Reviewer ’s report  
 
Title: Psychological symptoms among hospital nurses i n Taiwan: a cross sectional study  
 
Version: 2 Date: 05 Jun 2017  
 
Reviewer: Natalia Stanulewicz  
 
Reviewer's report:  
 
Second review of the manuscript BMWH -D-16-00380R2  
 
The manuscript has improved from the previous version, and most, but not all of the comments 
were addressed.  
 
 
What still needs addre ssing is listed below:  
 
1) language - there are still some incorrect sentences (with errors, e.g., line 63, line 96 - 
"multi -choice item" probably should be "list", line 148) and some that are not clear (e.g., 
line 72 -74, 197 -199, 204 -206) 
 
 
2) some rationale  is missing - for example explaining why the excellent and very good 
health were collapsed together, the same for the p < .25 cut off (line 123)  
 
 
3) The studies that are used to support the claim that nurses should be offered higher 
education opportunities is supported by rather weak evidence (ref 35, 36), stemming from 
non-nurse population, and one that looked into protective role of an already established 
educational degree. I am not strongly convinced by the authors' claim due to that. Their 
claim might n eed to be clearer, or it needs to mention the limitations of the evidence. The 
other issue is that the samples of both low education (n=33) and postgraduates (n=39) in 
this study were really small, which puts strong claims in doubt.  
 
 
4) It might be interest ing to see whether the results stay the same when combining very 
good and good health, as again sample of those with very good health seems very small 
(n=33), which can bias the results obtained.  
 
 
In general, this is a rather interesting study, which needs  a bit more of clarity.  
 
Sincerely,  
 
Natalia Stanulewicz  
Are the methods appropriate and well described?  
If not, please specify what is required in your comments to the authors.  
 
Yes 
 
Does the work include the necessary controls?  
If not, please specify which controls are required in your comments to t he authors.  
 
Yes 
 
Are the conclusions drawn adequately supported by the data shown?  
If not, please explain in your comments to the authors.  
 
Yes 
 
Are you able to assess any statistics in the manuscript or would you recommend an  
additi onal statistical review?  
If an additional statistical review is recommended, please speci fy what aspects require further 
assessment in your comments to the editors.  
 
I am able to assess the statistics  
 
Quality of written English  
Please indicate the quality of l anguage in the manuscript:  
 
Needs some language corrections before being published  
 
Declaration of competing interests  
Please complete a declaration of competing interests, considering the follow ing questions:  
 
1. Have you in the past five years received reimbursements, fees, funding, or salary from an  
organisation that may in any way gain or lose financially from the publication of this  
manuscript, either now or in the future?  
 
2. Do you hold any s tocks or shares in an organisation that may in any way gain or lose  
financially from the publication of this manuscript, either now or in the future?  
 
3. Do you hold or are you currently applying for any patents relating to the content of the  
manuscript?  
 
4. Have you received reimbursements, fees, funding, or salary from an organization that 
holds  or has applied for patents relating to the content of the manuscript?  
 
5. Do you have any other financial competing interests?  
 
6. Do you have any non -financial compe ting interests in relation to this paper?  
If you can answer no to all of the above, write 'I declare that I have no competing interests' 
below.  If your reply is yes to any, please give details below.  
 
I declare that I have no competing interests  
 
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