Examining the Mediating Role of the Fear of COVID-19 in the Relationship Between Anxiety and Burnout Levels Among Teachers in Turkey

The COVID-19 pandemic stands as one of the most significant challenges confronting education and training systems worldwide. Since the early stages of the pandemic, teachers have experienced elevated levels of stress accompanied by symptoms of anxiety, depression, and sleep disturbances, particularly due to the demands of distance learning. Although there are studies on this subject, more evidence is needed to explore the role of the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkish teachers’ anxiety and burnout. Consequently, the present study aimed to examine the mediating role of the fear of COVID-19 in the relationship between the anxiety experienced by teachers and the level of burnout in studies conducted on teachers during the pandemic process. A total of 262 (57.8% female) teachers from Turkey completed a questionnaire comprising psychometric instruments of the aforementioned variables. The path analysis indicated that fear of COVID-19 mediated the association between anxiety and personal success sub-dimension of burnout, but not emotional exhaustion and depersonalization. The findings of the present study indicate that anxious feelings may exacerbate burnout among teachers in Turkey and that the fear of COVID-19 may play a role on that aforementioned relationship. Consequently, health professionals and clinicians that aim to develop intervention and treatment strategies for Turkish teachers’ anxiety and burnout levels should take the fear of COVID-19 into consideration. Keywords: Anxiety, Burn Out, Fear Of COVID-19, Pandemic, Teachers DOI: 10.7176/RHSS/14-3-07 Publication date: April 30th 202

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries