Healthcare professionals working in intensive care units are often involved in end-of-life decision-making. No research has been done so far about these processes taking place in Croatian ICUs. The aim of this study was to investigate the perceptions, experiences, and challenges healthcare professionals face when dealing with end-of-life decisions in ICUs in Croatia. A qualitative study was performed using professionally homogenous focus groups of ICU nurses and physicians of diverse professional and clinical backgrounds at three research sites. In total, six (...) institutions at the tertiary level of healthcare were included. The constant comparative analysis method was used in the analysis of the data. Differences were found between the perceptions and experiences of nurses and physicians in relation to end-of-life decisions. Nurses’ perceptions were more focused on the context and features of immediate care, while physicians’ perceptions also included the wider sociocultural context. However, the critical issues these specific professional groups face when dealing with end-of-life decisions seem to overlap. A high variability of practices, both between individual practitioners and between different organizational units, was omnipresent. The lack of adequate legal, professional, and clinical guidelines was commonly expressed as one of the most critical source of difficulties. (shrink)

The novelty of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic is that it is occurring in a globalized society enhanced by digital capabilities. Our aim was to analyze the psychological and emotional states of participants in different pandemic-related contexts, with a focus on their digital and physical distancing behaviors. The online survey was applied during the ascending phase of the pandemic in March 2020 in two neighboring EU countries: Italy and Croatia. The study subjects involved four groups, two directly affected by epidemiological (...) measures and two serving as controls— participants from Italy who were in lockdown, participants from Croatia who were not in lockdown but who were in direct contact with an infected person and underwent epidemiological measures, participants from Croatia who were in an analogous situation but not near the same infected person, and participants from Croatia who were not aware of any infected person. The survey consisted of validated scales of psychological and emotional states, and custom-made questionnaires on the digital and physical behavior of the participants. The Italy group in lockdown had higher self-perceived scores for depression, stress, post-traumatic intrusion, and avoidance, as well as the highest digital activity and physical distancing than the not-in-lockdown Croatian groups. The insight into the extent of online activities and off-line isolation allowed for the introduction of Digital Activity and Physical Distancing Scores. Self-perceived post-traumatic avoidance was higher in both the Italy and CRO-contact groups than the control CRO-no contact and CRO-unrelated groups, and higher avoidance correlated with higher Digital Activity and Physical Distancing Scores. Being in direct contact with the infected person, the CRO-contact group had no other alterations than unexpectedly lower post-traumatic hyperarousal when compared with the Italy group. The Italy group in lockdown demonstrated higher self-perceived psychological toll together with higher digital activity and physical distancing than Croatian groups not in lockdown, even when compared with the affected CRO-contact group. The study outcomes suggest that the general emergency measures influenced citizens in lockdown more than exposure to the virus through direct contact with an infected person. (shrink)

U radu kritički razmatram pokušaj inkorporiranja emocija kao motiva u okvire Kantove etike. U prvom dijelu rada to činim raspravljajući o distinkciji djelovanja iz dužnosti i djelovanja prema dužnosti te o Kantovu shvaćanju pojma moralne vrijednosti. U drugom dijelu teksta analiziram poznati argument kojim se ukazuje na to da Kantova teorija ne ostavlja prostor pristranim oblicima ponašanja. Na koncu nastojim pokazati da taj prigovor ne bi trebalo olako odbaciti te sugeriram da bi prihvatljiva etička teorija trebala omogućiti integraciju emocija u (...) svoju domenu.In this paper I critically examine the attempt of incorporation of emotions as motives into the framework of Kant’s ethics. In the first part of the paper I do this by discussing the distinction of acting from duty and acting in accordance with duty as well as Kant’s understanding of the notion of moral worth. In the second part of the paper I analyze the well-known objection that there is no place for partial forms of behavior in Kant’s ethics. I try to show that this objection should not be easily dismissed and suggest that the acceptable ethical theory should integrate emotions into its domain. (shrink)