Evidências de validação de um protocolo para assistência às pessoas com úlceras venosas em serviços de alta complexidade

Venous ulcers are lesions resulting from chronic venous insufficiency, venous valvular abnormalities and venous thrombosis. Its occurrence has been growing with the increase in life expectancy of the world population. Considered as fundamental aspects in the approach to the person with venous ulcer care with the interdisciplinary approach, adoption of protocol-specific knowledge, technical skill, coordination between levels of care complexity of the Health System and active participation of patients and their families, a holistic perspective. The construction of a clinical protocol for people with venous ulcers can help professionals of high complexity services in patient assessment and the establishment of quality care in a systematic way and focused on the factors that interfere with wound healing. Thus, this study aimed to analyze the evidence of validation of a clinical protocol for people with venous ulcers treated at high-complexity services. This is a methodological study with a quantitative approach, developed in three stages: literature review, evidence of content validity and evidence of validation in the clinical context. Approved by the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte Research Ethics Committee (Opinion: 147.452 and CAAE: 07556312.0.0000.5537). The literature review was conducted in August and September 2012, becoming the basis for the construction of the protocol. Then the evidence of content validity, which included 53 judges (experts) selected by the Lattes platform to evaluate the protocol items was performed. The judges were contacted by e-mail and rated the protocol via Google Docs . After analyzing the ratios obtained in this step, which reported kappa between 0.75 and 0.96 and between 0.80 and 0.98 IVC, and the suggestions of the judges, the protocol was adjusted and subjected to empirical evidence to validate the clinical setting at the University Hospital Onofre Lopes in Natal / RN. Evidence of validation in the clinical setting involved 4 judges who acted in pairs (paired) evaluated 32 patients with venous ulcers in the clinical context of high complexity. In both stages, we used the Kappa Index and Content Validity Index to analyze the responses of the judges. The parameters set as acceptable for these indices were: Kappa ≥ 0.61 and Content Validity Index > 0.80. Any evidence of content validity, as evidence of validation in the clinical context, the protocol items that have not reached Kappa and Content Validity Index established indices were excluded and some items were modified or added after suggestions. The process of content validation evidence and evidence of validation in the clinical setting allowed the improvement of the protocol for the care of people with venous ulcers initially proposed. The initial version of the protocol, built from the literature, contained 15 categories and 108 items; after evidence of content validity, remained the reduction to 15 categories with 91 items; the final version, clinically validated, is composed of the same 15 categories, 76 items. The protocol was validated in its content and in the clinical aspect, so we accepted the alternative hypothesis in the study. This protocol may contribute to the care system, allowing tailor behaviors and promote greater resolution in the treatment of people with venous ulcers in health services of high complexity

Segurança da informação no correio eletrônico com base na ISO/IEC 17799 :um estudo de caso em uma instituição superior com foco no treinamento

The electronic mail service is one of the most Internet services that grow in the corporate environment. This evolution is bringing several problems for the organizations, especially to information that circulates inside of the corporate net. The lack of correct orientation to the people, about the usage and the security importance of these resources, is leaving breaches and causing misusage and overuse of service, for example. In recent literature, it starts to coming out several ideas, which has helped to rganizations how to plain and how to implement the information security system to the electronic mail in computer environment. However, these ideas are still not placed in practice in many companies, public or private. This dissertation tries to demonstrate the results of a research that has like goal, identify the importance that user training has over the information security policy, through a case study inside of private superior education institute in this state. Besides, this work had by basic orientation the ISO/IEC 17799, which talk about People Security. This study was developed over a proposed model to this research, which looked for offer conditions to guide the institution studied, how to plan better a information security policy to the electronic mail. Also, this research has an exploratory and descreptive nature and your type, qualitative. Firstly, it was applied na questionary to the information technology manager, as better way to get some general data and to deepen the contact which still then, it was being kept through e-mail. Thereupon this first contact, eleven interviews were done with the same manager, beside one interview with twenty-four users, among employees e students. After that to collect and transcript the interviews, were review with the manager all informations given, to correct any mistakes and to update that informations, to then, start the data analyze. The research suggests that the institution has a pro attitude about the information security policy and the electronic mail usage. However, it was clear that answers have their perception about information security under a very inexperient way, derived of a planning lack in relation to training program capable to solve the problem

