Prevención en fonoaudiólogos de la Universidad del Valle en Cali, Colombia

INTRODUCCIÓN: Un curriculo de formación en fonoaudiología, idealmente, contempla fundamentación teórica-prática para el abordaje preventivo de desordenes de comunicación humana presentes en usuarios de serviços profesionales. Para explorar la coherencia de lo propuesto por un plan de estudios y las prácticas preventivas en el ejercicio profesional, se vinculó a los graduados del programa de estudios en fonoaudiologia de la Universidad del Valle con sede en la ciudad de Cali - Colombia. METODOLOGÍA: Se formuló un estudio descriptivo; 45 profisionales que cumplieron criterios de graduación, residencia y con ejercicio comprobado en la ciudad al momento del estudio, respondieron entre enero y abril de 1995 a un cuestionario autoadministrado de 13 items, formulados y validados según objetivos del estudio; referidos a variable laborales, ocupacionales y profesionales para describir y analizar la distribución del grupo según campo de ocupación, lugar de trabajo, tipo de institución a la que estam vinculados, grupo etáreo y área de comunicación humana en la que ejercían su prática professional; abordar el origen intra o extracurricular de sus conocimientos en prevención y la utilización-frequencia de estrategias y acciones específicas de prevención en las áreas de voz-habla, audición, lenguaje y aprendizaje. RESULTADOS: El 67% reconoció el plan de estudios como fuente relevante de sus conocimientos preventivos. Un 47% de profesionales usaba solo una entre nueve estrategias preventivas viables; un 29% afirmó haber usado maximo dos de tales alternativas de intervencíon. Para todas las areas de comunicación, en media, cerca del 60% de fonoaudiólogos nunca incorporó acciones preventivas de ninguna categoría. CONCLUSIÓN: La mayoría del grupo estudiado no incorpora en su ejercicio profesional estrategias ni acciones preventivas de desordenes de comunicación del modo propuesto en el perfil curricular, como es socialmente esperado, a pesar de reconocer los aportes teorico-praticos preventivos recibidos durante su formación académica. Se sugiere que determinantes del mercado laboral y de la demanda de servicios fonoaudiológicos impiden la incorporación de práticas preventivas habituales.

Professional and community satisfaction with the Brazilian family health strategy

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the strengths and limitations of the Family Health Strategy from the perspective of health care professionals and the community. METHODS: Between June-August 2009, in the city of Vespasiano, Minas Gerais State, Southeastern Brazil, a questionnaire was used to evaluate the Family Health Strategy (ESF) with 77 healthcare professionals and 293 caregivers of children under five. Health care professional training, community access to health care, communication with patients and delivery of health education and pediatric care were the main points of interest in the evaluation. Logistic regression analysis was used to obtain odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals as well as to assess the statistical significance of the variables studied. RESULTS: The majority of health care professionals reported their program training was insufficient in quantity, content and method of delivery. Caregivers and professionals identified similar weaknesses (services not accessible to the community, lack of healthcare professionals, poor training for professionals) and strengths (community health worker-patient communications, provision of educational information, and pediatric care). Recommendations for improvement included: more doctors and specialists, more and better training, and scheduling improvements. Caregiver satisfaction with the ESF was found to be related to perceived benefits such as community health agent household visits (OR 5.8, 95%CI 2.8;12.1), good professional-patient relationships (OR 4.8, 95%CI 2.5;9.3), and family-focused health (OR 4.1, 95%CI 1.6;10.2); and perceived problems such as lack of personnel (OR 0.3, 95%CI 0.2;0.6), difficulty with access (OR 0.2, 95%CI 0.1;0.4), and poor quality of care (OR 0.3, 95%CI 0.1;0.6). Overall, 62% of caregivers reported being generally satisfied with the ESF services. CONCLUSIONS: Identifying the limitations and strengths of the Family Health Strategy from the healthcare professional and caregiver perspective may serve to advance primary community healthcare in Brazil.

Inserción de la gestión por procesos en instituciones hospitalarias: concepción metodológica y práctica

La Gestión por Procesos es una de las buenas prácticas más utilizadas en el sector de salud en las últimas décadas, pues es una vía apropiada para alcanzar mayor satisfacción de los pacientes y un servicio asistencial más eficiente y eficaz. Uno de sus elementos más significativos es la mejora de procesos; la introducción de sus herramientas, que hace unos años eran escasamente difundidas, se fomenta cada vez más en instituciones hospitalarias. Este trabajo ilustra la concepción de un procedimiento para la gestión y mejora de procesos en entornos hospitalarios, con carácter sistémico, holístico e integrador en la búsqueda de soluciones; así como la aplicación práctica de estos instrumentos en un hospital clínico-quirúrgico, como resultados del análisis teórico conceptual de la gestión por procesos y la mejora continua.

Moral distress: challenges for an autonomous nursing professional practice

Constantly experiencing limiting situations that hinder a professional practice coherent with its principles - of autonomy and advocacy of users' interests -, and often conditioned to experience moral distress, the nursing profession plays a prominent role in the current health model because it has the characteristic of managing the care rendered to users in a perspective of social inclusion, both in the basic health network and in hospitals. Aiming at carrying out a reflection on the nursing practice and the difficulties present in its work routine, and considering its characteristics as a profession, this article sought to make a reflection between the practice of nursing and the numerous moral challenges imposed by the routine, resulting, in many cases, in a value crisis that can reverberate directly on the quality of the service rendered, and in abandonment of the ideals of advocacy for users.

