Therapy at Semmelweis University. The first survey was conducted at the start of the pandemic in 2020, the second survey was conducted after the third wave in 2021. We applied validated questionnaires (Professional Quality of Life, Demoralization Scale, Perceived Stress Scale, Impact of Event Scale, and Posttraumatic Growth Inventory), collected demographic data and information on lifestyle, recreation, dietary habits, and accepting psychological support., Results: The number and demographic characteristics of the participants in the two studies are different, reflecting the changes in the workforce during the pandemic. Our results revealed no differences between the working and socio-demographic groups before the outbreak, however, one year later, nurses scored significantly higher on all negative psychological scales compared to other groups. Only a minority of the respondents had sought psychological support (9.5-12.7%), although more than a third of respondents reported the need for psychological support. Employees in new work positions showed significantly increased posttraumatic growth (2.91 ± 0.82 vs. 2.20 ± 1.06, p = 0.016)., Discussion: These findings demonstrate that nurses are the most strained workgroup during an uncertain and stressful period. The available mental support alone is not enough to help caregivers., Conclusion: Further steps are needed to improve the mental health of critical care workers. Orv Hetil. 2023; 164(42): 1646-1655.

Background: In this study, we examined psychiatric teams in a Hungarian sample before the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of our research is to examine Hungarian psychiatric teams along different workplace psychosocial factors (collaboration management, organization and job, workplace requirements, work-life balance, trust, health and well-being) in order to assess them in terms of hierarchy and competence. Moreover we examine the mental and somatic effects of these factors., Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey of Hungarian mental health care workers (N =79). The main question of the study was how perceived hierarchy and competence boundary violations are associated to psychosocial factors of the COPSOQ-II questionnaire (Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire II) in general, and among employees in different job groups., Results: Based on bootstrapped binary logistic regression performed on the full sample, we found that perceived hierarchy is associated with control, social support of co-workers and stress, while violation of competence boundaries is associated with job recognition, job clarity and fairness., Discussion: Our results show that where mental health care workers experienced less perceived hierarchy within the team, they were more likely to feel that they had control over their work. Furthermore, in hierarchies perceived as superior-subordinate relations, the quality of the relationships within the team seems to be much more important., Conclusions: This research can be the starting point for a comprehensive study of other psychiatric teams with the aid of a widely used measure, providing an opportunity for comparison with other health teams at an international level.

Introduction: The Professional Quality of Life Scale, measuring the quality of professional life, has been developed to examine the positive and negative changes in the work of those who have undergone extremely stressful experiences. The quality of life of the personnel of palliative-hospice teams may be influenced physically as well as emotionally by their every-day experiences of suffering, death, dying and the patients' traumas., Aim: The aim of the study was the examination of the psychometric features and factor structure of the Hungarian version of the Professional Quality of Life Scale questionnaire, which can measure compassion fatigue and satisfaction, secondary traumatisation and burnout. Our long-term objective is the development of formative and intervention strategies for hospice workers in order to increase their satisfaction, physical and mental well-being and their willingness to work in hospice., Method: The cross-sectional, questionnaire study was made with hospice workers. The questionnaires were available in an anonym, printed form. We used the Hungarian versions of the Shortened Maastricht Vital Exhaustion Questionnaire and of the Shortened Beck Depression Scale, of the CES-D Depression Scale and of the Shortened WHO General Well-Being Scale to validate., Statistical Analysis: IBM SPSS 23.0© software was used for the analysis. To explore the factor structure of the measurement scale, explorative factor analysis was made (analysis of the main component, Varimax rotation); subsequently, 4 scales were prepared the Cronbach-alpha values of which were suitable for further examination., Results: 188 questionnaires were sent back (female 86.2%, male 13.8%); the majority work as nurses and in home hospice care (94 people). The inner consistency of the created 4 scales is acceptable according to the Cronbach-alpha values. The inner consistency of the questions regarding burnout is low. The correlation of our measurement scales with the standardised scales for outer validity has sufficient strength and direction., Conclusions: Our questionnaire can measure the phenomena under examination according to the expected values, with suitable consistency on the basis of the inner and outer indicators. Orv Hetil. 2018; 159(35): 1441-1449.

Introduction: Each year, the number of hospice services and terminally ill patients increase while the number of hospice workers is falling. The intensification of the physical and mental burdens of the latter can lead to burnout and the fluctuation of the workers., Aim: The aim of the authors was to survey the physical and mental state of hospice workers, as well as the risk of burnout and coping strategies., Method: A questionnaire survey in hospice experts and volunteers (n ≈ 1500) based on the Hungarostudy survey was performed., Results: Those who filled in the questionnaire (n = 195) had on average 1.86 workplaces and 45.8% of them reported working 12 or more hours a day. Most often, they suffered from lack of energy (65.1%), disturbing physical pain (46.9%), sleeping (56.9%) and digestion (35%), they considered themselves overweight (56.9%) and they were occupied with work problems even at bedtime (72.8%)., Conclusions: Hospice workers are overloaded, they have physical and mental symptoms and they are characterized by compassion fatigue. At the same time, they are also characterized by compassion satisfaction as an ability to accept appreciation for the caretaking.

Introduction: Complementary and alternative medicine have undoubtedly been gaining ground on the healthcare market, thus the vital question arises why patients choose these treatments, oftentimes at the cost of discontinuing the Western medical therapy., Aim: The aim of the authors was to investigate and scrutinize factors leading to the utilization of various alternative medical services., Method: The basis of this qualitative research was medical anthropological fieldwork conducted at a clinic of Traditional Chinese Medicine including participant observation (355 hours), unstructured interviews with patients (n = 93) and in-depth interviews (n = 14)., Results: Patients of alternative medical systems often do not receive a diagnosis, explanation or cure for their illness from Western medicine, or they do not agree with what they are offered. In other instances, patients choose alternative medicine because it exhibits a philosophical congruence with their already existing explanatory model, that is, previous concepts of world, man or illness., Conclusions: A particular therapy is always part of a cultural system and it is embedded in a specific psycho-social context, hence choice of therapy must be interpreted in accordance with this perspective.

Introduction: There are relatively few data on the relationship between professions and fear of death., Aim: The aim of the authors was to examine the association between profession and fear of death., Method: Physicians, medical students and other healthcare workers, priests, psychologists and non-healthcare workers (N = 1062) were asked about their attitude to death by means of the Multidimensional Fear of Death Scale., Results: Significant differences were found in the total and some factor scores among the study groups. Priests showed the lowest fear of death values. Scores on the Fear of the Dead Factor was the highest in psychologists and non-healthcare workers who had no contact with the dead and dying., Conclusions: Fear of death seems rather to be present in professions dealing less directly with the dead and dying.