Search Results (15)

Context: A plethora of actors like individual and professional characteristics, religiosity, personality-related factors, personal experience of death, and empathy form the attitude of health professionals in patient care in clinical settings and euthanasia. Objectives: The aim of the study was to measure the attitudes of health professionals toward euthanasia. In addition, we examined how individual and professional characteristics, religiosity, death perspectives, and empathy may predict health professionals’ attitudes toward euthanasia. Methods: We collected socio-demographic characteristics and attitudes toward euthanasia and the end of life as well as empathy dimensions from 465 health professionals working in health services in Greece. Multiple linear regression was applied to test the association of the attitudes about euthanasia with (1) demographic and professional variables, (2) perceptions about death, and (3) empathy. Results: Findings of the study revealed that health professionals’ attitudes towards euthanasia are significantly associated with their age, the target group of their patients, religious beliefs, and their attitudes about the end of life. Meanwhile, empathy was an insignificant predictor of ATE (p > 0.05). Conclusions: Working in clinical settings with patients, especially at the end of their lives, will always include ethical issues for health professionals. Training and supporting new generations of health professionals in patient care and bioethics are crucial in order to face these ethical issues during their professional careers. Full article

Effective nurse leadership increases nurses’ job satisfaction, performance, motivation, and empowerment. Ensuring nurses’ organizational and professional commitment is vital for addressing quality, sustainability, and cost-effectiveness challenges in a high-demanding healthcare environment. The aim of this study was to explore the impact of transformational leadership on nurses’ organizational and professional commitment. A systematic review was conducted using the Scopus, ScienceDirect, PubMed/Medline, Scilit.net, and Wiley Online Library databases. Original research studies published between 2016 and 2024 focusing exclusively on nurses’ professional and organizational commitment and transformational leadership were included. The indexing terms “nursing leadership”, “transformational leadership”, “professional/organizational commitment”, and “nursing” were used along with the Boolean operators AND, OR, and NOT. According to the findings, transformational leadership practices increase nurses’ organizational and professional commitment through vision sharing, motivation, career development, interpersonal communication, a positive working environment, and productive resources management. The healthcare policy makers should invest in organizing, supporting, and promoting relational leadership practices to retain their nursing workforce and obtain their organizational and professional commitment to ensure high care quality. Full article

Background: Women carry out an array of demanding tasks due to their multiple roles as mothers, workers, spouses, and caregivers. Their responsibilities to the family and society are essential throughout life, but they become even more important at times of crisis and unanticipated events. All these obligations may have a detrimental effect on their mental health and general well-being. According to the social model of health, through personal development groups, women improve their health because they can transform their personalities, enhance their social and personal abilities, and strengthen their resilience to unforeseen occurrences, health crises, and adversity. Aim of the study: This follow-up study examined the viewpoints of women regarding the durability and efficacy of group therapy’s positive impact on their resilience and mental health, especially through unforeseen circumstances and crises. This group of women had taken part in group therapy six years ago to strengthen their resilience and improve their mental health. Methods: Data collection was implemented through semi-structured in-person interviews conducted from December 2020 to March 2021. Five topics emerged from the framework analysis: (a) personal development and mental health; (b) reinforcement of their resilience; (c) group therapy and women’s health during the COVID-19 pandemic; (d) an assessment of group therapy on women’s health through imagery; (e) future recommendations. Results: Most of the women stated that group treatment had a beneficial impact in terms of improving their individual abilities. The group experience was described as a bridge that allowed them to recognize and accept their emotions. Since COVID-19, women have developed helpful coping strategies to deal with daily tension, loneliness, and work-related stress. Conclusions: Our research results indicate that group therapy is a useful tool for women’s empowerment and mental health in times of crises and adversity. Social policy should take it into account in order to meet women’s highly demanding roles and personal needs. Full article

Apart from being an economic struggle, migration is first of all a societal challenge; most migrants come from different cultural and social contexts, do not speak the language of the host country, and are not familiar with its societal, administrative, and labour market infrastructure. This leaves them in need of dedicated personal assistance during their reception and integration. However, due to the continuously high number of people in need of attendance, public administrations and non-governmental organizations are often overstrained by this task. The objective of the Welcome Platform is to address the most pressing needs of migrants. The Platform incorporates advanced Embodied Conversational Agent and Virtual Reality technologies to support migrants in the context of reception, integration, and social inclusion in the host country. It has been successfully evaluated in trials with migrants in three European countries in view of potentially deviating needs at the municipal, regional, and national levels, respectively: the City of Hamm in Germany, Catalonia in Spain, and Greece. The results show that intelligent technologies can be a valuable supplementary tool for reducing the workload of personnel involved in migrant reception, integration, and inclusion. Full article

