Background: Moral emotions are a key element of our human morals. Emotions play an important role in the caring process. Decision-making and assessment in emergency situations are complex and they frequently result in different emotions and feelings among health-care professionals.Methods: The study had qualitative deductive design based on content analysis. Individual interviews and focus groups were conducted with sixteen participants.Results: The emerging category “emotions and feelings in caring” has been analysed according to Haidt, considering that moral emotions include the subcategories of “Condemning emotions”, “Self-conscious emotions”, “Suffering emotions” and “Praising emotions”. Within these subcategories, we found that the feelings that nurses experienced when ethical conflicts arose in emergency situations were related to caring and decisions associated with it, even when they had experienced situations in which they believed they could have helped the patient differently, but the conditions at the time did not permit it and they felt that the ethical conflicts in clinical practice created a large degree of anxiety and moral stress. The nurses felt that caring, as seen from a nursing perspective, has a sensitive dimension that goes beyond the patient’s own healing and, when this dimension is in conflict with the environment, it has a dehumanising effect. Positive feelings and satisfaction are created when nurses feel that care has met its objectives and that there has been an appropriate response to the needs.Conclusions: Moral emotions can help nurses to recognise situations that allow them to promote changes in the care of patients in extreme situations. They can also be the starting point for personal and professional growth and an evolution towards person-centred care.
On 11 March 2020 the SARS-CoV−2 virus was officially declared a pandemic and measures were set up in various countries to avoid its spread among the population. This paper aims to analyse the perception of risk of COVID−19 infection in the Spanish population. A cross-sectional, descriptive observational study was conducted with a total of 16,372 Spanish participants. An online survey was used to gather data for 5 consecutive days over the compulsory lockdown period which was established after the state of emergency was declared. There is an association between socio-demographic variables and risk perception, and a very strong relationship between this perception and contact and direct experience with the virus in a family, social or professional setting. We also found that compared to working from home, working outside the home increased the perception of risk of infection and the perception of worsening health. Understanding the public perception of the risk of COVID−19 infection is fundamental for establishing effective prevention measures.
This paper presents the process of co-design, co-production, piloting, evaluation and revision of an Integrated Digital Literacy and Language Toolkit for Vulnerable Migrant Students (VMs) in Higher Education (HE). The language element focuses on academic language skills of reading, writing, listening and speaking required for effective involvement in both the host society and HE learning; the acquisition and improvement of digital literacy skills enable VMs to successfully participate in, and contribute to, university and societal collaboration, creativity and content curation. The Toolkit resulted from the co -operation and collaboration of five EU universities and was based on the ASSURE instructional design model. The Toolkit offers a self- access, self- paced, non-linear, fully online set of ten stand-alone units which offer a range of materials and activities to develop those skills pertinent to VM academic language and digital literacy needs. Evaluation by a group of VMs resident in EU countries highlight the positive impact of the Toolkit and validates the instrument as fit for purpose. Noteworthy aspects include its usefulness in supporting student autonomy, improving digital capabilities and academic language mastery,a positive experience of a flexible learning experience along with access to open resources of international scope and dissemination under the Creative Commons licence.