Quality of life is one of the parameters that characterize the success of brain tumor treatments, along with overall survival and a disease-free life. Thus, the main aim of this research was to evaluate the quality of life after the surgical treatment of brain tumors. The research material included 236 patients who were to undergo surgery for brain tumors. The participants completed the quality of life questionnaires EORTC QLQ-C30 (version 3.0) and EORTC QLQ-BN20 on the day of admission to the department, on the fifth day after the removal of the brain tumor, and thirty days after the surgical procedure. Descriptive statistics, Student’s t-test, the Kruskal–Wallis test, the Shapiro–Wolf test, ANOVA, and Fisher’s least significant difference post hoc test were performed. The mean score of the questionnaire before the surgical procedure amounted to 0.706, 5 days after surgery it amounted to 0.614, and 30 days after surgery to 0.707. The greatest reduction in the quality of life immediately after the procedure was observed in patients with low-grade glial tumors (WHO I, II) and extracerebral tumors (meningiomas and neuromas). Thirty days after surgery, an improvement in the quality of life was observed in all included groups. The greatest improvement was recorded in the group of patients operated on for meningioma and neuroblastoma, and the lowest in patients treated for metastatic tumors. Contemporary surgical procedures used in neurosurgery reduce the quality of life in patients with brain tumors only in the early postoperative period. Histopathological diagnoses of these tumors impact the quality of life of patients.

In general, “stress” is the reaction of the body to mental and physical demands placed on it. Stress disrupts mental balance, and reduces the ability to work and function, which negatively affects the performance of duties. The aim of this study was to analyse the level of stress and ways of coping with it among nursing staff. The study covered 220 nurses employed at the Provincial Specialist Hospital in Włocławek. The research tool was the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) and the Brief-COPE. The results of this survey showed the occurrence of average and high levels of experiencing stress in 36% and 40%of staff, respectively. Brief-COPE scale results show that substance use/gender (men) and use of emotional support/place of work (internal medicine department) are significant at p < 0.01. Considering the impact of the workplace on the use of psychoactive substances, it can be seenthat people working in the surgical ward are more likely to use psychoactive substances. Furthermore, nurses in the surgical ward find it easier to think and plan what to do when faced with a difficult life situation. Most often, the respondents with the highest work experience, i.e., the elderly, declared a return to religion. The results of the research indicate that the nursing community experiences stress to an average or significant degree. The strategies are mainly based on active coping and seeking emotional and instrumental support. Further research is needed in this field. This study was not pre-registered on a publicly accessibly registry.

The COVID-19 pandemic contributed to increased stress levels experienced by employees of the healthcare system during their professional activities. The aim of the study was to compare the stress-coping strategies used by nurses in two different systems of work (one shift/two shifts) in a Polish hospital in 2021. The study used the Polish adaptation of the Mini-COPE questionnaire and the authors’ data sheet. The results indicate that regardless of experience or the place and system of work, nurses more often chose problem-focused coping strategies. Conducting screening tests among nurses will help to establish effective strategies for coping with occupational stress, thus preventing professional burnout.

Previous studies have shown that sudden changes in the nature of nursing work and their work environment related to the COVID-19 pandemic have affected the professional experience of nurses, and consequently led to an increase in professional burnout in this professional group. Thus, the aim of the study was to measure occupational burnout among nurses working during the COVID-19 pandemic in Poland. A cross-sectional study was conducted with pediatric and surgery female nurses (N = 110, mean age 51 ± 6.92) from the Provincial Specialist Hospital in Włocławek, Poland. The participants completed the Link Burnout Questionnaire (LBQ) and the Socio-Demographic Questionnaire (SDQ). The data were analyzed using Spearman’s rank correlation and Mann–Whitney U test. The study showed that high burnout affected 6.4% of nurses. The level of professional burnout for the subscales of psychophysical exhaustion, relationship deterioration, professional inefficacy and disappointment was 28.2%, 26.4%, 11.8% and 13%, respectively (mean score: 19.85 ± 6.51, 18.03 ± 5.15, 13.74 ± 4.07 and 17.61 ± 5.85, respectively). The results show that surgical nurses were statistically more likely to experience professional burnout. In sum, burnout among nurses has become a serious problem, especially considering the COVID-19 pandemic, which is why it is so important to continue research in this area. Hospital management needs to take urgent action to address the systemic and professional issues that contribute to the suboptimal mental health of nurses.