This study aimed to reflect on mental health professionals’ experiences with online counseling during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as their perceptions and recommendations for the future. The method of qualitative research with semi-structured interviews was used. The sample consisted of 17 mental health professionals working in the public or private sectors. A framework analysis revealed four main themes, namely (a) the evaluation of online counseling; (b) comparing in-person and online counseling; (c) factors influencing the effectiveness of online counseling; and (d) suggestions for the future use of online counseling. Most therapists reported that their overall experience with online counseling was positive. The main advantages cited were the accessibility for everyone and the reductions in time, money, and distance. Its primary drawbacks included less nonverbal communication, the inability to employ certain therapeutic tools, problems with confidentiality, lack of experience, and technical difficulties during online sessions. Its effectiveness depends on contextual factors and factors related to the therapeutic process itself. Organizational planning, training, and a solid implementation strategy may help ensure that this communication medium is used to its fullest potential. In addition, the possible utilization of remote counseling combined with in-person psychotherapeutic intervention methods will provide solutions for the future, especially in crisis situations. Full article

COVID-19 has affected the global community as it has severely raised population mortality and morbidity rates. Vaccination was seen as a mechanism against the spread of the pandemic. Yet, there are still several reservations about its adoption. Professionals in the field of health care have a crucial frontline role. The present study uses a qualitative research approach to examine Greek health professionals’ views on vaccination acceptance. According to the key findings, health professionals largely accept vaccination. The main reasons cited were scientific knowledge, a sense of obligation to society, and protection from disease. However, there are still numerous restrictions to adhering to it. This is due to the lack of knowledge of certain scientific disciplines or to misinformation, as well as to religious or political convictions. The issue of trust is central to the acceptance of vaccinations. According to our research, the most adequate strategy to enhance immunization and ensure that it is widely accepted is to promote health educational interventions for professionals working in primary care settings. Full article

During the COVID-19 outbreak, nurses employed in the clinical sector faced a number of difficulties associated with excessive workload, increased stress, and role ambiguity, which impacted nurses themselves and patient care. The aim of the present study was to investigate how Greek hospital nurses working in non-COVID units experienced the virus outbreak during the first wave of the pandemic. A descriptive qualitative research design was applied using a content analysis approach. To recruit the study participants a purposive sampling strategy was used. Ten nurses participated in the study. Data collection was conducted through semi-structured interviews. Content analysis revealed three themes namely, (a) emotional burden, (b) professional commitment, and (c) abrupt changes. Six subthemes were formulated and assimilated under each main theme respectively. Organizational changes, emotional burdens and feelings of fear and uncertainty, appeared to have a crucial effect on nurses and patient care. However, the professional commitment and the nurses’ effort to provide excellent nursing care remained high. Nurses demonstrated that despite the burdens caused by the COVID-19 outbreak, the pandemic era created opportunities for thoroughness and accuracy in nursing care. Full article

Quality is a multidimensional issue involving various features that depend on service performance and personal assessment. Clarifying the concept of quality is essential in order to further facilitate the understanding and improvement of quality in healthcare. The purpose of this study was to investigate how clinical nurses, providing care to adult medical patients, perceive and define the concept of quality nursing care. A descriptive qualitative research design was applied. A purposive sampling strategy was used to recruit nurses from the clinical sector of a general public hospital in Athens, Greece. Ten female nurses from the medical sector participated the study. Data collection was conducted through in-depth, semi-structured interviews. Conventional content analysis was used to analyze the verbatim data. Four categories were revealed from the data analysis, namely: (a) “Quality care is holistic care”, (b) “Good care is an interpersonal issue”, (c) “Leadership is crucial”, and (d) “Best care is our responsibility”. Quality care was defined as holistic care, addressing all patient needs with competency and aiming for the best patient outcomes. It was associated with communication, teamwork, good leadership, and personal commitment. By developing an in-depth and mutual understanding about what quality means, nurse leaders and practitioners may collaborate in finding common paths to support quality interventions and enhance quality nursing care in clinical practice. Full article

The present study examines: (a) the knowledge of healthcare students on cervical cancer (CC) issues and the use of related preventive services, as well as their association with the field of study and other sociodemographic characteristics; (b) the possible effect of social capital and its parameters. A cross-sectional study was conducted, using a convenience non-probability sampling technique. The final sample consisted of forty-nine social work and fifty-one nursing students. The two groups were similar regarding their sociodemographic characteristics and the knowledge and use of gynecological preventive services. However, the nursing students undertook a PAP smear check-up to a lesser extent (48.6%) compared to social work students (51.4%) (p = 0.026). The social capital scores were high for both groups, but social work students were significantly more ‘Tolerant to diversity’. For the total sample, only the ‘Family and friends connections’ subscale correlated with knowledge about the existing gynecological preventive services. Among the main reasons explaining university students’ avoidance of preventive testing were the feelings of fear and embarrassment associated with the PAP smear test. Given the significance of the future professional roles of healthcare students as information sources and leaders in women’s CC preventive behavior, understanding the individual factors contributing to their own adherence is essential. It is equally important to increase their scientific knowledge through the improvement of academic curricula regarding these issues. Full article

