Anxiety is highly prevalent among nursing students even in normal circumstances. In Israel during the covid-19 pandemic and mandatory lockdown, nursing students encountered a new reality of economic uncertainty, fear of infection, challenges of distance education, lack of personal protection equipment (PPE) at work etc. The objective of this study was to assess levels of anxiety and ways of coping among nursing students in the Ashkelon Academic College, Southern District, Israel. A cross-sectional study was conducted among all 244 students in the nursing department during the third week of a national lockdown. Anxiety level was assessed using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-Item Scale with a cutoff point of 10 for moderate and of 15 for severe anxiety. Factor analysis was used to identify coping components. The prevalence of moderate and severe anxiety was 42.8% and 13.1% respectively. Gender, lack of PPE, and fear of infection were significantly associated with a higher anxiety score. Stronger resilience and usage of humor were associated with significantly lower anxiety levels, while mental disengagement with higher anxiety levels. The nursing department's staff may contribute in lowering student anxiety by maintaining a stable educational framework, providing high quality distant teaching and encouraging and supporting students through this challenging period.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic initiated a period of new and difficult challenges for nursing students. Purpose: The aim of this study was to assess the change in levels of anxiety and ways of coping when the lockdown was being lifted compared with the period of the most severe lockdown restrictions. Methods: First-to fourth-year nursing students in Israel (N = 244) completed 2 surveys conducted during the initial lockdown and 5 weeks later. Results: When the restrictions were lightened, the mean anxiety score decreased from 9.3 to 7.5 (P < .0001). Among Muslims students, the trend was the opposite, and anxiety levels increased. Stronger resilience was associated with lower odds for anxiety. Mental disengagement and information seeking were associated with higher anxiety levels. Conclusions: The pandemic created unparalleled stressful situations for nursing students. Faculty should have heightened awareness of these stressors and act to implement innovative resolutions for the problems that arise.

The psychological phenomenon of Parental Burnout (PB) results from an imbalance between continuous exposure to chronic parenting stress and available coping resources. The study’s aim was to examine relationships between mothers’ perceived burden of treatment and PB, and their ability to utilize emotion work (EW) as a psychological coping resource. Ninety-eight Israeli mothers (46 had children with special needs with disabilities—W-SND, and 52 had children without special needs—WO-SN) completed questionnaires assessing their perception of burden of treatment, EW and PB. According to the findings, mothers of children W-SND reported significantly higher PB, a higher perceived burden of treatment and deeper EW than mothers of children WO-SN. Additionally, among all the mothers, a positive significant correlation was found between perceived burden of treatment and PB, while among mothers of children W-SND, positive correlations were found between their perceived burden of treatment and deep EW, and between deep EW and PB. These findings suggest that among mothers of children W-SND, PB is related to their perception of the burden of treatment and to performing deep EW. Additional psychological, cultural and environmental factors should be investigated, in order to gain new perspectives regarding PB as a psychological phenomenon that affects parenting and the ability to utilize coping mechanisms for mothers generally and for mothers of children W-SND especially.

Background: In Israel there are 5.0 nurses per 1,000 citizens, which is low compared to 9.3 nurses in the OECD countries. The nursing shortage is even more severe in peripheral areas (especially in southern Israel). Nurses` professional satisfaction is crucial for preserving the nursing workforce. The study aimed to assess job satisfaction among novice nurses and identify components of professional satisfaction. Methods: Cross-sectional study of 216 novice nurses, who graduated in 2018-2022 and were approached ten months after graduation. Job satisfaction components were constructed using factor analysis. Results: Professional satisfaction was based mainly on the intrinsic characteristics of the occupation related to personal accomplishment and organizational culture. In a multivariable model, an increase in the point of mean satisfaction with the training period during studies in the nursing department was associated with a more than a three-fold elevation in the odds for high and very high professional satisfaction (OR=3.0, 95% CI: 1.7-5.1). Odds for high and very high professional satisfaction were more than four-fold and two-fold higher among graduates who rated their level of control over work schedule as high and medium (vs. low) (OR=4.2, 95% CI: 1.0-16.7 and OR=2.8, 95% CI: 1.2-6.3, respectively). Work-life balance without disturbance to daily life by work was found significantly associated with higher odds for high and very high satisfaction. Nurses who plan to continue professional development (advanced professional course or MA degree) had significantly higher mean professional satisfaction scales than others (4.2 vs. 3.7, p=.009 and 4.2 vs. 3.9, p<.001, respectively). Conclusion: The most important components of professional satisfaction among novice nurses are self-accomplishment, which was built from work-related challenges, interest and variety of tasks, personal growth and development, and the possibility of contributing to patients` care and organizational culture, which was built from relationships with co-workers. Nurses` managers should cultivate an atmosphere of support and guidance in the collective, provide new nurses with interesting work tasks, and increase their ability to control their work schedule. Young nurses should be encouraged to continue their professional and academic education.