Analysis of Burnout Syndrome and Resilience in Nurses throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to the occurrence of work-related stress on nursing staff. Being resilience an essential element to countering adversity. The aim of the study was to assess burnout syndrome as well as resilience in hospital-care nurses during the first outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study of burnout syndrome and resilience of 101 nurses during the first COVID-19 outbreak. The Maslach Burnout Inventory and the Scale of Resilience of Connor-Davidson were used. Results: The burnout average score was 74.35 ± 12.78 points, and resilience was 27.94 ± 5.84. Temporary nurses reached a lower average score for the emotional fatigue dimension (23.80 ± 10.39 points) p < 0.05. The emotional fatigue dimension correlated adversely with the average score of resilience (r = −0.271; p < 0.001). Conclusions: The level of burnout in nurses was high, being higher on those who took care of COVID-19 patients. Resilient nurses were able to better cope with stressful situations.

Anxiousness, Self-esteem, and Anxiety: Which Variable is a Predictor?

The paper deals with the issue on the relations of self-esteem, anxiousness and anxiety at teenagers. The aim of the research was to identify the influence of anxiousness on self-esteem and influence of self-esteem on anxiety within a sample of adolescents and intersexual difference in variables. The research sample consisted of 2 374 adolescents (females n = 1149) out of which 356 suffer from the symptoms of anxiety disorders (ADS; females n= 263). The variables were gained through the revised Rosenberg self-esteem scale and SUDS scales for anxiousness and anxiety findings. Using statistical analyses it was found that females reached a lower average score in self-esteem (t = 10.512; p <.001) and a higher average score in anxiousness (t = 10.132; p <.001). Similar results were achieved also at the sample of adolescents in variables of self-esteem (t = 3.611; p <.001) and anxiety (t = 5.845; p <.001). Furthermore, was found that there is a statistically significant predictable relation between research variables: anxiousness is a predictor of self-esteem (F = 2495.490, p<.001) at a non-ADS sample of respondents, whereby ADS respondents´ self-esteem is a significant predictor of anxiety (F = 83.810, p<.001).

Item statistics derived from three-option versions of multiple-choice questions are usually as robust as four- or five-option versions: implications for exam design

Different versions of multiple-choice exams were administered to an undergraduate class in human physiology as part of normal testing in the classroom. The goal was to evaluate whether the number of options (possible answers) per question influenced the effectiveness of this assessment. Three exams (each with three versions) were given to each of two sections during an academic quarter. All versions were equally long, with 30 questions: 10 questions with 3 options, 10 questions with 4, and 10 questions with 5 (always one correct answer plus distractors). Each question appeared in all three versions of an exam, with a different number of options in each version (three, four, or five). Discrimination (point biserial and upper-lower discrimination indexes) and difficulty were evaluated for each question. There was a small increase in difficulty (a lower average score on a question) when more options were provided. The upper-lower discrimination index indicated a small improvement in assessment of student learning with more options, although the point biserial did not. The total length of a question (number of words) was associated with a small increase in discrimination and difficulty, independent of the number of options. Quantitative questions were more likely to show an increase in discrimination with more options than nonquantitative questions, but this effect was very small. Therefore, for these testing conditions, there appears to be little advantage in providing more than three options per multiple-choice question, and there are disadvantages, such as needing more time for an exam.