Purpose: The aim of this paper is to discuss exposure to stress and the incidence of occupational burnout among oncology nurses.

Methods: To study the discussed issue, we analyzed six full-text research papers which were searchable by EBSCO and met all required criteria (words included in the abstract, English publication, size of the study group).

Results: Exposure to chronic occupational stress may lead to developing burnout syndrome. Social service professionals are especially affected as they are expected to be emotionally engaged in their jobs, which particularly applies to such health care professionals as nurses, psychologists, police officers and social workers. Because of occupational burnout work efficiency may deteriorate. Oncology nurses are among the most affected nurse groups in terms of exposure to the risk of burnout.

Conclusions: Oncology nurses as well as other oncology workers exhibit an increased risk and a higher grade of burnout. Psychological training sessions are available which effectively prevent and alleviate the effects of burnout.

On one hand, the development of medicine allows to prolong the life of patients who previously had no chance for survive, on the other hand, though, it condemns some of them and their loved ones to extreme suffering. Fear of suffering is the main reason for a possible wish for euthanasia. The research aimed at measuring the attitude towards euthanasia among doctors and nurses who come in professional contact with terminally ill patients or patients versus the medical personnel who do not come in such contact. The research included: age, profession and workplace as well as personal experience in providing care to the seriously ill. The Attitudes Towards Euthanasia Questionnaire by Głębocka and Gawor was used during the research. The method consists of three scales: Informational Support, Liberal Approach and Conservative Approach. Medical stuff taking care of terminally ill patients were less conservative in their opinions than the participants from the comparative group. The intergroup differences in terms of Liberal Approach towards Euthanasia Scale were not obtained. It turned out that the age fostered the conservative approach, and working at the intensive care units or taking care of an ill relative fostered the reduction of such approach. All the respondents approve the idea of providing the patients and their families with informational support. Working in intensive care units or taking care of terminally ill relatives seems to reduce conservative attitudes towards euthanasia because persons with such experience have personally faced the multifaceted emotional and physical costs of suffering.

Background/Aim: Factors influencing the survival of the nursing home population have not yet been clearly defined. The aim of the study was to investigate the impact of nutritional, mental, functional, disease and pharmacological factors on the survival of nursing home residents with severe disabilities.
Material and Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted with a 9-year follow-up period among nursing home residents with a Barthel score ≤40. The initial assessment included the following scales: Mini Nutritional Assessment Short-Form (MNA-SF), Abbreviated Mental Test Score (AMTS), the Barthel Index, and blood pressure (BP) measurements. Comorbidities, medications and all-cause mortality were extracted from medical records. The analyzed cohort was divided into two groups: Deceased — residents who died ≤3 years and Survivors — those who survived >3 years of observation.
Results: Survivors (n = 40) and Deceased (n = 48) did not differ significantly in terms of age, sex, systolic and diastolic BP, the Barthel Index, number of diseases and medications used. Survivors had significantly higher scores in MNA-SF (p <0.001) and AMTS (p <0.003) than Deceased. Moreover, Survivors had hyper-tension significantly more often and took aspirin and ACE inhibitors (p <0.05). The multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that the MNA-SF score significantly affected mortality [OR = 0.62, (95%CI, 0.46– 0.84), p <0.001].
Conclusion: Higher MNA-SF scores were a factor that significantly affected the survival of nursing home residents, while functional status assessed using the Barthel Index had no effect on survival. MNA-SF was found to be a useful tool for assessing the risk of death in a nursing home.

Introduction: Patient Targeted Googling (PTG) is not a new phenomenon, but in Poland — according to the information available to the authors — there has been no research in this area among nurses and midwives. The above-mentioned activity is associated with many doubts and concerns of legal and ethical issues, and therefore there is a need to explore it.
Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of PTG among nurses and midwives in Poland.
Material and Methods: The study conducted among 300 working nurses and midwives used a diag-nostic survey based on the author’s survey questionnaire. Statistical analysis was performed using PQStat version: 1.8.4.142. Mann–Whitney U tests, chi^2 and Fisher’s correlations were used. The significance level was adopted at p <0.05 and highly significant at p <0.01.
Results: The respondents’ reasons for patient targeted googling were mainly lack of other sources of information, controlling adherence to recommendations, ascertaining the patient’s mental disorders, behavior, substance abuse status and physical appearance. PTG without informing the patient was con-sidered unethical and likely to violate the principle of informed consent and privacy. Respondents ex-pressed the need for PTG training.
Conclusions: The study presents the prevalence of PTG phenomenon among Polish nurses and mid-wives along with the different determinants of this activity.