Cultura organizacional e qualidade dos serviços turísticos :um estudo no setor de restaurantes

The present study seeks to describe the features and peculiarities of the relationship between organizational culture and the quality of tourism services, specifically in the restaurant sector, attempting to contribute toward maintaining the tourism sector of the city of Natal/RN. Thus, a descriptive and correlational study, with qualitative and quantitative approaches, of thirty-seven restaurants that are located in areas that compose the tourism corridor of Natal was undertaken. To collect the quantitative dada, the Organizational Culture Evaluation instrument of Cameron and Quinn (2006) was applied and the SERVPERF instrument of Cronin and Taylor (1992) was used to measure the quality of the services. The results suggest that the Clan and Innovation Cultures are associated with better levels of quality of services than those of the Market and Hierarchy Cultures. The relationships that were identified in this study are consistent with results found in other studies and the information reported here can serve as a basis for managers of the restaurant sector to reach excellence in their services, satisfying their customers and contributing to maintaining the tourism sector

Associação entre as narrativas em saúde bucal e condições socioeconômico-culturais: a dentição como reflexo da desigualdade social

This anthropological study investigates the lived-experience of oral diseases in the context of poverty in Northeast Brazil. During six months in 2004???, ethnographic interviews, narratives and participant-observation with 31 residents of the low-income community, Dendê, located in Fortaleza, Ceará were conducted and analyzed utilizing a hermeneutic-dialetic method. It is revealed that precarious life conditions make prioritizing caretaking a difficult task. Despite suffering tooth pain, seeking a dentist's care is perceived as "a luxury" not a citzens' right. Difficulties in accessing services and poor quality restorations, favor tooth extractions as the most effective intervention. The deterioration of one's oral health is lamented by community members who seek help from popular clinics, politicians and traditional healers. The experience of dental disease differs according to social class, leaves oral scars of inequity, harms self-esteem and inhibits social inclusion. In this context, "treating" the Teeth of Inequity demands that we deepen our comprehension of the social determinants of health, reduce injustice in the access to quality care, remove demoralizing stigmas and empower the community to confront structural forces which affect its life

Acesso aos serviços odontológicos e incidência de cárie em adolescentes e fatores de risco em município do Nordeste Brasileiro, 2006

The aims of this study were to analyze the access of dental services by child population, to determine the prevalence of dental caries, gingivitis and malocclusion in resident children from the municipal district of Sobral Ceará and to evaluate the incidence of the dental decay in adolescents associated with the factors related to socioeconomic condition, access to health services and self-perception. This study had as main factor the multidisciplinary represented by the participation of health professional (doctors, dentists, nurses) in the development of the survey's initial reference; student from Human Sciences area to apply the structured questionnaire in domiciliary visits; statistics professionals in the orientation of the analysis to be held and family health team (community health agents, dentists and dental clinic assistants) in the scheduling of domiciliary visits and the accomplishment of oral exam. The sample was determined from the domicile record that included children born between 1990 and 1994 to develop the research Children health conditions in the municipal district of Sobral Ceará . The first sample comprised 3425 parents of children from 5 to 9 years old, living in the urban area at the municipal district of Sobral Ceará, aiming at identifying the most important factors associated to the access to dental service. From this sample, 1021 children were selected in a systematic way, for the accomplishment to the epidemiological study of decay, gingivitis and malocclusion. In the study's third phase, in order to arrange the group to be followed, 688 adolescents were examined and interviewed, by means of the active search from the 1021 individuals that had been previously examined. It was observed that 50.9% of the children had access to dental service at least once in a lifetime. Of this total, 65.3% accomplished it during the last year, and 85.4% of these did in public services, what allows to identify the importance of this sector in the access to dental services. It was observed that the factors that most affected the access to dental 129 services were related to socioeconomic condition, such as the access to health plan, the possession of toothbrush, garbage collecting, mother s schooling, sewerage treatment and malnutrition. In relation to oral diseases, an increase in the DMF-T index according the age was observed, from 0.10 in five years old to 1.66 in the nine years old, while with the dmf-t index, the inverse happened, since the index decreased from 3.59 in five years old to 2.69 in nine years old. In relation to gingivitis, an average 32.7% of the children presented gum bleeding. In what concerns malocclusion, it was observed that 60.3% of the children didn't present any problem, 30.17% had light malocclusion and 9.5% severe malocclusion. The average incidence of dental caries was 1.86 teeth per youngster. Among the studied variables, tooth pain in the last six months, mother's income and school snack, adjusted by the perception about the need of treatment, the mother's schooling and the dentist's appointment at least once in a lifetime, were the variables that presented positive relationship with the high incidence of dental caries on this population by logistic regression. Variables of socioeconomic nature, related to the access to health services and behavior and biological variables presented a relationship with the high caries incidence. The study point out to the need of developing health actions in a humanized way, by an oral health team effectively bound to the population's interest, with the great objective to provide, with the public health services managers, adequate conditions to improve oral health

