Background: Chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CPPS) is one of the common diseases in urology and gynecology. CPPS is a multifactorial disorder where pain may originate in any of the urogynecological, gastrointestinal, pelvic musculoskeletal, or nervous systems. The symptoms of CPPS appear to result from an interplay between psychological factors and dysfunction in the immune, neurological, and endocrine systems. The aim of this article was to present new insight about CPPS in order to raise awareness of nursing and medical staff in the identification and diagnosis of the syndrome and to promote an appropriate treatment for each woman who suffers from CPPS. Methods: A literature review about the factors associated with CPPS and therapeutic interventions for CPPS was conducted. Results: CPPS represents a chronic pain syndrome that combines anatomic malfunction of the pelvic floor muscles with malfunction of pain perception linked with psychological and cognitive factors. Conclusions: The therapeutic interventions in CPPS cases should, consequently, follow a multidisciplinary approach.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic in recent years has given nursing teams a unique place in this war, and an opportunity to change public opinion. The perceptions have the power to affect the users of health services, the nurses’ performance, health policy, and even the choice to become a nurse. Aim: To examine the relationship between the public’s perceptions and attitudes to the nursing profession compared with other healthcare professions, and to examine the relationship with the image of nursing in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Design and methods: This study is a cross-sectional study, with a descriptive correlational design. Specifically, 80 respondents, men and women aged 18–75, joined a survey consisting of an anonymous questionnaire. Results: A positive relationship was found between the public’s perceptions and attitudes to nursing compared with other professions and the image of nursing in the wake of COVID-19, so the more positive public opinion was, the more positive the image of nursing would be. Conclusion: In the wake of COVID-19, the public’s opinion and perception of the nursing profession compared to other professions and their attitudes to nurses are more positive. It is important to continue to explore which factors most affected and changed the image of nursing during the pandemic, and to design strategies to preserve the improved image of nursing among the public on an ongoing basis.

Background: Despite the growing demand for community nurses, their number remains relatively low. We examined perceptions of final-year nursing students regarding their preferred work setting after graduation and the factors affecting their choice. Methods: A cross-sectional survey using a structured questionnaire was developed specifically for this study. The questionnaire was distributed among fourth-year students from all nursing training frameworks across Israel. Results: Of 281 respondents (76.6% women, average age, 29.3 years), most (80.9%) preferred working in hospitals, while 5% preferred community settings; 14% were undecided. Students’ knowledge on hospital nurses’ tasks was greater compared to their knowledge on community nurses’ tasks. Moreover, hospital nurses’ tasks were perceived as more important than those of community nurses. The contribution of clinical placement in hospital nursing was perceived as significantly more meaningful than the contribution of clinical placement in community nursing. The vast majority of students (94.3%) stated that they would prefer to undergo a hospital nursing internship. A significant correlation was noted between students’ clinical placement, the exposure to community nursing roles, and the perception of the community nurse’s role: clinical placements that were perceived as a positive experience led to a more positive perception of community nurses’ roles. Conclusions: Nursing students’ perception of community nursing is based upon limited information which does not reflect community nurses’ actual role and work.

Background: Increased utilization of health services due to population growth affects the allocation of national resources and budgets. Hence, it is important for national policy. Home hospitalization is one of the solutions for dealing with the growing demand for hospital beds and reducing the duration of hospitalization and its costs. It is gradually becoming part of the regular care in many health systems, yet, studies on the economic aspects of Community-Based Home Hospitalization (CBHH) implementation in Israel are few. The aim of this study is to examine costs of CBHH in comparison to costs of inpatient hospital care in the Israeli public health system. Methods: Retrospective data was collected using document research in databases. A review of the costs of patients in CBHH at Maccabi Healthcare Services (MHS) was conducted. A total of 3374 patients were included in this study: 1687 patients who were in CBHH, and 1687 age- and sex-matched patients who were hospitalized in an internal department (the control group). The study population included the patients admitted to CBHH from January 2018 to July 2020, and patients admitted to internal medicine departments during the same period. Results: The number of hospitalizations during the follow up period were statistically significantly lower in the CBHH group compared with the control group (M = 1.18, SD = 0.56 vs. M = 1.61, SD = 1.29, p < 0.001). In addition, the mean number of hospitalization days was also statistically significantly lower for 4.3 (SD = 4.5) for CBHH patients compared to the control group (M = 4.3 days, SD = 4.5 vs. M = 7.5 days, SD = 10.3, p < 0.001). Furthermore, the mean cost per day was statistically significantly higher for inpatient hospitalization compared to CBHH (M = 1829.1, SD = 87.5 vs. M = 783.2, SD = 178.3, p < 0.001). Older patients, patients with diabetes and patients hospitalized in hospitals had a higher number of hospitalization days. Conclusions: The costs of CBHH seem to be lower than those of inpatient care. Managing CBHH is characterized by constantly measuring financial feasibility that would be an impetus for further development of this service.

