Empathy, self-compassion, and depression correlations among health professionals in Northern Greece.

OBJECTIVE: Aim: To study and record the level of empathy and self-compassion of the medical and nursing staff of a general hospital in North Greece, and to investigate their connection to depression levels.. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Materials and Methods: The study sample consists of 88 people (66 women and 22 men), medical and nursing staff of the General Hospital of Kavala (northern Greece) who filled out a questionnaire. The questionnaire consists of 4 parts: 1) socio-demographic data; 2) the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (TEQ); 3) Self- Compassion Scale (SCS), and 4) the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). For the statistical processing of the data, SPSS v.25 software was used. RESULTS: Results: The mean total value for TEQ indicates moderate high level of empathy (M = 40.5). For self-compassion the mean total value for SCS was moderate (M = 82.6) and the BDI shows a low level of depression (M = 28.7). A high level of empathy corresponds to a high level of self-compassion (ρ(88) = 0.263, p = 0013). Older ages correspond to a lower level of depression (ρ(88) = -0.218, p = .042). CONCLUSION: Conclusions: Empathy is a key factor for the creation of the therapeutic relationship between the patient and the healthcare provider, while increasing the level of the health provider's self-compassion. Increased levels of self-compassion and older age among providers may correspond to lower levels of depression.

Self-Care and Compliance with Medication and Their Relationship to the Quality of Life of Patients with Heart Failure.

INTRODUCTION: Heart failure is a major health problem, often accompanied by limited physical activity and severe effects in various areas of patient quality of life. Self-care, as well as compliance with medication, can further contribute to clinical stability and improved patient outcomes. PURPOSE: The purpose of this chapter is to assess the effect of self-care and compliance with medication, on the quality of life of patients with heart failure. METHOD: The research sample consisted of 67 patients diagnosed with heart failure who visited the cardiology outpatient clinic of a general hospital in the capital of Greece. The assessment of self-care behavior was performed by the scale EHFScBS and SCHFI v.6, the Morsiky Green Levine Adherence Scale (MAQ) was used for the evaluation of adherence to medical treatment, while for the evaluation of the quality of life the questionnaire MLWHFQ was used. RESULTS: The multifactorial linear regression analysis showed that age, compliance with medication and scoring in the dimension "Self-care confidence" relates independently to the overall quality-of-life scale rating. In particular, participants over 80 had a significantly higher score, that is, worse quality of life, compared to those under the age of 70 (p < 0.001), while participants with low compliance with treatment had a significantly worse quality of life compared to participants with high compliance (p < 0.001). It has been noticed that the better self-care they had and the higher compliance with their medication, their quality of life was better. CONCLUSION: Self-care behavior and adherence to medical treatment of patients with heart failure are related to their quality of life. Age, educational level, and "Self-care confidence" are factors that influence self-care behavior, compliance with medication, and quality of life. In-depth patient information on the need for adherence to therapeutic guidelines may help to reduce pharmaceutical costs and maximize the therapeutic effect. For this reason, health professionals treating these patients should take into account all the factors that negatively affect their quality of life and treat them with the appropriate interventions.

Professional Mental Rehearsal: the Power of "Imagination" in Nursing Skills Training.

BACKGROUND: Mental rehearsal is a form of training used by nurse educators to enhance the performance of clinical skills. The use of imagination may facilitate cognitive and affective modification and subsequently may even reduce extraneous cognitive load. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to investigate the efficacy of mental rehearsal in cardiopulmonary resuscitation training of nursing students. METHODS: This is a comparative study with a random sample of 52 Nurse-Assistant students who were randomly divided into two groups. A 10-minute educational video on CPR and defibrillation was shown to both groups with the experimental group having additional time to be coached on mental rehearsal. Student performance was subsequently timed and errors/overall performance recorded. Descriptive statistics and Mann-Whitney test was used for group comparisons analysis. RESULTS: Students in the control group needed 8.5 minutes on average as compared to 6.2 minutes for the experimental group to complete cardiopulmonary resuscitation training. This equals to a difference of 2.5 minutes faster time for the experimental group (p<0.001). For overall mistakes the mental rehearsal group had 1.3 fewer mistakes on average (p=0.003). In terms of mistakes when executing cardiopulmonary resuscitation training there were 0.9 fewer mistakes in the experimental group (p=0.021). CONCLUSION: The use of mental rehearsal might be the first step in improving the teaching of nursing skills. Differences in skill acquisition in favor of mental rehearsal are important, especially when this technique is used in the teaching of life-saving skills such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation and the use of defibrillate.

Investigating Nurses Stress Response Strategies During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

BACKGROUND: Stress response strategies are a conscious effort to solve personal and interpersonal problems, aiming to minimize stress. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to investigate the stress response strategies of nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: The sample consisted of 550 Greek nurses working in Greece and other European countries (460 women and 90 men). Ways of Coping was used as the data collection tool. Participants were invited to complete the questionnaire via online GOOGLE FORMS. The statistical processing was carried out using a descriptive and inferential analysis via the statistical package for Social Science (SPSS v.21). RESULTS: Analysis of the results shows a statistically significant difference between the two genders in the questionnaire's subscales "Search for social support" (Women=1.88, Men=1.57, p<0.001) and "Wishful Thinking" (Women=1.76, Men=1.51, p <0. Also, there was a statistically significant difference in terms of country of work regarding the following subscales: 'Search for social support' (Greece=1.85, Outside Greece=1.67, p=0.019), 'Wishful Thinking' (Greece=1.74, Outside Greece=1.51, p=0.005) and 'Problem Solving Assertion' (Greece=1.39, Outside Greece=1.13, p=0.001). CONCLUSION: Stress response strategies for nurses are fundamental in addressing the difficult situations and conditions they face due to the COVID-19 pandemic.