Determinantes socioeconômicos e ambientais do declínio das hospitalizações por diarréias em lactentes no Rio Grande do Norte - 1992 a 2001

There was a significant decline in hospitalizations for acute diarrhea in children younger than 1 year of age in Brazil between 1992 to 2001. The less economically developed state of Rio Grande do Norte is a case example of the national trend. In this work, we show a significant association between improvements in socioeconomic variables as well as increased access to sanitation and the decreased rate of hospitalization. Additionally, we observed a positive, seasonal correlation between rainfall and hospitalizations. Most notably, however, we show that improvements in income and inflation were positively correlated with a decline in hospitalizations. Improvements in public health infrastructure, socioeconomic variables like education and literacy, and increased investment in health services were important in reducing severe early childhood diarrheas. However, the data suggests that increased buying power and reductions in poverty played an equally crucial role in reducing hospitalizations for acute diarrhea in infants in Brazil. The work includes elements of the demography of the period for the age groups involved, children under one year, women in fertile age and fertility rate

Violência institucional no âmbito da saúde reprodutiva : a percepção de mulheres usuárias do SUS, na cidade de Natal/RN

Institutional violence ranges from the most widespread lack of access to the poor quality of services provided. It includes abuses committed by virtue of the unequal power between patients and professionals within institutions. The aim of this study was to analyze the perception of women with regard to this type of violence, in the services offered at a reproductive health facility belonging to the National Health System (SUS) in Natal, Brazil. Interdisciplinary perspective is important, in that it provides interaction and complementarity between various disciplines, favoring, in an integrated way, a thematic approach in research activities, teaching and extension, involving professionals, students and researchers in medicine, social services, psychology, nursing, anthropology and physical therapy. A quantitative/qualitative approach was used, involving a sample of 401 women, as part of a transversal observational study. In the qualitative stage, which consisted of participatory observation and semi-structured interviews, we used an intentional sample of 10 individuals. The data were analyzed using logistic regression techniques, correspondence analysis and categorical thematic content analysis, showing that the 2 questions that investigated directly the perception of institutional violence obtained affirmative response frequencies of 28.2% and 31.8%, respectively. In regard to data collected in a field diary related to participatory observation, the main complaints referred to the health providerpatient relation, translated into dissatisfaction with the interpersonal relationship and with the resolution of the specific demand that required care. From content analysis, we classified 4 categories: Access; Information; Health professionalpatient relation; and Respect/dignity. We identified 6 subcategories: Impossibility of choice; Repressed demand; Communication difficulty; Asymmetric interpersonal relations; Privacy/confidentiality; Disrespect. We concluded, therefore, that the data presented show that in the reproductive health care programs, there are indicators of institutional violence. However, it is difficult to approach this phenomenon, mainly because of the power relations involved in the patient-health care provider interaction, resulting from unawareness that determinate situations violate sexual and reproductive rights. This can be explained by sociostructural questions that reveal marked inequalities, ratified by issues related to violation of the rights of National Health System (SUS) patients

