RESUMO
Introduction: Poland has the largest shortage of nurses in Europe, as well as a low percentage of male nurses. Information relating to emotional intelligence has been explored to determine whether it predicts the characteristics and outcomes of qualified health professionals during their academic training and practice. Objective: This study aimed to measure differences in emotional intelligence between male and female nursing students. Participants and methods: In this cross-sectional study, emotional intelligence was measured using the Schutte Self-Report Emotional Intelligence Test (SSEIT) in 21 male and 127 female nursing students from John Paul II University in Biala Podlaska, Poland. Results: The raw overall scores of emotional intelligence in male and female students were similar. Differences were observed after the conversion of raw scores into normalized (sten) scores. High normalized scores (sten 8-10) of emotional intelligence had every third of male students and only 14.2% of female students. The lowest sten values of emotional intelligence in male and female students were 3 and 1, respectively. Less than 10% of male students and over 20% of female students had low normalized scores (sten ≤3) for emotional intelligence and an isolated ability to recognize emotions (factor II). Conclusions: The emotional intelligence expressed in normalized scores was higher in male nursing students than in female nursing students. This evidence may suggest that, at the stage of choosing a field of study, Polish male nursing students self-select for the nursing profession, at least in terms of emotional intelligence. The influx of men into the profession should be considered as a positive trend.
RESUMO
INTRODUCTION: Antinuclear antibodies (ANA) are the hallmark of many connective tissue disorders (including lupus), which comprise roughly 5% to 10% of chronic debilitating diseases causing morbidity and mortality. In society, fear of these diseases increases illness-related uncertainty because the prognosis of progression is often difficult to determine and at least some symptoms fluctuate unpredictably. In the anti-vaccination movement, the question of the possible connection between vaccination and connective tissue disorders and other autoimmune diseases has grown to rank as an important argument for rejecting vaccination. In 2021, every fifth Polish first-degree nursing student decided to not be vaccinated against COVID-19. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to explore the prevalence of antinuclear antibodies in students vaccinated and unvaccinated against COVID-19. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS: A single university cross-sectional study was performed in a small academic centre in Poland, where 210 students were recruited in 2022. All the participants were screened for SARS-CoV-2 IgG and antinuclear antibodies. RESULTS: The mean age of the students who rejected vaccination was higher than that of those who were vaccinated. Among nursing students, 30.0% of vaccinated and 58.3% of unvaccinated individuals had COVID-19. The frequency of antinuclear antibodies was 3 times lower in vaccinated students than in unvaccinated students (2/159 vs 2/51; P > .05). CONCLUSION: The results of our study did not confirm the rationality of rejecting vaccinations against COVID-19 for fear of developing autoimmune diseases among healthy students.