Objective To describe nursing workload in Intensive Care Units (ICU) in different countries according to the scores obtained with Nursing Activities Score (NAS) and to verify the agreement among countries on the NAS guideline interpretation. Method This cross-sectional study considered 1-day measure of NAS (November 2012) obtained from 758 patients in 19 ICUs of seven countries (Norway, the Netherlands, Spain, Poland, Egypt, Greece and Brazil). The Delphi technique was used in expertise meetings and consensus. Results The NAS score was 72.8% in average, ranging from 44.5% (Spain) to 101.8% (Norway). The mean NAS score from Poland, Greece and Egypt was 83.0%, 64.6% and 57.1%, respectively. The NAS score was similar in Brazil (54.0%) and in the Netherlands (51.0%). There were doubts in the understanding of five out 23 items of the NAS (21.7%) which were discussed until researchers’ consensus. Conclusion NAS score were different in the seven countries. Future studies must verify if the fine standardization of the guideline can have a impact on differences in the NAS results.

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Background Health care workers employed in the COVID‐19 emergency are at a high risk of stress. Aims and objectives To explore the mediating roles of self‐efficacy and resilience between stress and both physical and mental quality‐of‐life components in intensive care nurses during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Design Cross‐sectional survey design. Methods The stress subscale (depression, anxiety, and stress scale in Spanish Scale, DASS‐21), the summary components (physical and mental) of health‐related quality of life (SF‐36), the general self‐efficacy scale (GSES), and the resilience scale (RS‐14) were administered in 308 intensive care nurses. Serial multiple mediator models were used. Results There was a significant indirect effect of levels of perceived stress on both physical and mental health components through self‐efficacy and resilience. Specifically, greater perception of self‐efficacy was associated with a lower perception of stress and greater resilience, while higher resilience was associated with greater physical and mental health (B = −0.03; SE = 0.02; 95% confidence interval [CI] = [−0.07, −0.01]; B = −0.03, SE = 0.01, 95% CI = [−0.07, −0.01], respectively). It was observed that self‐efficacy alone also mediates the relationship of the perception of stress on the components of physical and mental health (B = −0.07; SE = 0.05; 95% CI = [−0.18, −0.03]; B = −0.09; SE = 0.04; 95% CI = [−0.17, −0.24], respectively). However, resilience alone was not a significant mediator of these associations. Conclusions It can be concluded that stress is linked to the physical and mental health components related to quality of life through self‐efficacy and resilience. Relevance to clinical practice These psychological resources would allow the nursing staff to maintain a good quality of life despite high levels of stress. These findings have implications for future research in terms of both model testing and clinical application.

In this study, our purpose was to examine whether personality and cognitive factors could be related to post-partum depression (PPD), mediated by anxiety, in Spanish women. Women were evaluated for personality and cognitive factors after the first trimester, for anxiety in the third trimester, and for PPD 4 months after childbirth. A structural equation model revealed that personality and cognitive factors were associated with anxiety and PPD as predictors. Neuroticism and extroversion proved to be the most relevant factors. Conscientiousness was associated with pregnancy anxiety. Pregnancy anxiety appeared as an independent predictor of PPD. The model presented here includes personality and cognitive and emotional factors as predictors of PPD. Comprehensive care for pregnant women should contemplate assessment and intervention on all these aspects. Special focus should be on cognitive factors and emotional regulation strategies, so as to minimize the risk of later development of emotional disorders during puerperal phases.

Worries related to the health of the fetus are universal across different nationalities. A first pregnancy, unplanned pregnancy, and previous miscarriage are risk factors that influence the intensity of a woman's worries. To improve the health and quality of life of pregnant women, a holistic approach to their care should include evaluation of their worries and appropriate intervention in particular groups considered at risk.

Most studies about coping in pregnancy focus on risk pregnancies where it has generally been found that the use of religious coping has a positive effect, although to our knowledge there are no studies that associate religious coping to locus of control. We analyzed, in a sample of 285 Spanish women with normal pregnancies, the effect of both variables on psychiatric symptoms and on the relationship between psychiatric symptoms and pregnancy worries. The results show no association between locus of control and religious coping. Locus of control has a significant influence on the pregnant women's mental health, while religious coping just adds an additional influence.

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