Representações sociais dos trabalhadores de saúde da atenção básica sobre envelhecimento e o atendimento ao idoso

This study aims to identify the social representations built on senior care health workers of Primary Care. This is an exploratory research within the subsidized social representations held in 100 Basic Health Units in the city of João Pessoa-PB, with a sample of n= 204 workers of both sexes, who agreed to participate. To collect the data used to set an interview in two parts: the first looked at the Test of Free Association of Words using the inductive stimulus "senior care". The interviews were analyzed with the help of a software for quantitative analysis of textual data ALCESTE (version 2010). The results were interpreted from the theoretical framework of social representations. The study included 178 women (87.25%) and 26 men (12.75%), working in Family Health Units in the city of João Pessoa, the majority are aged between 40-49 years of age ( 28.92%), and have higher education with 81.86%. The results of Alceste link to the term inducer six (6) where the hierarchical classes representing senior care workers as synonymous with care and attention, showing situations neglect of the elderly, for that patience is required to promote the increase of disease prevention and living with the elderly to generate humanization in health services. It is considered that the social representations of health workers on assistance to the elderly may support modeling of strategic actions in health services with health promotion programs for large groups, able to modify practices and behavior in elder care and strengthening the policy was directed at the elderly

Cartografia da percepção de mês e profissionais sobre a atenção a saúde de crianças/adolescentes soropositivos no município de Natal

This study had as objective to identify to the perception of mothers and professionals of health on the attention to the health of HIV-Positive children/adolescents in the city of Natal-RN. It is a descriptive-exploratory study with quantitative and qualitative approach, carried through in the Giselda Trigueiro Hospital and in the State and Municipal Health Councils in Natal - RN, from march to december of 2005. The sample was composed by 56 participants, 33 mothers of children who use specialized assistance and 23 professionals. Data collection occurred with the application of a half-structuralized interview. Quantitative data were analyzed through descriptive statistics and qualitative data were submitted to content analysis. Prevailing categories in relation to the cartography of the attention to seropositive children and adolescents in Natal were: Organization and dynamics of the attention; Institutional management and human development; Control and prevention; other contexts of attention; relationship/communication team-patient and organization and functioning of the services. The profile epidemiologist of the children, adolescents and of the people/mothers, who take care of them with HIV/Aids, followed the evolution of the epidemic in the country and the world. It was verified that mothers need care and information; however they make a positive evaluation of the attendance they receive. It was also observed many gaps in the services of assistance, in which the researched group was attended, beyond imperfections in the communication between health professionals and users. The professionals recognize the advances that the politics represent for the assistance of people with Aids; however feel themselves limited by the precariousness of the system and the partner-economic conditions of the people. According to these data, it can be verified great challenges to go through in the context of integrality of the assistance to HIV positive children and adolescents in the city of Natal and in the improvement of the communication in the institution of reference

Atenção ao usuário em um centro de referência HIV/Aids: perspectiva de profissionais e usuários