Organization of healthcare and assistance to the elderly indigenous population: synergies and particularities of the professional context

This study aimed to describe the effects of the organization of primary healthcare on the assistance provided to the elderly Kaingang population, according to the perception of health professionals that work in this area. It is a qualitative and descriptive study, supported by ethnography methodological references, and was conducted with ten healthcare professionals that work in Faxinal, an indigenous territory in the state of Paraná, in Brazil. Data was collected from November 2010 to February 2012 through participant observation and interviews. The results revealed that health professionals strive to meet the health needs of the elderly Kaingang people; however, there are negative effects that hinder the professional care, especially limited human resources, lack of training and material resources, heavy workload and high turnover rates. This study highlights the need to improve work conditions in order to provide better healthcare.

Professional competencies in primary health care for attending to older adults

Objective To identify and analyze the necessary competencies in primary health care for attending to older adults. Method An exploratory, descriptive, and quali-quantitative study was developed. Three rounds of the Delphi Technique were conducted with participants from primary health care services and a multidisciplinary committee. The first questionnaire asked participants to indicate the competencies needed for attending to older adults in primary health care. They were compiled into a list and added to a Likert Scale (from 1 to 5) for the second and third questionnaires. A consensus criterion of 70% was adopted. Results Twenty eight competencies were reached by consensus and were classified into twelve domains. Conclusion The competencies reflect Brazilian health care policy and constitute a reference for professional health practice and education when caring for the older adult in primary health care.

Professional knowledge in primary health care of the person/family in mental distress: Le Boterf perspective

Aim of this study was to identify knowing-doing actions constituted the practice of Family Health (FH), in view of nurses in relation to the person and family care in mental distress in terms of professional knowledge of Le Boterf. Method: Descriptive exploratory qualitative study, to deepen contruction of nurse in FH. The survey was conducted in 3 Units FH. Result: Doing a thematic analysis, came to the following categories: “Knowing how to act and react with relevance”; “Knowing how to combine resources and mobilize them in a professional context”; “Knowing how to interact with multiple knowledges”; “Knowing how to transpose”; “Knowing how to learn and knowing how to learn to learn”; “Knowing how to engage”. Final considerations: the greatest difficulty was "be able to transpose," and that the daily demand of the FH teams requires a lot of this knowledge. Little transposition of knowing-doing in real situations has been verified.

Evaluation of professional knowledge and attitudes on dementia patient care: a trans-cultural adaptation of an evaluation instrument

Objective To describe the trans-cultural adaptation of the evaluation instrument entitled Atenció Sanitària de Les Demències: la visió de L' Atenció Primarià from Catalan into versions in Portuguese for doctors and nurses. This study evaluates the knowledge and perspectives of these professionals in their treatment of patients diagnosed with dementia in cases of primary care. Method The adaptation followed internationally accepted rules, which include the following steps: translation, synthesis, back-translation, revision by a committee of specialists, and a test run with 35 practicing doctors and 35 practicing nurses in Brazil's Family Health Strategy (Estratégia Saúde da Família, or ESF in Portuguese). Results The translation, synthesis, and back-translation steps were performed satisfactorily; only small adjustments were required. The committee of specialists verified the face validity in the version translated into Portuguese, and all of the items that received an agreement score lower than 80% during the initial evaluation were revised. In the test run, the difficulties presented by the health care professionals did not reach 15% of the sample, and therefore, no changes were made. Conclusion The Portuguese translation of the instrument can be considered semantically, idiomatically, culturally, and conceptually equivalent to the original Catalan version and is, therefore, appropriate for use in Brazil.

Measuring professional satisfaction and nursing workload among nursing staff at a Greek Coronary Care Unit

ABSTRACT Objective To explore potential associations between nursing workload and professional satisfaction among nursing personnel (NP) in Greek Coronary Care Units (CCUs). Method A cross-sectional study was performed involving 66 members of the NP employed in 6 randomly selected Greek CCUs. Job satisfaction was assessed by the IWS and nursing workload by NAS, CNIS and TISS-28. Results The response rate was 77.6%. The reliability of the IWS was α=0.78 and the mean score 10.7 (±2.1, scale range: 0.5-39.7). The most highly valued component of satisfaction was “Pay”, followed by “Task requirements”, “Interaction”, “Professional status”, “Organizational policies” and “Autonomy”. NAS, CNIS and TISS-28 were negatively correlated (p≤0.04) with the following work components: “Autonomy”, “Professional status”, “Interaction” and “Task requirements”. Night shift work independently predicted the score of IWS. Conclusion The findings show low levels of job satisfaction, which are related with nursing workload and influenced by rotating shifts.

Mestres e doutores no país: destinos profissionais e políticas de pós-graduação

Qual é o destino profissional de mestres e doutores titulados no país? Como percebem a relevância da formação em pesquisa que obtiveram em seus cursos, tendo em vista o trabalho que realizam? O artigo procura responder a estas questões com base em estudo anterior e, a partir da evidência, discute aspectos das políticas de pós-graduação. O estudo original entrevistou 8,7 mil mestres e doutores titulados nos anos 90, em 15 áreas do conhecimento, oriundos de universidades do Nordeste ao Sul do país. A agregação dos dados em três grupos de grandes áreas do conhecimento permitiu uma nova perspectiva de análise. Nos três grupos, o destino profissional de mestres é bastante diversificado e a docência no ensino superior não costuma ser a ocupação majoritária; o de doutores concentra-se na academia (universidades e instituições de pesquisa). Os titulados freqüentemente têm uma avaliação positiva da formação em pesquisa, mas a apreciação de mestres que trabalham fora da academia geralmente é menos favorável que a de docentes e pesquisadores; já entre doutores, diferenças análogas são observadas apenas num dos grupos. A evidência sugere, para várias áreas, uma diversificação de modelos de formação pós-graduada no país.