Based on the stress-buffering model, the current study sought to examine the moderating role of perceived social support in the association between death anxiety and psychological distress among nurses. Select variables found in previous studies to correlate with psychological distress served in the current study as covariates to control for their relationship with psychological distress among nurses. These include gender, years of professional experience, self-rated health, self-efficacy, and self-defined burnout. Structured questionnaires were administered to a sample of 795 professionally active nurses in Israel. Psychological distress was assessed by the 6-item Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K6), death anxiety was assessed by a single item scale designed by Abdel-Khalek, and perceived social support was assessed by the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS). The research findings show that higher levels of death anxiety were associated with higher levels of psychological distress only among nurses with lower levels of perceived social support. The study indicates that in order to reduce the level of distress experienced by nurses it is important to take action to reduce their death anxiety and enhance their social support mechanisms.

Meaning in life is an important element in the context of the workplace. The purpose of this study was to explore how certain factors, namely: subjective well-being, professional quality of life (compassion satisfaction, compassion fatigue, burnout), loneliness, personal work-related subjection to violence, fear of being subjected to violence, age, parental status, and marital status can predict meaning in life among social workers in Israel. An extensive battery of online questionnaires was administered to 501 participants. A hierarchical regression analysis was used to examine the association between a series of independent variables and meaning in life among social workers.Findings: The findings suggest that age, subjective well-being, compassion satisfaction and fear of being personally subjected to violence were positively associated with meaning in life. However, loneliness and burnout were negatively associated with meaning in life. The other variables were not significantly associated with meaning in life.Applications: Social work educators and managers must consider the importance of meaning in life when developing social care curricula and policies. Social workers must be aware of the importance of enhancing their sense of meaning in life for increasing their job satisfaction as well as improving the service provided to their clients.

This article presents the results of a survey on public attitudes and knowledge about social workers in Israel. Data were collected by means of structured questionnaires from a convenience sample of 1,417 participants aged 21 and older not treated by social services.Findings:The findings indicate that side by side with fairly high recognition of general areas related to the social work profession, there was a certain lack of comprehension in regard to the roles performed by social workers. Attitudes toward social workers were ambivalent. Although on most parameters examined they received the lowest rankings of all professional fields with which they were compared, a fairly high percentage of respondents rejected critical and biased statements about social workers and defined them as people whose work is based on values, social ideology, and professional ethics, and also believed that it is necessary to increase the number of social workers in Israel and to improve their employment terms and conditions.Applications: Understanding public attitudes and knowledge about social workers is important in terms of the public's trust in them and the prediction of whether they will be approached for advice, treatment, or help when necessary. Furthermore, social workers' ability to defend their interests and promote social policies requires wide public support, without which they will find it hard to attain sufficient social and political power and influence.

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