Assessment of COVID-19 Fear in Five European Countries before Mass Vaccination and Key Predictors among Nurses and Nursing Students

Background: Levels of fear have increased since the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. The absence of a safe and effective vaccine for mass-vaccination deteriorates this situation, which has a significant impact on mental health. This study aimed to assess the feelings of fear among nurses and nursing students in five European countries. Methods: A multicenter cross-sectional study was conducted in five European countries (Greece, Albania, Cyprus, Spain, and Kosovo) before the start of mass vaccination in Europe. Data collection was conducted in December 2020–January 2021 using an online questionnaire for nursing students and professional nurses. Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) was used for measuring levels of fear. IBM SPSS version 21.0 was used for statistical analysis. Results: The study population included 1135 nurses and 1920 nursing students from Kosovo (n = 1085), Spain (n = 663), Greece (n = 534), Albania (n = 529), and Cyprus (n = 244). According to multivariable analysis, females (OR = 2.53, 95% CI = 1.89–3.15), married (OR = 0.86, 95% CI = 0.24–1.48), nurses (OR = 0.87, 95% CI = 0.28–1.45) and those with a chronic disease (OR = 0.86, 95% CI = 0.11–1.62) were more fearful of COVID-19. Conclusions: It is important to decrease fear in the population of nurses who are at the frontlines of the pandemic. The provision of appropriate education and training activities for nurses and students to manage their stress levels is of high importance. Future studies should focus on levels of fear after the administration of several safe and effective vaccines worldwide. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland

Methodological protocol for assessing the environmental footprint by means of ecotoxicological tools: wastewater treatment plants as an example case

The ecotoxicological tools reveal to be profitably employable within the assessment of the so-called environmental footprint, which is commonly based on the results of a chemical monitoring. Due to the heterogeneity of biological endpoints and the possibility to explore several exposure frames, as well as to consider higher levels of organization (from cells to organisms and mesocosms), the definition of a protocol is desirable