Objective To explore potential associations between nursing workload and professional satisfaction among nursing personnel (NP) in Greek Coronary Care Units (CCUs). Method A cross-sectional study was performed involving 66 members of the NP employed in 6 randomly selected Greek CCUs. Job satisfaction was assessed by the IWS and nursing workload by NAS, CNIS and TISS-28. Results The response rate was 77.6%. The reliability of the IWS was α=0.78 and the mean score 10.7 (±2.1, scale range: 0.5-39.7). The most highly valued component of satisfaction was “Pay”, followed by “Task requirements”, “Interaction”, “Professional status”, “Organizational policies” and “Autonomy”. NAS, CNIS and TISS-28 were negatively correlated (p≤0.04) with the following work components: “Autonomy”, “Professional status”, “Interaction” and “Task requirements”. Night shift work independently predicted the score of IWS. Conclusion The findings show low levels of job satisfaction, which are related with nursing workload and influenced by rotating shifts.

Different measuring tools have been used to understand the outcomes of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) therapies. However, survival, cost-effectiveness and quality of life (QOL) are the main parameters to evaluate treatment of ESRD. The current study meant to assess the psychometric properties (reliability and validity) of the Missoula-VITAS Quality of Life Index (MVQOLI-15) translation to Greek in patients undergoing hemodialysis (HD). A total sample of 79 HD patients voluntarily participated in this pilot study. Domain analysis of MVQOLI-15-Greek was conducted based on the collected data at initial assessment. The reliability properties of the instrument were tested using the following measures; internal consistency, repeatability, test-retest reliability and convergent validity. Domain analysis demonstrated that all domains of the questionnaire had good variability. MVQOLI-15-Greek internal consistency was satisfactory with an overall Cronbach’s a at 0.74. Pearson’s r and intraclass correlation coefficient revealed strong correlations (ranging from 0.91 to 0.98) between initial assessment and re-assessment. MVQOLI-15-Greek convergent validity analysis indicated that the domains were strongly related to the same construct. The findings of the study indicate that the Greek version of MVQOLI-15 provided satisfactory psychometric properties supporting its use within pathological populations and in the context of national QOL measurement.

Results: Referral patterns are different than for cancer patients with more respite and supportive care provided earlier in the disease trajectory, followed by terminal care. These early interventions provided respite for exhausted carers, and allow patients and carers to build a relationship with the palliative care team, whilst maintaining continuity with their heart failure nurse as key worker. Working in this way enabled nurses to accurately identify those patients who were entering the last months of life and provide appropriate supportive and palliative care. 99 patients were referred but only 80 received care due to a rapid response being unavailable, resulting in an admission to a palliative care bed, or the patient declined the service, or had a sudden death before the first shift. 74 patients (73%) from all those referred have died, 39 (53%) died within a month of referral and all apart from 3 died within a year. Patients received a mean/median of 89/36 hours of care. 55 (74%) of of those who died, did so in their place of choice. Conclusions: It is possible to provide a timely, home-based palliative care service for heart failure patients and their families. However rapid response, and better out of hours services are needed to avoid unecessary admissions.

Different measuring tools have been used to understand the outcomes of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) therapies. However, survival, costeffectiveness and quality of life (QOL) are the main parameters to evaluate treatment of ESRD. The current study meant to assess the psychometric properties (reliability and validity) of the Missoula-VITAS Quality of Life Index (MVQOLI-15) translation to Greek in patients undergoing hemodialysis (HD). A total sample of 79 HD patients voluntarily participated in this pilot study. Domain analysis of MVQOLI-15-Greek was conducted based on the collected data at initial assessment. The reliability properties of the instrument were tested using the following measures; internal consistency, repeatability, test-retest reliability and convergent validity. Domain analysis demonstrated that all domains of the questionnaire had good variability. MVQOLI-15-Greek internal consistency was satisfactory with an overall Cronbach's a at 0.74. Pearson's r and intraclass correlation coefficient revealed strong correlations (ranging from 0.91 to 0.98) between initial assessment and reassessment. MVQOLI-15-Greek convergent validity analysis indicated that the domains were strongly related to the same construct. The findings of the study indicate that the Greek version of MVQOLI-15 provided satisfactory psychometric properties supporting its use within pathological populations and in the context of national QOL measurement.

Η πνευματική ιδιοκτησία αποκτάται χωρίς καμία διατύπωση και χωρίς την ανάγκη ρήτρας απαγορευτικής των προσβολών της. Επισημαίνεται πάντως ότι κατά το Ν. 2387/20 (όπως έχει τροποποιηθεί με το Ν. 2121/1993 και ισχύει σήμερα) και κατά τη ∆ιεθνή σύμβαση της Βέρνης (που έχει κυρωθεί με το Ν.100/1975), απαγορεύεται η αναδημοσίευση, η αποθήκευση σε κάποιο σύστημα διάσωσης και γενικά η αναπαραγωγή του παρόντος έργου, με οποιοδήποτε τρόπο ή μορφή, τμηματικά ή περιληπτικά, στο πρωτότυπο ή σε μετάφραση ή σε άλλη διασκευή, χωρίς γραπτή άδεια του συγγραφέα. Η έγκριση διδακτορικής διατριβής από τo τμήμα Νοσηλευτικής του Πανεπιστημίου Αθηνών δεν σημαίνει αποδοχή γνωμών του συγγραφέα. (Σχετικές οι διατάξεις του άρθρου 50 του νόμου 1268/82 σε συνδυασμό με τις διατάξεις του οργανισμού του Πανεπιστημίου Αθηνών, άρθρο 202 παρ. 2 του νόμου 5343/32 ) ΕΙ∆ΙΚΟ ΜΕΡΟΣ ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟ ΠΕΜΠΤΟ ΜΕΘΟ∆ΟΣ ∆είγμα Ασθενών -Χρονικό ∆ιάστημα ∆ιεξαγωγής της Μελέτης