Parents' attitudes, perceptions and coping strategies regarding school bullying.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to record parents' knowledge and attitudes towards bullying experienced by their children and to explore the strategies they choose to manage bullying incidents. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted. The study population consisted of parents of children who have experienced bullying in a primary or secondary school classroom. The "Parents' Strategies to Cope with Bullying" questionnaire was used to collect data. Regarding parents' coping with bullying, the strategy "Support and advice to the child" scored the highest and the strategy "Social support and information" the next highest. RESULTS: Of the parents, 44.3 % had received some information/education regarding the phenomenon of bullying with the most important source of information being reading. According to the results of multivariate linear regression, mothers more often applied the strategy "social support and information" (Coefficient b=0.9, 95 % CI for b=0.7 to 1.1, p<0.001) and parents with lower educational level more often applied the strategy "avoidance" (Coefficient b=-0.5, 95 % CI for b=-0.8 to -0.2, p=0.004). CONCLUSIONS: School bullying remains a major worldwide phenomenon over time. Although parents choose to support their children, they do not receive information and training on how to manage bullying from a formal institution, making the need for such programs imperative.

The work environment of haemodialysis nurses and its mediating role in burnout.

BACKGROUND: The work environment can contribute to the occurrence of nurses' burnout. OBJECTIVES: This study assessed the work environment of haemodialysis nurses and the extent of burnout they have suffered, and it explored the connection between work environment and burnout. DESIGN: A multicentre cross-sectional study was conducted in 53 public, hospital-based haemodialysis units in Greece. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 537 haemodialysis nurses participated. The majority consisted of females (90.8%) who possessed a university degree or a degree from a technological institute (72.6%). They had an average of 15 years of experience in dialysis. MEASUREMENTS: The Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index and the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI) were used. The demographic characteristics of the participants were also collected. RESULTS: Although the nurses rated their work environment as healthy, they were experiencing a moderate degree of burnout. The multivariate linear regression analysis with the CBI scales as dependent variables was applied. The increased nurses' participation in hospital affairs was associated with decreased personal (coefficient ß = -9.4, 95% confidence interval [CI] = -17.4 to -1.3, p = 0.023), work-related (coefficient ß = -12.9, 95% CI = -22.5 to -3.5, p = 0.008) and patient-related burnout (coefficient ß = -15.9, 95% CI = -24.5 to -7.4, p = < 0.001). The better collegial nurse-physician relationships were associated with decreased personal (coefficient ß = -10.7, 95% CI = -18.3 to -3.0, p = .007) and work-related burnout (coefficient ß = -15.1, 95% CI = -23.3 to -7.0, p = < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The work environment of haemodialysis nurses was associated with burnout. Its improvement is an important tool in administrations' effort to ensure the nursing staff's well-being.

How breast cancer treatments affect the quality of life of women with non-metastatic breast cancer one year after surgical treatment: a cross-sectional study in Greece.

BACKGROUND: The continuously increasing survivorship of female breast cancer makes the monitoring and improvement of patients' quality of life ever so important. While globally there is a growing body of research on health-related quality of life 1 year after surgical treatment for non-metastatic breast cancer, up-to-date information regarding Greek patients is scarce. OBJECTIVE: To measure the level of QoL of non-metastatic BC survivors in Greece 1 year after surgery. METHODS: A sample of 200 female breast cancer survivors aged 18 to 75, who followed up as outpatients in five public hospitals were included in this cross-sectional study. All recruited patients agreed to participate in the study (100% response rate). Quality of life data were collected through the EORTC QLQ-C30 as well as BR23 questionnaires. RESULTS: Cronbach's alpha for all scales of the two questionnaires was from 0.551 to 0.936 indicating very good reliability. According to the Multiple Linear Regression, older patients showed a lower future perspective (p = .031), with those living in rural areas, which was associated with more financial difficulties (p = .001). Women with tertiary education and those who had been hospitalized in a university hospital recorded better on global health status (p = .003 and .000 respectively). Patients who underwent chemotherapy reported better scores in the emotional function sub-scale (p = .025). Women with reconstruction and at least one complication appeared to have significantly better scores in future perspective and social function (p = .005, .002 respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Breast cancer survivors were found to have an overall good quality of life, functioning/symptoms scores and were satisfied with the provided care.

Health-related quality of life of young women with breast cancer. Review of the literature.

PURPOSE: The purpose of the present article was to investigate the health related quality of life (QoL) of young women with breast cancer. METHODS: For the purposes of this article, we reviewed the literature via the electronic databases Pubmed, Scopus and Google Scholar. Key words used were breast cancer, young women, health related quality of life, and quality of life. RESULTS: Young women reported fatigue, pain in the breast and hand problems with lymphedema as the most frequent physical effects of treatment. Other physical problems were the not periodic and painful menses, vaginal dryness and loss of libido. Many young women had depressive symptoms such as depressed mood, helplessness, hopelessness, sleep loss, psychomotor retardation and disorders of appetite. There were often concerns about the health monitoring and self-image, while they were anxious if they will have a baby in the future or if they can nurture the existing ones. Many problems arose in the career of young women. They faced discrimination in the labor supply and/or layoff because they were considered unable to do their job effectively. In addition, they reported isolation problems and feeling different from other women of similar age. CONCLUSIONS: Young women consider that their healthrelated QoL is worse compared with older women. Young women worry about their future, with particular reference to their role as mothers and especially to children-bearing. The free screening and non-exclusion of young women is particularly important for breast cancer prevention and women's well-being.