Introduction: Living with a permanent colostomy brings severe changes in patients’ lives. The general health status as well as the personal, social and professional life of patients are significantly affected. Aim: The aim of the present study was to investigate the lived experience of patients undergoing permanent colostomy. Material and Methods: A qualitative research design based on interpretive phenomenology was carried out. Semi-structured interviews were conducted as the data collection method to obtain in-depth information regarding the research topic. The study sample consisted of eight (8) patients who had undergone a permanent colostomy. The data analysis was performed by the method of content analysis. Results: From the analysis of the data, three main themes emerged, namely: (A) Experiencing a traumatic event; (B) Living a new reality; (C) Efforts to improve quality of life. Five subthemes were formulated which were encompassed within the respective main themes accordingly. Conclusion: Patients with permanent colostomy face significant life changes that are experienced in a traumatic way. Issues such as autonomy, family and organizational support, self-management and empowerment can significantly improve the patients’ quality of life. Further research, regarding caregivers’ experience, improved community nursing care as well as nurses’ views on the needs of colostomy patients and their families, is suggested.

Diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) is a major complication of diabetes mellitus that needs a multidisciplinary approach. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of patients’ characteristics, anxiety/depression, and adherence to guidelines on the QoL of patients with diabetic ulcer. The sample of the study consisted of 195 patients. Data collected by the completion of SF-36 Health Survey, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and a questionnaire that measured adherence to self-care activities. Patients had moderate- to high-quality levels in emotional well-being, pain, social functioning, and energy/fatigue (median: 68, 68, 63, and 60, respectively), while they had low levels of quality in physical functioning, role physical, and role emotional (median: 21, 0, and 33, respectively). In their general health, patients had moderate levels (median: 50). High levels of anxiety and depression were observed in 13.8% and 20.0% of the participants, respectively. After multiple regression, regarding general QoL, patients living in the capital city had 9.89 points worse general health than patients living in Attica (β = −9.89, 95% confidence interval [CI] = −16.86 to 2.93, P = .006). Patients with moderate or high levels of anxiety had 9.37 and 16.08 points, respectively, worse general health than those with low levels (β = −9.37, 95% CI = −17.04 to 1.70, P = .017, and β = −16.08, 95% CI = −26.65 to −5.51, P = .003, respectively). Clinically, these findings may help health professionals attain effective treatment of emotional burden to DFU patients and increase adherence to self-care.

Quality is a multidimensional issue involving various features that depend on service performance and personal assessment. Clarifying the concept of quality is essential in order to further facilitate the understanding and improvement of quality in healthcare. The purpose of this study was to investigate how clinical nurses, providing care to adult medical patients, perceive and define the concept of quality nursing care. A descriptive qualitative research design was applied. A purposive sampling strategy was used to recruit nurses from the clinical sector of a general public hospital in Athens, Greece. Ten female nurses from the medical sector participated the study. Data collection was conducted through in-depth, semi-structured interviews. Conventional content analysis was used to analyze the verbatim data. Four categories were revealed from the data analysis, namely: (a) “Quality care is holistic care”, (b) “Good care is an interpersonal issue”, (c) “Leadership is crucial”, and (d) “Best care is our responsibility”. Quality care was defined as holistic care, addressing all patient needs with competency and aiming for the best patient outcomes. It was associated with communication, teamwork, good leadership, and personal commitment. By developing an in-depth and mutual understanding about what quality means, nurse leaders and practitioners may collaborate in finding common paths to support quality interventions and enhance quality nursing care in clinical practice.

Background and Objectives: Anxiety–depression of patients undergoing hemodialysis has a strong relation with the levels of anxiety–depression of their caregivers. The aim of this study was to evaluate anxiety–depression of dialysis patients and their caregivers. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 414 pairs of patients and caregivers from 24 hemodialysis centers of Greece completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). The statistical analysis of the data was performed through the Statistical Program SPSS version 20.0. The statistical significance level was set up at 5%. Results: The mean age of patients was 64 (54.06–72.41) years old and the mean duration of hemodialysis was 36 (16–72) months. The mean age of caregivers was 54 (44–66) years old. Of the total sample, 17.1% (n = 71) of patients had high levels of anxiety and 12.3% (n = 51) had high levels of depression. Additionally, 27.8% (n = 115) of caregivers had high levels of anxiety and 11.4% (n = 47) had high levels of depression. Caregivers had higher levels of anxiety when their patients had high levels of anxiety as well (42.3%). Additionally, they had higher levels of depression when their patients had high levels of depression as well (17.6%). Conclusions: The results of this study showed a significant association between the levels of anxiety and depression among patients and caregivers. There is a necessity for individualized assessment of dialysis patients and their caregivers and the implementation of specific interventions for reducing the levels of anxiety and depression among them.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is an important public health problem that is increasing at an alarming rate, worldwide. The most common type is permanent AF followed by the paroxysmal and persistent AF. Purpose. This study was aimed at exploring anxiety and depression and the associated factors in patients with permanent AF. Materials and Methods. The sample of the study included 170 AF patients. Data collection was performed by the method of interview using the “Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale” (HADS) to assess anxiety and depression and a questionnaire including patients’ characteristics. Results. 70% of the participants were men, and 32.4% were above 70 years old. Furthermore, 34.9% of the patients had high levels of anxiety, and 20.2% had high levels of depression. Anxiety levels were statistically significantly associated with gender p=0.022, age p=0.022, educational level p=0.025, years having the disease p=0.005, and relations with nursing staff p=0.040. Depression levels were statistically significantly associated with age p=0.037, degree of information of the state of health p<0.001, years having the disease p<0.001, and relations with medical staff p=0.041. Conclusions. Patients’ characteristics are associated with anxiety and depression and need to be evaluated when treating this frequently encountered arrhythmia.