No abstract

Introduction. Death means the irreversible termination of the organism’s vital activities. Dying presents an irreversible state of an incurable disease from which death is expected in due time. The experience of meaning in life is defined as the degree to which an individual understands and sees significance in his life, how and to what extent he feels purpose in life. Aim. The aim of this research was to determine the role of demographic characteristics (gender, age, level of education, religiosity), their relationship with the experience of meaning in the life of nurses, and the relationship between the attitudes of nurses towards death and dying with the experience of meaning in life. Methods. The research was conducted in the period from May to June 2022. The survey was composed of three parts, and was posted on the Facebook social network in the group named Nurses together. A total of 240 participants took part in the research, of which 185 were female nurses and 55 were male nurses, with an average age of 33.05 years (SD=10.10). The instruments that were used in the research were the Purpose in Life Test and Death Attitude Profile – Revised. Results. The obtained results do not indicate that women perceive their life as more meaningful compared to men. Also, healthcare professionals with a higher level of education perceive their life to be significantly more meaningful compared to healthcare professionals with secondary education. Regarding the relationship between the experience of meaning in life and some concepts of acceptance of death, it has been proven that a greater experience of meaning in life can be found in respondents who consider death as a natural process of the journey towards the afterlife. The degree of religiosity was not significantly related to the perception of the meaning of life.Conclusion. Further research is needed to investigate the determinants of mortality in order to more scientifically determine the perception of the experience of meaning in life and attitudes towards death and dying among nurses. The importance of such research is reflected in the effort to raise awareness of the usefulness of the experience of meaning in life in the complete functioning of the individual and the quality of life.

Istraživanja psihološke prilagodbe studenata pokazuju da je to populacija u kojoj se često pojavljuju emocionalni, motivacijski i socijalni problemi koji su usko povezani s problemima učenja, izborom studija i akademskim neuspjehom. Zanimalo nas je s kojim problemima se susreću studenti zdravstvenih studija na jednom od većih veleučilišta u Hrvatskoj, smještenom u Zagrebu. Proveli smo ispitivanje na 423 studenta primijenivši anketu koju nam je ustupilo Savjetovalište za studente Filozofskog fakulteta u Zagrebu, kojom se ispituju poteškoće studenata, zadovoljstvo različitim aspektima života, kao i spremnost da se obrate za pomoć. Prosječna dob sudionika je 20,9 godina i prevladavaju studentice (79%). U slučaju poteškoća, 51,5% studenata potražilo bi besplatnu psihološku pomoć, pri čemu značajno više studenata treće godine. Studenti u prosjeku navode 14 poteškoća, a najčešće su nervoza ili napetost, nesigurnost glede buduće karijere, neracionalno korištenje vremena, financijski problemi, te promjene u navikama hranjenja. Studenti druge godine navode značajno više poteškoća u odnosu na ostale. Također, studentice navode značajno veći broj poteškoća od studenata, a ujedno su i značajno manje zadovoljne svojim kompetencijama, te tjelesnim izgledom. Ključne riječi: studenti, psihološke poteškoće, psihološka pomoć, zadovoljstvo životom

The research of students adapting to university life, difficulties in coping with the academic demands, and personal problems students face during their study is important for a better understanding of their needs in order to prevent possible mental health problems in the student population and increase the overall quality of study. When researching the difficulties that students face, one of the important factors to be taken into account is the type of study, for instance whether they study full or part time. Since nursing students represent the largest student population at the University of Applied Health Sciences in Zagreb, Croatia, we investigated the differences in the perceived difficulties during studying between full-time undergraduate nursing students and part-time specialist graduate nursing students, most of whom already work as professional nurses. In a sample of 231 participants, there were 143 undergraduate students with the average age of 26.38 years (90.2% females) and 88 specialist graduate students with the average age of 37.52 years (95.5% females). We examined the frequency of 62 difficulties that students may encounter during their study using a survey by the Student Counselling Centre at the Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb. On average, nursing students perceived 12 difficulties. The most frequent difficulties all students struggle with are nervousness or tension, financial problems, fear of failure, inefficient time management, insecurity, and changes in eating habits. There is no significant difference in the total frequency of perceived difficulties between undergraduate and graduate students but we found significant differences between these two groups in the number of students who encountered particular difficulties regarding 13 issues. Undergraduate students face problems with roommates and problems in communication with professors more often than graduate students, while graduate students struggle the most with financial problems and adapting to the study regime. When faced with problems, 65.4% of all students would seek free psychological counselling. Graduate students and students who perceive more difficulties are more willing to seek psychological support.