The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly amplified burnout and moral injury among nurses, exposing structural vulnerabilities in healthcare systems and accelerating workforce attrition. Beyond the acute crisis, nurses continue to face chronic staff shortages, overwhelming workloads, and unresolved ethical tensions that compromise both well-being and quality of care. Synthesis of recent meta-analyses in this review indicates that nurse burnout during the pandemic ranged between 30% and 50%, illustrating the magnitude of the problem. Particular attention is given to innovative organizational strategies that foster resilience, including workload redistribution, enhanced professional autonomy, supportive leadership, and the integration of digital technologies such as telecare. Comparative perspectives across healthcare systems illustrate how policy reforms, staffing models, and ethical frameworks can mitigate psychological distress and strengthen organizational resilience. By reframing burnout and moral injury not only as individual challenges but as systemic phenomena requiring structural solutions, this review emphasizes the imperative of multilevel interventions. Building resilient nursing workforces through innovation, leadership, and evidence-based policies is essential for sustaining high-quality patient care in the post-pandemic era.

Background/Objectives: Dental anxiety in children is a common issue that can hinder the delivery of effective dental care. Traditional approaches to managing this are often insufficient or involve pharmacological interventions. This study shows the potential of virtual reality (VR) to aid in reducing anxiety in children undergoing simple dental procedures. By immersing children in relaxing VR environments (such as beaches, forests, mountains, or underwater scenes with calm music), the objective is to assess VR’s effectiveness in calming pediatrics patients during these procedures. Methods: Children scheduled for minor dental treatments wore a wearable device that monitored pulse, perspiration, and stress levels. Each child’s baseline data was collected without the VR headset, followed by data collection during VR exposure before and during dental procedures. VR scenarios ranged from soothing nature scenes to animated cartoons, designed to foster relaxation. Results: The data collected showed a reduction in physiological indicators of stress, such as lower heart rate and reduced perspiration, when the VR headset was used. Children appeared more relaxed, with a calmer response during the procedure itself, compared to baseline levels without VR. Conclusions: This study provides preliminary evidence supporting VR as an effective tool for reducing anxiety and stress in pediatric dental patients. By offering an engaging, immersive experience, VR can serve as an alternative or complementary approach to traditional anxiety management strategies in pediatric dentistry, potentially improving patient comfort and cooperation during dental procedures. Further research could determine if VR may serve as an alternative to local anesthesia for non-intrusive pediatric dental procedures.

Background/Objectives: Healthcare workers in chronic care hospitals are vulnerable to psychosocial risks such as burnout and moral injury due to prolonged patient exposure and limited institutional support. This study assessed the prevalence of burnout and moral injury among staff at the Chronic Diseases Hospital of Sebiș, Romania, and examined their associations with perceived stress and managerial support. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted between October 2022 and October 2024, including 62 healthcare workers (physicians, nurses, and auxiliary staff). Participants completed a sociodemographic survey, the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), the Moral Injury Symptom Scale-Health Professional (MISS-HP), and additional items on perceived stress and institutional support. Statistical analysis included descriptive statistics, group comparisons, correlation matrices, and logistic regression. Results: High emotional exhaustion (MBI-EE ≥ 27) was reported by 45.2% of participants, with the highest rates among nurses (50%) and auxiliary staff (45.5%). Mean moral injury scores were moderate (mean = 5.3), with elevated levels observed in nurses and auxiliary staff. Pearson correlation analysis revealed no strong linear associations between burnout dimensions and moral injury. Logistic regression did not identify emotional exhaustion, perceived stress, or support as significant predictors of high moral injury. Conclusions: Burnout and moral injury are prevalent but appear to be partially dissociated in this Romanian chronic care setting. Moral injury may arise from contextual ethical pressures beyond general occupational strain. Interventions should focus on ethical climate, institutional responsiveness, and peer-based moral support to enhance staff resilience.

Aim of the study: Anxiety about dental treatment is one of the main barriers to accessing dental services and, at the same time, a well-known problem for dentists. The main objective of this observational pilot study was to assess the prevalence and determinants of dental anxiety and severe forms compatible with dental phobia among adult dental patients and to explore their association with psychological distress, as well as patients’ preferences for methods to reduce pain and anxiety during dental treatment. Materials and Methods: We carried out a pilot observational study using two well-established questionnaires, namely the BSI-18 (Brief Symptom Inventory-18), which assesses the psychological distress of patients visiting the dentist, and the DAS (Dental Anxiety Scale), which evaluates dental anxiety toward dental treatment. The questionnaires were administered in independent dental practices in Timisoara, and the study was conducted between August 2024 and January 2025 on a sample of 231 persons. Results: The results of our study revealed a clear link between sources of oral health information, the high prevalence of anxiety as a personality trait, anxiety towards the dentist, and referral to dental services. Conclusions: The intensity of dental anxiety is higher before the therapeutic manoeuvre. It has been found, however, that people who are more educated experience lower levels of anxiety in specific situations.

Background: Turnover intention among healthcare workers represents a growing challenge for chronic care institutions, particularly in resource-constrained healthcare systems. Organizational and ethical factors have been increasingly recognized as relevant correlates of workforce retention. Methods: This exploratory cross-sectional study was conducted in a Romanian chronic care hospital between January 2023 and September 2024. A total of 62 healthcare workers were included using a census-based recruitment approach. Organizational climate, ethical work environment, job satisfaction, and turnover intention were assessed using adapted and composite self-report measures. Correlation, multivariate regression, and exploratory mediation analyses were performed. Results: Job satisfaction and ethical work environment were inversely associated with turnover intention in both correlation and multivariate analyses. Organizational climate did not retain an independent association with turnover intention after adjustment. Exploratory mediation analysis suggested that job satisfaction may partially account for the association between an ethical work environment and turnover intention. Higher turnover intention and less favorable organizational perceptions were observed among nursing and auxiliary healthcare staff compared to physicians. Conclusions: The findings suggest that organizational and ethical conditions, particularly those influencing job satisfaction, are relevant correlates of turnover intention in chronic care settings. Given the exploratory design and limited sample size, these results should be interpreted cautiously. Organizational strategies targeting ethical practices and everyday work satisfaction may represent feasible approaches to workforce retention in similar healthcare contexts.

Universities play a strategic role in advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through community engagement, particularly within medical education. This study examines medical students’ involvement in volunteering activities and evaluates how such engagement contributes to SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being) and SDG 4 (Quality Education). A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 499 students from the Victor Babeș University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Timișoara, using a structured questionnaire assessing perceived community impact, soft skills development, motivation for volunteering, sustainability orientation, and institutional support. Results indicate a high level of availability and prior participation in volunteering, reflecting strong internalization of public health and social responsibility values. While no significant differences were observed between volunteers and non-volunteers regarding perceived community impact (SDG 3), volunteer experience was significantly associated with higher levels of soft skills development and motivation (SDG 4). Strong positive correlations were identified between perceived community impact and motivational, educational, and sustainability related dimensions. The intensity of involvement was modestly associated with sustainability orientation and institutional support. Despite high motivation, students reported limited structured institutional frameworks for sustained engagement. The findings suggest that medical volunteering functions as a dual mechanism, strengthening professional competencies while reinforcing community health orientation. Institutionalizing structured outreach programs, particularly in underserved areas, could enhance long-term impact and align medical education more effectively with the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.