Introduction: The ‘second victim’ phenomenon, (SVP) refers to a health professional who was involved in an adverse event (AE) and continues to suffer from the event to the detriment of personal and professional functioning. The second victims’ natural history of recovery model predicts stages of the phenomenon from AE occurrence until the ‘moving on’ stage and serves as a suitable structure for many organizational support programs worldwide. Purpose: Using the second victims’ natural history of recovery model to examine the impact of the SVP on Israeli nurses, with a specific focus on the organizational support they felt they required compared with the support they felt that they had received from their organizations. Methods: Fifteen in-depth interviews were conducted, using a semi-structured questionnaire, among nurses who had experienced the SVP. The interviews were recorded subject to the interviewees’ consent, transcribed, and analyzed using thematic content analysis. Findings: Throughout all six stages of recovery, all interviewees reported physical and emotional manifestations following exposure to an AE, regardless of the type of event or severity. They also reported difficulty in emotion regulation, as well as damage to functioning and overall quality of life. Most of the nurse interviewees reported a need to share the events with someone, but, despite this desire to receive appropriate support, almost none of them proactively requested help from a professional source, nor did their organizational management initiate proactive support. This lack of referral for further assistance is possibly explained through limited awareness of the SVP as a valid response to an AE, a perceived lack of legitimacy to receive organizational support, and personal barriers that accompany the phenomenon. Conclusions: Appropriate organizational support, offered proximal to an AE as well as over time, is essential for the nurse, the patient, and the organization. Personal barriers, together with limited awareness, may challenge the identification and provision of appropriate assistance. Hence, it is important to address the phenomenon as part of the general organizational policy to improve the quality of care and patient safety.

Background: The shift from inpatient care to community patient care has had an essential impact on the nursing profession. Despite the growing demand for community nurses in many countries, their number remains relatively low and many students do not perceive this field as an interesting career to pursue. In this review we aimed to understand if exposure of undergraduate nursing students to various nursing work settings during their studies affects their work setting choices after graduation.Methods: A literature search of papers relating to work setting preferences of nursing students in Israel and other countries was performed. Israel Ministry of Health, Nursing Administration documents and other related documents were also reviewed, with a focus on the nursing training program in Israel.Findings: While most first-year nursing students have limited knowledge regarding the profession, in later years, their preferences for post-graduation work settings are affected by their exposure to the various clinical fields through knowledge gained in courses together with clinical practice placements. In Israel, specific classroom courses in community nursing are allocated only 6% of the total time allocated to all classroom courses in nursing, and a single clinical placement in community nursing takes place during the third or fourth year of the nursing program, exposing students to a single aspect of community nursing during their nursing training. Studies in other countries have reported that students’ experience during clinical placement contributes to shaping students’ opinions of nurses’ roles within that field. Nursing students who had a primary healthcare placement showed greater intention for working in this setting after graduation.Conclusions: The lack of exposure to the various aspects of community nursing during undergraduate studies contributes to a lack of motivation for entering this field. Therefore, a profound change is needed in nursing training programs’ curricula to prepare graduates to face future challenges in community nursing. Whilst both hospital and community nursing are equally important, nursing leaders and policy makers must be made aware of the various factors that contribute to new registered nurses’ preferences of hospital over community nursing and build strategies for directing nurses to work in the community in order to respond to the expected nurse shortage in this setting.