Background: Health care practitioners are at highest risk of COVID-19 disease. They experience an enormous overload of work and time pressures. The objective of the study was to assess nurses’ life satisfaction. Method: The study included professionally active nurses. The research method was an author’s questionnaire and a standardized questionnaire, the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS). Results: The study group included 361 working nurses. The mean raw score and the sten score of the nurses’ responses to the statements on the SWLS questionnaire were 21.0 (SD ± 5.6, range = 5–35) and 5.73 (SD ± 1.94, range = 1–10), respectively. It was shown that lower life satisfaction was experienced by nurses aged 51 to 60 (raw score: p = 0.003, sten score: p = 0.005), as well as nurses with secondary and undergraduate nursing education (raw score: p = 0.061, sten score: p = 0.043). Nurses who had a higher self-evaluation of the level of knowledge about SARS-CoV-2 infection experienced greater life satisfaction (raw score: p = 0.008, sten score: p = 0.022). Conclusions: The majority of Polish nurses surveyed during the COVID-19 pandemic had a low or medium level of life satisfaction. The low response rate to the survey was most likely due to work overloads during the pandemic. Working in a public service profession, a nurse is exposed to stressful conditions related to protecting human health. Constant difficult and stressful situations and total fatigue experienced by nursing professionals can be the cause of a lack of motivation, occupational burnout, listlessness and mental and physical disease. Further research is necessary to assess the factors positively influencing the level of life satisfaction.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic is having a negative impact on the mental health of nurses around the world. The aim of the study was to assess the sense of fear and the degree of exposure to SARS-CoV-2 infection and to estimate the influence of various factors on the fear of SARS-CoV-2. We analysed methods and strategies for coping with stress used by Polish nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: The study was conducted using a diagnostic survey, which included a self-constructed questionnaire and a standardized psychological questionnaire: Brief-Cope. Results: A total of 361 nurses confirmed their participation in the study. Most of the nurses were ages 31 to 50 (48.2%), lived in a city (83.7%), and had a master’s degree in nursing (45.7%). Nurses ≥ 51 years of age, with ≥ 21 years of work experience and with secondary education in nursing and master of nursing were more likely than other nurses to agree with the statement, I am afraid of contracting the SARS-CoV-2 (appropriately p = 0.009, p = 0.007, p = 0.014). During the outbreak of COVID-19, nurses most often took action to improve the situation, reflecting on and planning what to do. The most frequent means of coping with stress by Polish nurses during the COVID-19 outbreak were problem-focused strategies. The least frequent strategy was the use of substances (taking substances to alleviate unpleasant emotions), considered to be the least effective, but useful in some situations. Conclusions: Most nurses were afraid of being infected with COVID-19. The most frequently used strategies for coping with stress by Polish nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic were problem-focused strategies. Nurses should receive psychological support and assistance from the employer in improving their working conditions.

