Nursing is perceived as a strenuous job. Although past research has documented that stress influences nurses’ health in association with quality of life, the relation between stress and caring behaviors remains relatively unexamined, especially in the Greek working environment, where it is the first time that this specific issue is being studied. The aim was to investigate and explore the correlation amidst occupational stress, caring behaviors and their quality of life in association to health. A correlational study of nurses (N = 246) who worked at public and private units was conducted in 2013 in Greece. The variables were operationalized using three research instruments: (1) the Expanded Nursing Stress Scale (ENSS), (2) the Health Survey SF-12 and (3) the Caring Behaviors Inventory (CBI). Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed. Contact with death, patients and their families, conflicts with supervisors and uncertainty about the therapeutic effect caused significantly higher stress among participants. A significant negative correlation was observed amidst total stress and the four dimensions of CBI. Certain stress factors were significant and independent predictors of each CBI dimension. Conflicts with co-workers was revealed as an independent predicting factor for affirmation of human presence, professional knowledge and skills and patient respectfulness dimensions, conflicts with doctors for respect for patient, while conflicts with supervisors and uncertainty concerning treatment dimensions were an independent predictor for positive connectedness. Finally, discrimination stress factor was revealed as an independent predictor of quality of life related to physical health, while stress resulting from conflicts with supervisors was independently associated with mental health. Occupational stress affects nurses’ health-related quality of life negatively, while it can also be considered as an influence on patient outcomes.

Background: Occupational stress is both psychologically and physically challenging and may lead to high rates of absenteeism, burnout, and turnover. Nursing is considered as one of the most stressful and demanding professions. This study aims to measure perceived stress levels among nurses in a Greek public general hospital. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted. A total of 157 nurses and nursing assistants took part. A self-administered questionnaire including sociodemographics and Expanded Nursing Stress Scale (ENSS) for stress assessment was used. Analysis was performed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 20.0. Results: Total stress mean(SD) score ranged in medium levels [136.27 (47.80)]. The most stressful situations were dealing with death and dying [18.29 (5.59)]; patients' and their families' demands [20.90 (7.12)], and uncertainty concerning treatment [22.19 (9.07)]. Discrimination [4.40 (4.25)] and conflicts with peers [12.07 (5.10)] provoked less stress. There was a statistically significant relationship between age and total stress (F = 4.23, p < 0.001) and all distinct stressors. Nurses between 30 and 34 years expressed higher stress in all cases except patients' and their families' demands stressor. Those nurses who were divorced expressed higher stress in death and dying subscale (F = 2.93, p = 0.035). Nursing assistants expressing higher stress as far as workload (t = −2.40, p = 0.017), conflicts with physicians (t = −2.19, p = 0.033), and problems with peers (t = −2.63, p = 0.009) were concerned, compared to nurses. Conclusions: The findings of the study are in line with other researchers' findings concerning stressors among nursing personnel in Greece. Appropriate measures for the prevention and management of specific stressors must therefore be taken.

Pathogenesis and treatment of post-operative cognitive dysfunction

The purpose of the present study was to investigate healthcare workers’ physical exercise levels linked to their quality of life. Healthcare workers’ from all departments of a General hospital participated in the study. The instruments used for data collection regarding quality of life and physical exercise (Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) and International Physical Activity Questionnaire-short form). Regarding the lack of physical exercise, the participants mainly put the blame on lack of free time (58%, n = 106), work hours (41% n = 75), but also pure negligence (37%, n = 67). The SF-36 scores showed that the existence of health problems can affect in a negative way and aggravate almost every quality of life parameter. Regarding physical activities in the past 7 days prior to the survey, most of them were about housekeeping and household-related chores (42.3%), followed by out-of-the-house errands (13.2%). There were also differences among mental health and postgraduate education level. According to our findings, a major factor that could boost healthcare professionals’ physical activity, is to increase knowledge and raise awareness about the benefits linked to physical activity.

Job satisfaction is fundamental to employee well-being and successful operation of an organization. The use of effective tools for assessing it is imperative for management research. Our main purpose was to translate and adapt the Job Satisfaction Survey (JSS) questionnaire to the Greek language and to test its psychometric properties. The tool was translated into Greek and then back into English by different bilingual translators. The Greek JSS was tested with a sample of 239 employees of various specialties in drug addiction treatment. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) for validity testing as well as internal consistency analysis for reliability testing was conducted. The results confirmed that: (a) the translated version is an accurate translation of the original, (b) CFA results indicated that the nine-factor structure model was a great choice; the factor loads were high and ranged from 0.61 to 0.90, and (c) the reliability coefficients were satisfactory (Cronbach’s alpha for eight of the nine dimensions of the Greek JSS scale ranged from 0.62 to 0.87 except for the dimension “Operating procedures” which was 0.48, while Cronbach’s alpha for the total scale was 0.87 and the Gutman Split-Half Coefficient was 0.88). The findings suggested that the Greek Version of JSS is a valid and reliable tool for measuring job satisfaction in Greece. Further research for assessing its psychometric values in various samples and further analysis for studying its validity and testing its internal and external consistency and coherence might be conducted in the future.