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic had a negative effect on people’s mental health. Additionally, it resulted in many transformations in mental healthcare services delivery. Mental health professionals preferred to provide mental health services via telehealth in order to meet their clients’ mental health needs. The purpose of this literature review is to analyze and evaluate the concept of online consultation throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Full article

The COVID-19 pandemic had many political, economic, and social consequences for individuals, families and communities. Vaccines play a crucial role for its effective treatment and health care professionals are key persons toward that aim, as they contribute to a successful implementation of the COVID-19 vaccination programs. Therefore, their personal views are of utmost importance. The purpose of this study was to investigate health care professionals’ willingness to get vaccinated and their perceptions and concerns about the vaccination process. Full article

This study examined the relationship between empathy and mobile phone dependence levels of the nursing staff in a public hospital in the island of Crete, using a cross-sectional study design. Data from 109 staff nurses and healthcare assistants (HCAs) were collected via the Greek version of the Mobile Phone Dependence Questionnaire (MPDQ) and the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (TEQ). Multiple linear regression was used to determine the correlation between empathy and mobile phone dependency. The total mean score for TEQ was 33.9 (±5.7). Accordingly, the total mean score for MPDQ was 22.9 (±6.1). High mobile phone dependence was found in 4.7% of the participants. A statistically significant difference was found between HCAs and staff nurses, with HCAs presenting a higher mean empathy levels (TEQ) (36.5 vs. 32.6) and lower dependence levels (MPDQ) (18.9 vs. 24.5) than staff nurses. A significant correlation between empathy and dependence was found between dependence and the altruism empathy subscale, with higher dependence being correlated with lower altruism. The participants’ levels of empathy do not seem to be affected by mobile phone dependence. However, empathy appears to be strongly determined by increased age and professional status. Nurses’ dependence on mobile phones is a complex phenomenon that requires attention. Educational programs on empathy and information on the proper use of mobile phones by the nursing staff should be provided. Full article

The aim of this study was to explore the views of mental health professionals regarding the needs of the informal caregivers of patients with chronic psychotic syndrome. A qualitative research design was used. The sample consisted of 12 mental health professionals selected by a purposive sampling strategy. Data were collected through semistructured, face to face interviews. Framework analysis was used to analyze qualitative data and establish main themes and subthemes. Three main themes emerged namely, (i) impact of caring on caregivers’ lives, (ii) caregivers’ needs, and (iii) recommendations for better care. Informal caregivers’ needs were conceptualized into subthemes within the main themes. Caregivers’ increased responsibilities of caring for their relatives, the impact on their mental and physical health status and the restrictions in their social and professional life were revealed. Targeted health interventions and social policy planning are recommended for supporting informal caregivers and improving patient care. Full article

The aim of the study was twofold: (a) to examine the way in which professional social workers perceive and apply in their practice the concept of empathy; (b) to explore sociodemographic factors, education/special training and work characteristics associated with their empathic skills. This is a cross-sectional study with a purposive sample of 203 Greek social workers. For the assessment of empathy, the Empathy Scale for Social Workers (ESSW) was used. The sample consisted mainly of female social workers with a mean age of 43.8 years. More than 70% of them were practicing the profession for more than 10 years. Nearly one-third participated in psychotherapy courses, and only half of them have been certified. On average, they reported high levels of empathy. Initial univariate analyses showed that empathy scores were significantly higher for older social workers, married, the more experienced, those who referred to working experience with disabled people or people having problems with substance use and the professionals who had obtained a certification in psychotherapy. ‘Having a middle work experience of 10–19 years’ was a significant correlate in all scales and related negatively to empathy indicating a burnout effect. The implications for social work education and future training are discussed. Full article

The current article is an integrative and analytical literature review on the concept and meaning of empathy in health and social care professionals. Empathy, i.e., the ability to understand the personal experience of the patient without bonding with them, constitutes an important communication skill for a health professional, one that includes three dimensions: the emotional, cognitive, and behavioral. It has been proven that health professionals with high levels of empathy operate more efficiently as to the fulfillment of their role in eliciting therapeutic change. The empathetic professional comprehends the needs of the health care users, as the latter feel safe to express the thoughts and problems that concern them. Although the importance of empathy is undeniable, a significantly high percentage of health professionals seem to find it difficult to adopt a model of empathetic communication in their everyday practice. Some of the factors that negatively influence the development of empathy are the high number of patients that professionals have to manage, the lack of adequate time, the focus on therapy within the existing academic culture, but also the lack of education in empathy. Developing empathetic skills should not only be the underlying objective in the teaching process of health and social care undergraduate students, but also the subject of the lifelong and continuous education of professionals. Full article