Breastfeeding Practices for COVID-19-Infected Mothers: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

(1) Background: The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increasing number of women giving birth while also grappling with SARS-CoV-2. The objective of this review is to examine the possibility of transmission of the virus from mother to infant through breastfeeding, skin-to-skin contact, and rooming-in and to explore methods for managing COVID-19-positive mother-infant dyads. (2) Methods: A comprehensive search strategy was employed that covered pertinent studies from the Cochrane Library, PubMed Central, and Scopus databases. The Matrix Method and PRISMA guidelines were utilized by the researchers, with the search being updated until 20 December 2021, one year after the initial vaccine delivery. The inclusion criteria for the study involved articles published in English, those employing broad search terms, and those comprising full-text reviews. Additionally, the researchers required that the articles be published from December 2019 onwards. To further analyze the data, a meta-analysis was performed to estimate the rate of infant infection from mothers who engaged in breastfeeding, skin-to-skin contact, and rooming-in practices. (3) Results: Eighteen studies were analyzed in this review, with an infected infant rate of 2.8%. The maternal practices used in these studies ranged from direct separation of the infant to direct skin-to-skin contact, rooming-in, and exclusive breastfeeding. One study investigated the factors associated with positive test results in newborns and found that only the maternal social vulnerability index >90 was a significant predictor. The type of delivery, rooming-in, and the mother's symptom status were not associated with positive neonatal outcomes. (4) Conclusions: According to current data, the incidence of perinatal infection with SARS-CoV-2 is relatively low. It is advised that mothers adhere to several supportive care measures, including engaging in breastfeeding, skin-to-skin contact, and rooming-in. These measures ought to be complemented by diligent hand hygiene, the wearing of masks, and the cleansing of breasts solely when necessary.

Prevalence and factors associated with compassion fatigue, compassion satisfaction, burnout in health professionals.

BACKGROUND: Constant exposure of health professionals to the pain and suffering of patients can adversely affect their emotional wellbeing. AIM: The study aimed to investigate the prevalence and the factors affecting the levels of secondary traumatic stress/compassion fatigue (STS/CF), burnout (BO) and compassion satisfaction (CS) of health professionals working in adult and paediatric Intensive Care Units (ICU) as well as in departments treating patients with serious illness in five hospitals in Crete. STUDY DESIGN: A descriptive cross-sectional survey with the use of the Professional Quality of Life Scale (ProQOL-CSF-R-IV) questionnaire. METHODS: We enrolled medical, nursing and support staff working in the adult and paediatric ICU, emergency, oncology, haematology and neurosurgical departments, haemodialysis unit and operating theatre. RESULTS: 598 health professionals completed the questionnaire (response rate 73.2%). Significantly increased levels of STS/CF were observed in non - ICU as compared to ICU staff (p = .009) females compared to males (p < .001), those who have previously experienced a traumatic event (p < .004), nurses and support staff compared to doctors (p = .007 and p = .028 respectively), and people not working in a department by choice (p < .001). CS was higher for older professionals, personnel subjected to stress reduction techniques (p < .019) and professionals working with children or mixed adults and children population (p = .009). Rolling schedule and bad working conditions negatively affected CS (p = .02, p = .001). Increased BO levels were associated with younger age (p = .029) and showed a positive correlation with STS/CF (r = .356, p < .001). CONCLUSIONS: STS/CF is common in health professionals regardless of their profession, working department or hospital level. Non-ICU staff displayed higher STS/CF levels. Working in a department by choice ameliorates CS, BO and STS/CF. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Health professionals need to be informed about the risks of projecting patients' suffering on themselves. Hospital managers and department heads are responsible to provide appropriate support.

Validation of the nursing workload scoring systems "Nursing Activities Score" (NAS), and "Therapeutic Intervention Scoring System for Critically Ill Children" (TISS-C) in a Greek Paediatric Intensive Care Unit.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the reliability and validity of the Greek version of Nursing Activities Score (NAS), and Therapeutic Intervention Scoring System for Critically Ill Children (TISS-C) in a Greek Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: A methodological study was performed in one PICU of the largest Paediatric Hospital in Athens-Greece. The culturally adapted and validated Greek NAS version, enriched according to the Norwegian paediatric one (P-NAS), was used. TISS-C and Norwegian paediatric interventions were translated to Greek language and backwards. Therapeutic Intervention Scoring System (TISS-28) was used as a gold standard. Two independent observers simultaneously recorded 30 daily P-NAS and TISS-C records. Totally, 188 daily P-NAS, TISS-C and TISS-28 reports in a sample of 29 patients have been obtained during five weeks. Descriptive statistics, reliability and validity measures were applied using SPSS (ver 22.0) (p ≤ 0.05). RESULTS: Kappa was 0.963 for P-NAS and 0.9895 for TISS-C (p < 0.001) and Intraclass Correlation Coefficient for all scale items of TISS-C was 1.00 (p < 0.001). P-NAS, TISS-28 and TISS-C measurements were significantly correlated (0.680 ≤ rho ≤ 0.743, p < 0.001). The mean score(±SD) for TISS-28, P-NAS and TISS-C was 23.05(±5.72), 58.14(±13.98) and 20.21(±9.66) respectively. CONCLUSION: These results support the validity of P-NAS and TISS-C scales to be used in greek PICUs.