Introduction. Transplantology is the youngest area of medicine dealing with organ transplantation that is considered to be the most difficult.Aim. The aim of the work is to analyse the nurse’s tasks in the care of the organ donor after confirming brain death and propagate the idea of transplantology.Case Report. A 52-year-old patient admitted to the hospital at the neurological department after a craniocerebral trauma. Computed tomography of the head showed brain contusion, fractures of the bones of the skull cover, the presence of a small amount of air in the cranial cavity. Immediately after admission, the patient was tangled, conscious, reluctant to answer questions, without paresis and a short-term seizure. Anti-oedema and anti-epileptic treatment was implemented in the neurosurgery department. After starting treatment, there was a temporary improvement, followed by a secondary worsening of brain and brain stem failure with deep cerebral coma. The patient was referred for further treatment in the Intensive Care Unit.Discussion. Organ transplantation involves collecting them from the donor and implanting them into the recipient. The donor can be either a living person (when it comes to paired organs or fragment of the liver as well as the tissues and cells) or the deceased person, who during their life did not express objection to organ donation after their death. The major principle in this case is the pronouncement of brain death, i.e. confirmation of patient’s death resulting in changing the therapeutic goals.Conclusions. Transplantology is an interdisciplinary field of medicine, the success of which relies on the cooperation of many professionals. The nurse takes an active part in the team’s work starting from the donor’s organs eligibility, through transplantation, to the care of the patient after the transplantation. The nurse also participates in building up an atmosphere favourable for good relations with the potential donor’s family. (JNNN 2019;8(3):124–132)

Wstęp. Depresje zalicza się do chorób cywilizacyjnych XXI wieku to zaburzenia w psychice człowieka. Występuje w różnych przedziałach wiekowych i dotyczy dzieci, nastolatków, kobiet, mężczyzn oraz osób starszych. W Polsce z problemem depresji boryka się ponad 1,5 miliona ludzi natomiast w chwili obecnej, w czasie pandemii Covid-19 nastąpił wzrost zachorowalności do ponad 3 milionów. Cel. Celem pracy była ocena czynników wpływających na występowanie depresji. Materiał i metody. Badaniem objęto 200 osób — pielęgniarek i pielęgniarzy z oddziałów zabiegowych i zachowawczych. Oceny występowania zaburzeń depresyjnych dokonano za pomocą Kwestionariusza Pomiaru Depresji, który składa się z 75 stwierdzeń — określeń odnoszących się do podejścia do życia oraz codzienności. Jako narzędzie badawcze zastosowano kwestionariusz ankiety własnej zawierające pytania dotyczące charakterystyki socjodemograficznej respondentów. Otrzymane wyniki poddano analizie statystycznej. Wyniki. W przypadku mężczyzn wskaźnik osiągnął statystycznie wyższą wartość, czyli 242,4 punkty co oznacza średni poziom natomiast wśród kobiet wyniósł on 238,1 punktów co oznacza niski poziom. Niski poziom wskaźnika KPD wykazała grupa badanych w przedziale wiekowym 20–30 lat natomiast wysoki wskaźnik wystąpił wśród grupy badanych w wieku 41–50 lat. Pielęgniarki z niższym wykształceniem — dyplomowane wykazały niski poziom wskaźnika KPD natomiast pielęgniarki z wyższym wykształceniem tytułem magistra uzyskały wyższy poziom wskaźnika KPD. Według analizy statystycznej niski poziom wskaźnika KPD wykazały osoby pracujące krótko w zawodzie od 1 do 5 lat. Wysoki poziom wskaźnika KPD miały osoby, które pracowały w zawodzie od 11 do 20 lat. Pielęgniarki pracujące na oddziale zachowawczym wykazały niski poziom wskaźnika KPD natomiast wskaźnik pielęgniarek na oddziałach zabiegowych utrzymywał się na poziomie średnim. Wnioski. Czynniki socjodemograficzne miały istotny wpływ na występowanie zaburzeń depresyjnych w badanej grupie. Badanie potwierdziło również duży wpływ czynników zawodowych na występowanie depresji wśród pielęgniarek. Analiza statystyczna wykazała istotną zależność pomiędzy płcią, wiekiem ankietowanych a wskaźnikiem pomiaru depresji — KPD. (PNN 2021;10(3):126–132)