We study the health care focused on care in an intercessor and dialogical relationship with the User, which involves the construction of therapeutic projects essential to the quality of the treatment of the user in health services, and it is necessary individual and collective actions. It is intended to acknowledge and analyze the perception of social subjects, users and professionals on the treatment given to a user of a Specialized Outpatient Service (Serviço Ambulatorial Especializado SAE) in STD/HIV/AIDS state reference in Natal, RN. The study is structured in a transdisciplinary vision of science and knowledge, theoretical and methodological principles that give meaning to the expression of the institutional features of care and health care reconnecting them to the social context. As a research strategy we seek the expressions of 56 subjects of social research, which agreed to participate in the sample, from a symbolic map of the attention, coupled with the techniques of observation and semi-structured interview. For the analysis of the results, five categories of analysis were established: the meaning of the service, care perception, process of communication and interaction, treatment perception and organization and evaluation of the service. It is argued that the attention and care are developed in a technical health care assistance to the disease, focusing on attention based on treatment, on diagnostic and drug therapy of antiretroviral drugs, reflecting the traditional biomedical paradigm of attention to the disease. This is also the mode of organization of practical actions in daily SAE: the therapy proves to be fragmented in several specialties, vertical and feeds the same model, generating tension and overload for professionals; showing impersonal care focused on structured and informative technology, unrelated to an interactive dialogic. From the speech of the subjects, the SAE is understood as the place of confrontation with the disease, but also enables greater elaboration of the illness by meeting their peers. Living with HIV and AIDS is living with concern, apprehension and fear, but mainly with the stigma, prejudice and exclusion, which require that the disease is kept in secret. There is a movement of forces and power, expressed in the knowledge-power of those who dominate the technical and administrative capabilities, devices that concentrate the maintenance of the medicalization of care, rapid consultations and with little attention, making it difficult to interact with and listen to, combined with structural failures, organizational and inadequate management of the service. We conclude that there are dimensions that are not considered in the internal dynamics of the care service multiple forms, characterized by care conflicting models, marked by individual interventions related to the disease. The subject is not considered together with his speech as technical discourse is imposed and care production based on material technology is observed

Repercussões da terapia comunitária no processo de trabalho na estratégia saúde da família: um estudo representacional

The Community Therapy (CT) is in a practice of therapeutic effect and may also be considered as a technology takes care of the therapeutic procedure group, whose purpose is to promote health, prevent illness, developed within primary care in mental health. In this study we sought to understand the social representations of health professionals who work with the Community Therapy, on use of the Family Health Strategy (FHS) in the city of Joao Pessoa. This is a field research with a qualitative view Moscovician Theory of Social Representations, held with seven professionals of the FHS, therapists of Community Health District II. The empirical data were obtained by carrying out two thematic therapies in April 2009, which were wheeled CT. It was used as a technique for analyzing the collective subject discourse, and the data presented through graphs, charts, maps, pictures and graphics and arranged in three stages: Subjects of the study, characterizing the study participants; Social Representations of Therapist Community presenting and discussing the social representations of therapists community studied on CT, and Consequences of Community Therapy at the Family Health Strategy, discussing the meanings attributed by the study participants about changes in FHS. Meanings were attributed to the CT by the therapists studied originated from the speeches, songs, drawings and constructed, and that presented by schematic illustration show the relation between the representations: life, listening, faith / light, change, transformation. The web, symbol of CT, appeared on the images constructed by the representatives of the study and represents the formation of bonds that allows the construction of social support networks that strengthen relationships among community. In the study, proved by professionals who have the meanings about the changes in the work process from the introduction of CT, and shown that the change took place within a more welcoming attitude on the part of professionals, the relationship between Team members had no significant changes, explained by the low compliance of team members to the CT in relation to the user front, the bond was strengthened, and this involved strengthening the role of the therapist community. It is recognized, thereby transforming the character of CT in building links with users, requiring, however, that the team is viewed as offering therapeutic services, not the professional therapist. Therefore, the CT for being a new phenomenon in health services and community belonging, it fits like a novelty which affects the construction of a representation dispute. Still, can contribute to the reorganization of mental health care in line with the new model of mental health care advocated by the Psychiatric Reform.

As ações de controle da tuberculose na atenção primária à saúde: a visão do doente

