Correlations between performance and shift work in the nursing activities: a pilot approach.

BACKGROUND AND AIM OF THE WORK: Performance assessment is a key administrative function and an essential component of organizational quality programs, by quantifying it in relation to set goals, standards, expectations and guides to improvement initiatives. The present study aimed to correlate the nursing performance levels perceived by the nurses themselves with the levels of organizational well-being.  Methods. An on-line questionnaire was administered to Italian nurses in order to assess nursing performance, thanks to the Six-Dimension on Nursing performance questionnaire and also the wll-being of nursing organization was explored thanks to the Questionnaire on nursing organization- brief form questionnaire (QISO brief form). RESULTS: Significant correlations were assessed between the nursing performance sub dimensions on frequency sub scale and each sub-dimensions of the well-being questionnaire (p<.001). Also in Teaching/Collaboration sub-dimension of the quality nursing performance sub scale, positive correlations were recorded with the QISO brief form. CONCLUSIONS: Findings were in agreement with the little current literature on this topic, as: the nursing sector might implement reforms and instill an organizational culture in which staff feel they own their profession and will be intimately involved in the vision and mission of their organizations. To help achieve this and improve health services, nurses' organizational engagement enhancement policies should be implemented as an organizational issue requiring the development of strategies for recruiting, attracting and retaining engaged nurses.

Sex-Related Differences Linked to Depression Disorders and Chronic Inflammation Diseases in Nursing Shift Workers: An Expsloratory Multidimensional Literature Review.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this literature review is to explore how depression and inflammatory conditions relate to gender among nurses working shifts. METHODS: Relevant studies available on the PubMed database over the past decade were consulted. The main keywords were: "shift nurses", "depression", "gender Shift Nurses", "Gender Role", "shift nurse", "gender roles", "Inflammation" and then, free terms were combined with the Boolean AND operator. Inclusion and exclusion criteria had been formerly identified, and then, all the selected studies were assessed according to the following criteria, good description, and appropriateness of study design (objective and method), sample (sufficiently numerous, clarity of treatment allocation criteria, absence of important bias), intervention, outcomes, statistical analysis, and clinical relevance. RESULTS: 61 titles concerning research on inflammation were found. 28 titles were not taken into account as doubles whilst 33 were selected by title and abstract; in addition, 28 were discarded because they were not relevant to the objective or because they did not meet the inclusion criteria. Out of the remaining 5, a further 2 were also discarded upon a careful analysis of the whole text: they did not prove relevant to the research question. As for the research related to depression, the research strategy highlighted 186 articles in the first place and then eliminated 165 of them either because they were duplicates or on the grounds that they did not answer the research questions; 21 texts were thoroughly analyzed and, after a careful read, 4 studies were eventually incorporated in this review. CONCLUSION: Since data available in the literature were inconsistent, it was difficult to establish that all depression conditions could be associated with an increase in inflammation and vice versa and that this condition was strictly connected to the female gender.

Healthcare workers perceptions in the difficult moment of the end of life and coping strategies adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic: an Italian pilot study.

BACKGROUND AND AIM OF THE WORK: In a society that tries so hard to forget and make people forget that death exists, death has never been so close to man in his daily life as during this pandemic. Health care professionals have therefore all too often had to  deal with the death of the people they care for and with related issues such as, for example, the dignity of death, the humanization of death and care for the dying. The aim of the study is to highlight the perceptions of physicians, nurses and health and social workers in the difficult moment of the end of life, also analyzing which coping strategies were implemented by them. METHODS: All Italian healthcare workers were enrolled in this survey. The questionnaire was administered in an online version. Physicians, nurses and support staff (social and health workers) were contacted through social networks. RESULTS: A total of 512 healthcare workers were enrolled in this survey. No statistical significant differences were recorded among the COPE-NVI- 25 sub dimensions according to sex, profession and to different wards. Additionally, by considering the COPE-NVI-25 sub dimensions according to years of work experience, a statistical significant difference was reported in the Transcendent Orientation sub dimension (p=.047), as healthcare workers with 11-20 years of work experience recorded higher levels than the other two groups. By considering differences in the COPE-NVI-25 sub dimensions according to religion, significant differences were recorded in the transcendent orientation (p=.032), in the positive attitude (p=.030), in the social support (p=.035). CONCLUSIONS: From the evidence in the literature, the quality of end-of-life care performance has a positive correlation with awareness of a good death and attitudes towards end-of-life care.