The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of two diagnostic methods: ultrasonic gingival thickness measurement (UGTM) and cone-beam computed tomography, intraoral scanning by computer-aided design technology with prosthetic-driven implant planning software (CBCT/CAD/PDIP) in determining the gingival phenotype (GP). Thirty periodontally healthy patients were examined. The ultrasonic device Pirop G® with a frequency of 20 MHz and CBCT/CAD/PDIP were used to measure gingival thickness at upper canines and incisors in three points localized midbuccally, namely free gingival thickness (FGT), supracrestal (SGT) and crestal (CGT). Probing depth (PD), clinical attachment level (CAL) and width of keratinized tissue (WKT) were measured using periodontal probe. Intra-examiner and inter-examiner agreement and agreement between methods were evaluated using Bland-Altman analyses. Comparing both methods in the determination of SGT (bias = 0.17 mm, SD = 0.25 mm, p < 0.000) and CGT (bias = −0.45 mm, SD = 0.32 mm, p < 0.000) 95.0% and 95.6% agreement were found, respectively, and in the FGT range only 93.3% (bias = −0.45 mm, SD = 0.32 mm, p < 0.000). The presence of positive correlations between WKT and SGT was shown. A positive correlation between SGT and WKT confirms the purpose of measuring these parameters for the evaluation of the GP. Both the ultrasonic method and cone-beam computed tomography combined with intraoral scanning and prosthetic-driven implant planning method were useful in determining gingival phenotype, however, the ultrasonic method was more accurate for measuring GT.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected life satisfaction of students of medical and health science. The aim of this study was to assess the level of life satisfaction among undergraduate students of nursing, midwifery and emergency medicine during the COVID-19 and to evaluate the impact of adherence to COVID-19 disease prevention measures on their level of life satisfaction. Material and methods: The study was conducted using a self-constructed questionnaire and a standardized psychological questionnaire, the Satisfaction with Life Scale, among students of nursing, midwifery and emergency medicine in the Pomeranian Voivodeship during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: A total of 37 men and 238 women participated in the study. The mean age of all students was 21.5 (SD±3.83, min-max 19-39). The number of 93% of respondents reported avoiding people who coughed and had a cold, and 85.5% avoided large gatherings. When it comes to 84% of the students, they were vaccinated. As far as 73% of the students are concerned, they estimated that they had a medium level of knowledge about SARS-CoV-2 infection. Most students had a low (39.3%) and medium (32.7%) level of life satisfaction. A total number of 28% of the students reported a high satisfaction with life. There was not evidence of the influence of gender, field of study, year of study and the preventive behaviours on their level of life satisfaction. Conclusions: Most Polish students of nursing, midwifery and emergency medicine had a low and medium level of life satisfaction during the COVID-19 pandemic. Of the possible preventive behaviours, Polish students most often avoided people who coughed and had a cold, and they avoided large gatherings. Not all students registered for vaccination. Keywords: students, life, COVID-19, personal satisfaction

School nurses should participate in the care of children with type 1 diabetes mellitus. The aim of this study was to assess the level of knowledge of school nurses about the basic principles of self-control and the treatment of type 1 diabetes mellitus and to attempt to determine the factors that influence this level of knowledge. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among school nurses from October 2018 to November 2019 in the Pomeranian Voivodeship. The study was conducted using a self-constructed questionnaire. The survey included questions about the sociodemographic characteristics of the respondents, and a test of the knowledge and skills regarding the principles of self-control and the treatment of type 1 diabetes mellitus (16 test questions). This study included 168 Polish school nurses (mean age ± SD = 55.1 ± 8.9 years). Most of the nurses had a secondary education (81%), worked in a municipal educational institution (78.6%), and provided care to more than one student with type 1 diabetes mellitus at school (70.2%). The average level of knowledge of school nurses was 12.5 ± 2.0 points (maximum 16). The nurses working in a village school and those who worked only in one school had lower levels of knowledge. Only 85.7% of nurses reported that they could independently perform a blood glucose measurement with a glucometer, and as many as 56.5% were unable to determine the level of ketone bodies in the urine with Keto-Diastix test strips. Only 62.5% of nurses had a glucometer and glucometer strips in their nursing office. A total of 19.6% of nurses did not have glucagon (1 mg GlucaGen HypoKit®, Novo Nordisk A/S, Bagsværd, Denmark) or an ampoule with 20% glucose for an intravenous administration. The knowledge of school nurses about the principles of self-control and the treatment of type 1 diabetes mellitus is insufficient. Due to the strong increase in the incidence of type 1 diabetes mellitus among children and adolescents, it is important to organize permanent, continuous, and mandatory training on the principles of self-control and the treatment of type 1 diabetes mellitus for school nurses. The equipment in Polish school nurses’ offices should be supplemented with a working glucometer and blood glucose test strips, and the set of obligatory medications in the school nurse’s office should be supplemented with glucagon for students with type 1 diabetes mellitus.