Tuberculosis is a disease of great impact on the world context today. In Brazil, the disease management was directed to the Primary Health Care, due to the determination of the Ministry of Health to decentralize health actions for primary care. Thus, since the actions of diagnosis, treatment and control of the disease should happen in this context, however, there are still many barriers that may hinder the realization of these determinations. This study aims to analyze the development of tuberculosis control activities conducted in the services of primary health care from the patient's vision. This is a descriptive, cross-sectional and quantitative study. The population consists of 517 tuberculosis patients treated in units of Primary Health Care in the city of Natal-RN; the sample consists of 93 TB patients. The collect instrument is structured, based in The Primary Care Assessment Tool (PCAT), validated in Brazil and adapted to assess attention to TB in Brazil, with modifications. This instrument was divided into blocks: the first one describes the socio-demographic information of patients with TB and the second one describes the health services working in control, diagnosis and treatment of TB, and includes issues related to the dimensions of primary care: access, bond, services, coordination of care, guidance to the community and family focus. For quantitative analysis, were built indicators for each item of the instrument. The response patterns are followed according to the Likert scale, which was assigned a value between one and five meant that the degree of preference relation (or agreement) of the statements. Values between 1 and 3 were considered unsatisfactory for the indicator, between 3 and less than 4, regular, and between 4 and 5, satisfactory. The results indicate that 62.37% of patients are male, 27.96% aged 41 to 50 years old, and 34.41% unemployed, with low education and low family income. It was found that the reference hospital services are the front door to the patient (59.14%), and are also the local diagnosis of the disease (72.04%). On access, the conditions satisfactory found are: the number of times the patients need to pick up the health care issue, the marking and the facility to get a consultancy in the HS, assistance provided without harm to the individual's attendance labor and facilities related to the proximity between the residence and services; were considered unsatisfactory conditions related to travel to the HS, and on hours and days of operation of services. As for the cast of services were satisfactory and regular actions related to the request for examination to become viable in the first HS, the availability of pot to perform smear and medicines for the treatment, as well as consultations control and receiving information about the disease and the treatment performed; it is considered unsatisfactory the performance of the home care for patients with TB by the HS that acts as a front door, for implementation of the Directly Observed Treatment (DOT), home visits during treatment, the provision of transportation allowance to the patient and the existence of groups for TB patients. Regarding the coordination of care, resulted in regular the action of referring the patient to other HS to obtain examinations, and as unsatisfactory referral to obtain medications. The relationship bond between patient and health team were considered satisfactory in the majority or regular. As for the family and community focus, is satisfactory only the indicator relating to questions from professionals to the patient about the existence of respiratory symptoms in the family. It is considered that there is need for greater commitment from government entities to the incentives required to TB control, as well as the availability of necessary inputs and training of human resources working in the PHC in the ongoing quest to strengthen primary care, as a place of broader host needs to contact the user with the actions and health professionals. It is recommended the adoption of management mechanisms possible to expand the capacity of the health PHC, promoting the service delivery to the user and ensuring attention to population health.

A pessoa idosa com doença crônica não transmissível atendida em serviços de média complexidade na cidade de Natal/RN

The demographic and epidemiological transition process caused by a declining in birth rates and in mortality, also changes occurred in morbidity and mortality is represented by the increasing of the aging population and the raising of chronic diseases. These diseases are characterized by multiple etiologies, risk factors, long latency period, a prolonged evolution, non-infectious origin and it has association with functional impairment and disability. Thus, elderly with chronic non-communicable disease has priority because they belong to a vulnerable group to get affection of comorbidities in aging, with increased demand and spending on health services. This study is aimed to analyse the understanding of elderly people with chronic non comunicable disease in the medium complexity service as a contribution to the improvement of health care in the city of Natal / RN. This is a descriptive and exploratory study with a quantitative approach, carried out at the Specialized Center for Elderly Health Care and at the Pescadores Hospital. The population was composed of 4,180 persons with a sample of 124 elderly aged above 60 years, attended in these medium complexity services. The instrument, a structured form, adapted from a questionnaire for monitoring risk and protective factors for chronic disease of the Ministry of Health. To collect data was was used the interview form containing demographic data, habits, health status and health care services. The results were processed using the Statistical Package for Social Science, version 18.0, analyzed by simple statistics. It was found that most seniors were female, predominantly between 70 and 74 years old, married, with a brown skin tone and Catholic religion, more than half had incomplete basic education, family income between one to two minimum wages and living with their families. Regarding the interviewers lifestyle, 94.4%, of them ate chicken and 97.6%, fruits, it was observed a reduction in smoking, alcoholism habits and physical activity according to the increasing age, 58.1 and 18.5% had insomnia18,5 % used sleeping pills. The elderly (51.6%) reported using services in times of sickness, seeking primary care at first (30.6%), 52% did not receive referral and was looking for free demand (38.7%). The most reported morbidity was hypertension, followed by musculoskeletal disorders. Regarding the difficulties in seeking health services, the delay in treatment and the waiting line were the most cited by the elderly. Almost all of them reported no activities to promote health in these services and those who received individual counseling on chronic diseases. Almost always, the health professionals who care of them, were mostly doctors followed by nurses. Based on the results presented, it is considered that the health services of medium complexity must undergone a more continuous dialogue with other attention level and focus on actions of health promotion and prevention. It is also recommended the necessity for qualified professionals to delivery health care to elderly and the implementation of protocols by a multidisciplinary health team, intending to provide better and continous care for the elderly with chronic diseases. The healthcare professionals who served them, were mostly physicians, followed by nurses. Through the results presented, it is considered that the medium complexity healthcare services need to perform a more continuous dialogue with the other levels of attention focusing attention to the health promotion and prevention actions. It is also recommended the necessity for qualified professionals to delivery healthcare for the elderly, in addition, a protocol implementation for the multidisciplinary health care team, to provide better care, and also the care continuity to elderly with chronic diseases

