Rostrum of Asclepius Vol 19, No. 4 (2020): October - December 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic crisis has already flooded the adoption of telehealth in a wide range of remote care applications. The growing demand for telemedicine and telenursing systems has led to a push by digital system providers for immediate solutions and applications to citizens, health professionals and public bodies as tools to tackle the pandemic. The distancing and fear of transmitting the virus has made many telemedicine applications and systems vital tools where possibly most important of them are contact detection, reporting and monitoring of possible or confirmed cases. The use of telemedicine and telenursing seems to be spreading rapidly in the field of health with good prospects for its survival and further dissemination. Digital applications and solutions for distance medical and nursing care have been around for several years but on the occasion of the COVID-19 pandemic they began to offer more possibilities in the training of health professionals, the monitoring and management of patients, the prevention of the risk of infection from the virus as well as a variety of other fields. However, there are still many obstacles to overcome at many levels, most significantly the risk of personal data breach. In any case, the undeniable advantages of telehealth can only make it an evolving necessity in the immediate future of healthcare. Keywοrds: Telehealth, telemedicine, telenursing, pandemic, COVID-19.

Keywords: Telehealth, telemedicine, telenursing, pandemic, COVID-19

Introduction: The disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 infection since its outbreak in China in the end of 2019, turned into a pandemic after having reached over 7,834 confirmed cases and 170 deaths worldwide by the end of January 2020. Purpose: The purpose of the current article is to present how SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), MERS (Middle East syndrome) and COVID-19 pandemics affected the mental health of different population subgroups and also to present the determinants of mental illness, in an attempt to understand their negative psychological effects. Material- Methodology: The methodology that was followed in this paper was the review of the international bibliography on the Pubmed, Scopus και Google Scholar on the subject of mental health during pandemics and the presentation of the wide range of psychosocial needs that emerged during the SARS, MERS and COVID-19 pandemics. Results: The conclusions derived from the first literature research on the mental health of different target groups during the COVID-19 pandemic are comparable to those that emerged during the previous two major pandemics. Therefore, the pandemic has demonstrated the necessity of timely mental health care by the immediate adoption of appropriate measures and the implementation of interventions that will be based on the different needs of the population. Conclusions: Although the Greek government took timely measures against the spread of the virus, published research efforts regarding the mental health outcomes within the Greek population, are still in their infancy. At this critical time, mental health assessment and evaluation should be a priority for health authorities in their way to managing psychological crises due to a pandemic.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic, SARS, MERS, mental health, stress, anxiety

Introduction: Atorvastatin is a selective, competitive inhibitor of HMG-CoA reductase, the enzyme responsible for converting 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-co-enzyme A to mevalonic acid, a precursor of sterols, including cholesterol . Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the therapeutic value of atorvastatin compared to other active substances in cardiological patients and to investigate the appropriate therapeutic dose. Material and Method: A systematic review was carried out involving 4 studies. The search for scientific articles was made in the international database PUB-MED and SCOPUS. Double blind, randomized clinical trials were sought in patients with diagnosed coronary artery disease who received atorvastatin. Control of treatment efficacy was based on the recording of new episodes and / or other cardiovascular events. Results: Administration of atorvastatin 10 mg versus 2 mg of pitavastatin is similar. Also, administration of atorvastatin at a dosage of 80 mg daily is safer and results in the recording of new episodes or other cardiovascular events as opposed to ad-ministration of atorvastatin 10 mg. Conclusions: From the scientific articles found and analyzed the administration of atorvastatin to cardiac patients has similar therapeutic value compared to other active substances. Administration of atorvastatin at a dosage of 80 mg predominates over atorvastatin at a dosage of 10 mg. To be more clear about the efficacy of atorvastatin in patients with coronary artery disease compared to other statins, they should be performed in a larger population and with a longer follow up time.

Keywords: Atorvastatin, treatment, coronary disease

Introduction: Over the last few decades, the interest of healthcare professionals is increasingly centered on patient satisfaction with the healthcare provided. Aim: The aim is to assess the parents'/guardians' satisfaction with the services/conditions of the children who have been hospitalized in a General Hospital providing health services in the prefecture of Attica. Method-Sample: The sample consists of 100 parents/guardians of children hospitalized during the period June-November 2017. Sampling was performed randomly. For the needs of the study, a questionnaire with closed type questions was used. The statistical package SPSS 20.0 was used for the statistical analysis of the data. Results: The average rate of hospital evaluation was 8.02. As far as the medical services were concerned (being shown kindness, being listened to carefully, being explained to and being kept informed), the parents expressed a fairly high level of satisfaction, an average of 83.7%. The mean medical staff rating score was 3.27 (standard deviation 0.54, median 3.5, minimum 1.75 and maximum 3.75) and the mean nursing staff rating score was 3.13 (standard deviation 0.84, median 3, minimum 1 and maximum 4).The parents/guardians who experienced long waiting times in the emergency department before the child was examined, rated the nursing staff with a lower score(p = 0.037) and rated the hospital as a whole with a lower score (p = 0.002). Other analyzed parameters included speed of admission, examination room cleanliness, waiting time for emergency medical examination, child’s isolation during the medical examination so he/she could not be seen or heard by people, who should not have been able to do so, kindness shown by the administrative staff, with satisfaction results of 68%, 91%, 59%, 75%, 62% respectively. Conclusions: This research has shown that, overall, satisfaction with the hospital services being provided was satisfactory, however, improvement is needed. The results showed weaknesses in the long waiting time for the medical examination in the pediatric emergency department.

Keywords: Pediatric patients, hospitalized children, hospital services, hospital conditions, satisfaction, quality

Introduction: The phenomenon of mobbing in hospitals is an important inhibitor both for the psychospiritual balance of clinical nurses and for the proper functioning of hospitals as organizations. Aim: The investigation of the frequency of mobbing in clinical nurses and its impact on them. Methods: Search was performed on PubMed on March 13, 2020 with the key-words: “mobbing” and “nurse*”, without time limit for the publication of scientific papers. Studies were excluded if they were not published in English language, were conducted on animals and were case studies, editorials and letters to the editor. Results: Of the scientific papers retrieved, 14 were included in the systematic review. The prevalence of mobbing in clinical nurses ranged from 4.6% to 86.5%. This large variation is due to the characteristics of the health system of each country. Finally, the results of the studies showed that mobbing reduces the productivity of clinical nurses and the climate of cooperation and solidarity between them, increases anxiety, depression and stress levels, reduces the feeling of satisfaction and safety of the working environment and increases the number of absences from work. Conclusions: Mobbing is a common form of work-related violence experienced by clinical nurses. Hospital administrations are invited to acquire the knowledge to identify this phenomenon in the workplace in order to develop policies to prevent and address it. Mobbing is a common form of work-related violence experienced by clinical nurses. Hospital administrations are called to acquire the knowledge to identify this phenomenon in the workplace in order to develop policies to prevent and address it.

Keywords: Mobbing, nurses, effects