"It's like we're at war": Nurses' resilience and coping strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The sudden outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic forced healthcare workers to use all their professional and personal skills to battle it. The unexpected onset of the disease has led to extraordinary pressure on healthcare workers and has challenged their resilience. The study aimed to explore the subjective experiences of 18 Israeli nurses who are directly treating COVID-19 patients, and to identify the sources of resilience used by nurses to address national health crises. The data were gathered via semi-structured interviews and thematically analyzed. The analysis yielded three central analytic themes that described the nurses' experiences during the pandemic: maneuvering between professional demands and personal-family life; the nurses' coping strategies and resilience; and nurses' use of metaphorical military language as a way of coping with the difficulties. The findings show that in a time of severe health crisis, and despite the fear of infection, nurses adhere to the values of the profession and are willing to fight the virus to save lives. The nurses' extensive use of military metaphorical language reflected their experiences, strengthened them, and provided them with a source of empowerment in the face of a common enemy that needed to be overcome.

Psychological distress and perceived job stressors among hospital nurses and physicians during the COVID-19 outbreak.

AIMS: The study examined self-reported job-related stressors induced by the COVID-19 pandemic and psychological distress among hospital nurses and physicians. In addition, we explored the role of negative affect (NA) and background variables in relation to COVID-19-related job stressors and psychological distress. BACKGROUND: During COVID-19 pandemic, hospital nurses and physicians were exposed to highly enduring occupational stress, that stem from subjective appraisal of inadequate job resources (i.e., personal protection equipment, information on how to manage safely in the ongoing work and organizational attention to the needs arising from the ongoing work). DESIGN: Cross-sectional design. METHODS: Between May and July 2020, 172 nurses and physicians working at a medical centre in Israel filled in self-report questionnaires about sociodemographic data, COVID-19-related job stressors, psychological distress and NA. RESULTS: Our results confirmed the positive direct link between perceived COVID-19-related job stressors and psychological distress among hospital nurses and physicians. NA was found to serve as a mediator in this association (indirect link). Furthermore, nurses and physicians' seniority was related positively to psychological distress and also played a moderator role in the indirect link. CONCLUSION: We recommend to monitor the mental health of hospital nurses and physicians and to provide a platform to address their job stressor concerns related to COVID-19, and share helpful coping strategies. IMPACT STATEMENT: During the abrupt COVID-19 outbreak, hospital nurses and physicians face challenges that might raise NA and psychological distress. Our study revealed that among hospital nurses and physicians, COVID-19-related perceived job stressors and psychological distress were positively linked, and NA plays a mediating role in this association. Among nurses and physicians with moderate or high years of seniority (>11 years), higher COVID-19-related perceived job stressors associated with higher NA, which in turn was associated with greater psychological distress. Policymakers would be wise to provide a platform to address hospital nurses and physicians' mental health.

Estrogen receptor and laminin genetic polymorphism among women with pelvic organ prolapse.

OBJECTIVE: Laminin is a connective tissue component. The LAMC1 gene encodes for gamma-1 chain of laminin, which is associated with familial clustering of POP. The ERα gene which encodes for cellular estrogen receptor has also been associated with POP. The aim of this study was to evaluate a possible correlation between polymorphism in these genes and the risk for developing POP. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Blood samples were drawn from 33 women with advanced POP (study group) and 33 women without POP (control group). DNA was extracted, and the presence of the rs10911193 C/T mutation in LAMC1 and of the rs2228480 G/A mutation in ERα was detected using the PCR technique. RESULTS: 26 samples were available for each group regarding ERα. 33 samples were available for each group, regarding LAMC1. The prevalence of homozygotes for the ERα rs2228480 G/A mutation was 19.2% and 0% among women with and without POP, respectively (OR 39.77, 95% CI 1.93-817.0, P = 0.00046). The prevalence of heterozygotes for this mutation was 83.3% and 11.5%, respectively (OR 19.2, 95% CI 4.15-88.6, P < 0.0001). The prevalence of homozygotes for the LAMC1 gene rs10911193 C/T mutation was 3.6% and 6.1% among women with and without POP (NS), while the respective for heterozygotes for this mutation was 21.4% and 33.3% (NS). CONCLUSIONS: Polymorphism in the ERα gene is associated with an increased risk for advanced POP. However, polymorphism in the LAMC1 gene does not seem to be associated with such risk.