As this issuehas not yet been addressed in Croatia, our aim was to explore the presence of the burnout syndrome in nurses and see how it is related to their perception of elder mistreatment in nursing homes and extended care units. The burnout syndrome was assessed in 171 nursing professionals with a standardised Maslach Burnout Inventory for Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS) for three dimensions: emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalisation (DP), and personal accomplishment (PA). High EE was reported by 43.9 %, high DP by 22.2 %, and low PA by 39.8 % of the respondents. Their perception of elder abuse and neglect was investigated with two self-completion questionnaires. The answers suggest that elder mistreatment in Croatian nursing homes and extended care units is more common than expected: 55 % witnessed shouting at a resident in anger, 43 % insulting and swearing at a resident, 42 % force-feeding the resident, 39 % ignoring a resident when they called, and 38 % neglecting to turn or move a resident to prevent pressure sores. We also established associations between a number of questionnaire items on perceived abuse and neglect and the burnout syndrome dimensions and determined the items that predicted the type and level of burnout in our respondents. One way to avoid the pitfalls that lead to abuse and neglect is education in schools and at work. We believe our research could contribute to this end.

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) caused by uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) are among the most common infectious diseases in humans. Due to their frequent occurrence in the community and nosocomial settings, as well as the development of resistance to the commonly prescribed antimicrobial agents, an enormous financial burden is placed on healthcare systems around the world. Therefore, novel approaches to the prevention and treatment of UTIs are needed. Although UPEC may harbour a plethora of virulence factors, type I fimbriae and P pili are two of the most studied adhesive organelles, since the attachment to host cells in the urinary tract is a crucial step towards infection. Design of receptor analogues that competitively bind to UPEC surface adhesins placed at the top of pili organelles led to the development of anti-adhesive drugs that are increasingly recognized as important and promising alternatives to antibiotic treatment of UTIs.

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