Self-care for health care professionals is essential in order to optimize the care they provide and to prevent serious consequences for their health. This scoping review aimed to identify (a) the concepts used in the literature to describe self-care; (b) interventions that influence self-care. The scoping review was conducted according to the criteria and methodology by Arksey and O’Malley, from November 2020 to January 2021, by consulting the following databases: Pubmed, CINAHL, Scopus, PsycInfo, Cochrane Library, Joanna Briggs Library. Various keywords and MesH terms were used for the search, including self-care, nurses, midwives, nursing, midwifery, self-compassion, and self-awareness. Eighteen studies were included. The concept of self-care is related to three constructs: (a) Mindfulness; (b) Compassion; and (c) Resilience. In the literature, self-care interventions can be distinguished as (a) mindfulness-based; (b) educational; (c) multimodal approach; and (d) mind-body interventions. In recent years, the concept of self-care is a topic of great interest in the literature; dealing with self-care from both a theoretical and a practical—personal and professional—perspective has become more important in order to promote practitioners’ well-being. This scoping review helps to clarify the terms related to self-care and looks at tested interventions to improve the well-being of caregivers.

Background: The concept of unfinished nursing care (UNC) describes nursing interventions required by patients and families that nurses postpone or omit. UNC reasons have been documented; however, no studies have summarised the underlying factors triggering the UNC during the pandemic. Therefore, the aim was to synthesise the available studies exploring factors affecting UNC during a pandemic. Methods: We conducted an integrative review following Whittemore and Knafl’s framework according to the Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. PubMed, the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) and the Scopus databases were searched for primary studies that collected data from 1 January 2020 to 1 May 2023. Both qualitative and quantitative studies assessing the reasons for UNC were eligible and evaluated in their quality using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme and the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. Results: Four studies were included—three qualitative and one cross-sectional. The reasons for UNC have been documented at the following levels: (a) system (e.g., new healthcare system priorities); (b) unit (e.g., ineffective work processes); (c) nurse management (e.g., inadequate nurse manager’s leadership); (d) nurse (e.g., nurses’ attitudes, competences, performances); and (e) patient (increased demand for care). Conclusion: The reasons for UNC during the COVID-19 pandemic are different to those documented in the pre-pandemic times and reflect a pre-existing frailty of the National Health Service towards nursing care.

The COVID-19 epidemic caught governments and health authorities off guard and found them unprepared to face its impact on the world population. Italy was the second country after China to face the outbreak of COVID-19 in the first few months of 2020 and the northern part of the country was hit first and most heavily. Following the JD-R theory, an online survey was administered to investigate which specific risk and protective factors predicted depression in a heterogeneous sample of workers. The analyses (analysis of variance, correlations, multiple linear regressions) were run in the total sample and in the sample split by possibility of remote working. The sample consists of 301 workers in northern Italy, 65.1% being women, and a mean age of 42 years. Depression levels were higher in women and in those who were not able to work remotely. In the total sample, emotional exhaustion at work, sleep–wake cycle problems, and longing for touch were significant predictors of depression. The sample split by the possibility of remote working also showed interesting differences. The results show the importance of monitoring the mental health of workers from professional contexts that are currently less widely studied than the healthcare sector, with particular interest in the possibility of remote working.

Italy was the second country to be affected by COVID-19 in early 2020, after China. The confrontation with the pandemic led to great changes in the world of work and, consequently, to the personal world of workers. In such a challenging situation, it is essential to be able to rely on resources that facilitate individual coping. The aim of this study was to understand the association between personal resources (optimism and humor) and exhaustion, and the role of self-compassion in this relationship. A structural equation model (SEM) was used to test the hypotheses on a heterogeneous sample of 422 Italian workers during the first lockdown in April–May 2020. The results revealed that optimism and humor were positively associated with self-compassion; optimism and humor also had a negative association with exhaustion; and self-compassion had a mediating role between the two personal resources and exhaustion. These results confirmed the importance of personal resources in maintaining workers’ wellbeing during a challenging period such as the pandemic. The present study also contributes to the body of knowledge on self-compassion, a relatively new construct that has been little studied in the organizational field.