O trabalho do enfermeiro de um hospital pediátrico de ensino e o SUS: desafios a enfrentar

This study analyzes the point of view of nurses working at a pediatric teaching hospital on their work process within the scope of the Brazilian unified healthcare system SUS, in order to identify factors that interfere with its development and find out how work relations are taking place between nurses, other nursing professionals and the multidisciplinary staff. It is a descriptive and analytical study, qualitative in nature, which starts with a consideration of a nurse s current practices and moves on to reflect on a perspective of transformation aiming at rethinking their work process pursuant to the principles of SUS. In order to attain these objectives, we decided on using the focal group as a data-collecting technique, which took place from November to December 2005, by using as instruments a questionnaire for the characterization of the persons being researched and a discussion outline. Theoretical support has approached transformations in the world of work, placing it in the context of healthcare and nursing and has tried, specifically, to understand the work process of a nurse engaged in the production of health services. Therefore, the discourse analysis of participants, in the light of theoretical support, has evinced an ambiguity inasmuch as though identified as such in their work process, nurses are also fulfilling multiple functions in health services. Through this study it has also been possible to identify several factors that interfere with the work of these professionals, including poor working conditions and excessive hiring of high school graduate interns as an attempt to make up for a meager nursing workforce, as well as reveal the possibilities brought about by the SUS in retargeting its professional practice to interdisciplinarity and integrality

Segredos da alma: a dádiva da assistência de Enfermagem

The present study is an analysis of interpersonal relationships between the nursing staff and the patients under their care. Its objectives are to analyze ties/links that may possibly exist in such relationships and to describe, based on the experience of the patients, how they are received by the nursing staff, and what is the extent of their reliability on the nursing staff within the hospital. This investigation is analytical in nature and qualitative in approach, having as its leading thought Marcel Mauss s gift-exchange theory. The study involved eighteen in-patients, eight of them from government institutions, at a large hospital school and ten others from a private specialty hospital; both in the city of Natal, state of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. Data were collected between January and March 2006. Results point to ties being created between the nursing staff and patients irrespective of their social status, involving especially the development of friendship and reliability. We have noticed that in both services the interpersonal relationship is associated with the circulation of the symbolic goods mentioned in the patients discourse, such as attention, loving care and concern, among others, marking the formation of ties during hospital stay. Likewise, reliability is also present in close relationship with the technical competence of the professional. Patient hospitality is associated with the manner in which the patients were treated on being admitted to the hospital, although they also refer to hospitality at later moments, during the course of their treatment. Finally, we are in a position to say that there are ties/links between in-patients and nursing staff, irrespective of the patient s social status and class divide. It is thus evident that the antiutilitarian symbolism of gift to give, receive, give back -, which shapes the setting of social ties also takes place in today s utilitarian, individualistic and competitive societies. Thus, human beings whose existence is dependent on mutual relationships try to save their humanity, especially those who are fragile and dependent as is the case of the hospital in-patient