{"title":"Antibiotics overuse and development of antimicrobial resistance","authors":"George Elesnitsalis, Ioanna Vekil","doi":"10.24283/hjns.2019.3.4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.24283/hjns.2019.3.4","url":null,"abstract":"Introduction: The increase in the consumption of antibiotics is becoming a significant problem of recent years in Greece. This study focuses in the necessity of antimicrobial stewardship programs in order to reduce antibiotics misuse.\u0000The purpose of this study was to investigate the excessive antibiotics use and the development of antimicrobial resistance, while spotting measures of antibiotic misuse reduction through the implementation of various protocols by health professionals.\u0000Method: A systematic literature review of research articles was performed, using the electronic database Pubmed and search engine Google Scholar. The inclusion criteria were English language, the research methodology, the specific time that the study was conducted (2007-2017). Five hundred and forty-two articles were found and finally 36 research studies were included in the present systematic review covering all of the inclusion criteria.\u0000Results: Mortality in patients with resistant infectious loads is twice as high as patients infected with non-resistant microorganisms. Prolonged hospitalization increases the risk of developing antibiotic resistance. Applying empirical therapy is often ineffective on colonized patients with multidrug resistant bacteria.\u0000Conclusion: The developement of antimicrobial resistance seems to be a constant threat for public health, leading to morbidity and mortality increase. Designing and implementing new and better practices is the most effective way for combating the problem. Continuous search for new solutions, combined with communication strategies between all stakeholders could contribute to a proper use of antibiotics, in order to promote and protect public health.","PeriodicalId":126636,"journal":{"name":"Hellenic Journal of Nursing Science","volume":"30 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129320677","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Niki Panagouli, E. Meimeti, P. Galanis, Maria Tsiachri, Pagona Koutsogianni, A. Yfantis, I. Moisoglou
{"title":"Burnout syndrome in the professionals employed in special education schools","authors":"Niki Panagouli, E. Meimeti, P. Galanis, Maria Tsiachri, Pagona Koutsogianni, A. Yfantis, I. Moisoglou","doi":"10.24283/hjns.2019.3.5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.24283/hjns.2019.3.5","url":null,"abstract":"Introduction: The working environment in special education school units may lead to personnel burnout syndrome for the various professionals working in such field.\u0000Objective: To investigate the extent of burnout syndrome among special education school units’ personnel and the factors affecting its manifestation.\u0000Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted, with a convenience sample of 346 people, working at special education school units. The Copenhagen Burnout Inventory was used for data collection.\u0000Results: Cronbach’s alpha internal consistency value was 0.85 regarding personal burnout, 0.73 regarding professional burnout, and 0.83 regarding burnout related to students. As for the participants, 45% were teachers, 23.7% school nurses, 12.9% speech therapists and 18.4% other professionals. The average on all three subscales of the inventory was <50, which shows a low level of burnout. According to the results of the multivariate linear regression, permanent (coefficient b=8.0, 95% CI=3.2-12.9, p=0.001) and contract staff (coefficient b=15.4, 95% CI=8.4-22.4, p<0.001) presented higher levels of personal burnout, in comparison to substitute personnel. Permanent staff (coefficient b=8.9, 95% CI=3.9-13.9, p=0.001) and contract staff (coefficient b=10.0, 95% CI 95=2.9-17.2, p=0.006) presented higher levels of professional burnout, in comparison to substitute staff. Finally, the higher the work experience in the specialty, the higher the level of burnout related to students (coefficient b=0.4, 95% CI=0.01-0.7, p=0.042).\u0000Conclusions: The special education school units’ personnel go presented low levels of burnout. It is proposed that more studies would be conducted in the future, where, apart from the demographic characteristics of the participants, other factors that contribute to personnels’ burnout syndrome would be examined, such as work environment characteristics.","PeriodicalId":126636,"journal":{"name":"Hellenic Journal of Nursing Science","volume":"87 1‐2","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132443845","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The implementation of alternative therapies in cancer management","authors":"M. Zoumakis, E. Kaitalidou, Ioannis Petrou","doi":"10.24283/HJNS.20191.13-22","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.24283/HJNS.20191.13-22","url":null,"abstract":"Cancer is probably the greatest threat to human societies globally. Currently, the majority of cancer patients suffer daily from a tremendous emotional stress and agony due to an expected premature death in the near future. On the other hand, the conventional treatment of the disease has many types of side effects, which can easily torture patients and have a negative influence on their everyday life. It is therefore reasonable that many oncology patients, globally, are seeking a cure to alternative methods of cancer treatment. Throughout the centuries, the ancient techniques of herbal medicine, acupuncture, massage and spirituality claim that they can relief cancer patients, while in many cases they even offer a complete cure. Meanwhile, modern manufactured products containing vitamins, tracing elements or dietary products have appeared and try to find their place in cancer treatment. Indeed, applying conventional medicine along with alternative therapies, such as acupuncture and massage, may offer a symptom relief to cancer patients and improve significantly their quality of life. However, scientific evidence elucidating alternative medicine’s mechanisms of anticancer action and supporting its clinical benefit are currently inadequate or controversial. Furthermore, this type of medicine is not always safe and it is necessary to be practiced by authorized health care personnel in order to avoid serious side effects. All in all, further research and clinical trials are needed in order to include alternative medicine into every day clinical practice.","PeriodicalId":126636,"journal":{"name":"Hellenic Journal of Nursing Science","volume":"45 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-03-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124851672","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Organizational Culture in Healthcare Services: Characteristics, Advantages and Disadvantages","authors":"A. Koulouri","doi":"10.24283/HJNS.20191.5-12","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.24283/HJNS.20191.5-12","url":null,"abstract":"Organizational culture - a system of rules, values and behaviors of an organization's – is a key factor of the functionality, performance and quality of the services it provides. Organizational culture is the personality of the organization. It is a structured set of key assumptions that have been invented, discovered or developed by a team of the organization in order to cope with problems of external adaptation or internal integration. Organizational culture creates a sense of identity for every health\u0000formation, while it is serving as a reference frame for decisions and actions. The purpose of this review is to present the conceptual framework of organizational culture in the light of its existence in health organizations. Additionally, the development of its special characteristics as well as its positive and/ or negative contribution (advantages and disadvantages) to the way the health services operate are examined. Organizational culture is characterized by difficulty in identifying its components in regards to every environment, it is facing resistance in change and needs time to be implemented.","PeriodicalId":126636,"journal":{"name":"Hellenic Journal of Nursing Science","volume":"16 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-03-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127937596","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}