In recent years, the globe has faced a series of topics of growing concern, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the international financial crisis, rising socio-economic inequalities, the negative outcomes of greenhouse gas emissions, which resulted in climate change, and many others. Organizations worldwide have confronted these new challenges of sustainable finance by incorporating environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) factors and digital transformation (DT) in their innovation business strategies. The healthcare sector represents a large share of the global economy (about 10% of global economic output), employs a large number of workers, and needs to rely more on an open innovation model where interested parties, especially patients, are going to have a say in their own well-being. Thus, it is imperative that healthcare providers be efficient, effective, resilient, and sustainable in the face of significant challenges and risks. At the same time, they must offer sustainable development goals and digital transformation to healthcare users through limited governmental resources. This study investigates the role, importance, and correlation of ESG factors and digital transformation to the sustainable finance of healthcare systems through an innovative model. The main purpose of the paper is to present the already implemented ESG and DT factors in the healthcare sector and to propose a mutual and combined implementation strategy based on common evaluation tools, methods, and actions. A set of proposed actions and strategies are presented for the sustainability and resilience of the healthcare sector.

The healthcare sector is an ever-growing industry which produces a vast amount of waste each year, and it is crucial for healthcare systems to have an effective and sustainable medical waste management system in order to protect public health. Greek public hospitals in 2018 produced 9500 tons of hazardous healthcare wastes, and it is expected to reach 18,200 tons in 2025 and exceed 18,800 tons in 2030. In this paper, we investigated the factors that affect healthcare wastes. We obtained data from all Greek public hospitals and conducted a regression analysis, with the management cost of waste and the kilos of waste as the dependent variables, and a number of variables reflecting the characteristics of each hospital and its output as the independent variables. We applied and compared several models. Our study shows that healthcare wastes are affected by several individual-hospital characteristics, such as the number of beds, the type of the hospital, the services the hospital provides, the number of annual inpatients, the days of stay, the total number of surgeries, the existence of special units, and the total number of employees. Finally, our study presents two prediction models concerning the management costs and quantities of infectious waste for Greece’s public hospitals and proposes specific actions to reduce healthcare wastes and the respective costs, as well as to implement and adopt certain tools, in terms of sustainability.

Background: Nurses experience high levels of anxiety and depression since they work in a highly stressful environment. Thus, the identification of preventive factors against nurses’ anxiety and depression is essential to improve their quality of life. In this context, our aim was to examine the impact of resilience and social support on nurses’ anxiety and depressive symptoms. Methods: A cross-sectional online study was implemented in Greece in September 2024. We used the Brief Resilience Scale, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, and Patient Health Questionnaire-4 to measure resilience, social support, anxiety, and depressive symptoms, respectively. Results: Our sample included 677 nurses with a mean age of 37.73 years (standard deviation: 9.38). Our multivariable linear regression models identified a negative relationship between resilience and anxiety (adjusted standardized beta coefficient =−0.38; p < 0.001) and depressive symptoms (adjusted standardized beta coefficient = −0.36; p < 0.001). Similarly, we found that significant others’ support was associated with reduced anxiety (adjusted standardized beta coefficient = −0.27; p < 0.001) and depressive symptoms (adjusted standardized beta coefficient = −0.23; p < 0.001). The standardized beta coefficient indicated that resilience has a greater impact on anxiety and depressive symptoms than significant others’ support. Conclusions: Our findings suggest resilience and social support have a protective function against nurses’ anxiety and depressive symptoms. Managers and policymakers should adopt appropriate interventions to improve nurses’ resilience and social support and, thus, to improve their mental health and quality of life.

Background/Objectives: Workplace gaslighting towards subordinates is an alarming issue. However, the negative consequences of workplace gaslighting in nurses are unknown. In this context, our aim was to examine the association between workplace gaslighting and nurses’ mental health and work life. Methods: We conducted an online cross-sectional study in Greece during December 2024. We employed a convenience sample of nurses. We used the Gaslighting at Work Scale (GWS) to measure levels of workplace gaslighting among our nurses. We used the Patient Health Questionnaire-4, the Quiet Quitting Scale, and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale-3 to measure anxiety/depression, quiet quitting, and work engagement, respectively. Results: The study population included 369 nurses with a mean age of 37.86 years. We found that workplace gaslighting increases anxiety and depressive symptoms in our nurses. After adjustment for confounders, we found a positive association between GWS scores and anxiety (adjusted b = 0.758, 95% CI = 0.606 to 0.909, p<0.001), and depression (adjusted b = 0.720, 95% CI = 0.555 to 0.885, p<0.001). Moreover, our multivariable models showed a positive association between GWS scores and quiet quitting (adjusted b = 0.258, 95% CI = 0.186 to 0.330, p<0.001). Also, we found a negative association between GWS scores and work engagement (adjusted b = -0.353, 95% CI = -0.512 to -0.195, p<0.001). Conclusions: Our findings suggested that nurses who experience higher levels of gaslighting from their supervisors have also more anxiety and depressive symptoms. Moreover, workplace gaslighting increased levels of quiet quitting among our nurses and reduced their work engagement. Therefore, healthcare organizations, policy makers, and supervisors should pay special attention to workplace gaslighting by implementing appropriate interventions to reduce its prevalence.

Background: Sustainability in healthcare has gained increasing importance due to its impact on environmental, financial, and social strategies, as well as on public health, and therefore, relevant policies and actions can also play a significant role in telemedicine services. The establishment of a sustainable telemedicine network at a country level is important to improve access to healthcare, reduce costs, increase convenience, and ensure the continuity of service delivery. However, there are significant environmental, social, technological, human, and governance challenges to meet the sustainability conditions for these networks. Methods: Thus, a narrative literature review was conducted to investigate the telemedicine implementation aspects and the sustainability dimensions in a unified approach and integrated strategy in order to develop a more resilient and equitable healthcare solution, ensuring its long-term integration into healthcare systems. Results: This paper aims to identify critical factors related to the proposed governance model for the National Telemedicine Network in Greece (EDIT) that influence sustainability requirements and interdisciplinary strategies to address relevant challenges. Conclusions: By examining these factors, the paper seeks to propose the fundamental pillars of a sustainable telemedicine framework and the methodology for developing a sustainability plan that will enhance EDIT’s capacities toward a sustainable and resilient operation of telemedicine as a standard practice within the Greek healthcare system.

This study examines the attitudes of healthcare organizations and employees in the Greek Healthcare System towards climate change and the influence of management in promoting environmentally friendly practices. A questionnaire was sent electronically to the 7 Health Districts of Greece and private sector healthcare workers associated with the researchers, while the sample consisted of service (administration, nursing, technical, and medical). The main findings indicate that public sector health organizations are lacking in motivating employees to adopt "green" actions during their work. Communication and information dissemination from administration to healthcare professionals were identified as significant challenges, resulting in participants being unsure of how to respond, in contrast to the private sector which showed slightly more positive results. Moreover, the study highlights a positive association between education level and voluntary green behaviors of employees. This research emphasizes the urgency to confront climate change in conjunction with the principles of Organizational Behavior within the Greek Healthcare System.