Nurse educators’ perceptions of the way nursing students protect patient privacy

The aim of this study was to assess the teaching-learning process related to patient privacy during the care process and the way nursing students’ protect patient privacy. Descriptive/correlational study using a qualitative approach and nonprobability sampling of 19 nurse educators from two schools of nursing. Data was collected using semi-structured interviews. Data analysis was undertaken using the SPSS version 20 and Alceste 2010 programs. The study complied with ethical standards. Two classes were assigned (protection of patient privacy and care process) with four subcategories (protection, empathy, relational competencies and technoscientific competencies).The findings show the need to adopt a reflective approach to the teaching-learning process by using experiential learning activities and real-life activities. We believe that intimacy and the protection of privacy should be core themes of nurse education and training.

Demand for and availability of online support to stop smoking

OBJECTIVES: Estimate the frequency of online searches on the topic of smoking and analyze the quality of online resources available to smokers interested in giving up smoking. METHODS: Search engines were used to revise searches and online resources related to stopping smoking in Brazil in 2010. The number of searches was determined using analytical tools available on Google Ads; the number and type of sites were determined by replicating the search patterns of internet users. The sites were classified according to content (advertising, library of articles and other). The quality of the sites was analyzed using the Smoking Treatment Scale- Content (STS-C) and the Smoking Treatment Scale - Rating (STS-R). RESULTS: A total of 642,446 searches was carried out. Around a third of the 113 sites encountered were of the 'library' type, i.e. they only contained articles, followed by sites containing clinical advertising (18.6) and professional education (10.6). Thirteen of the sites offered advice on quitting directed at smokers. The majority of the sites did not contain evidence-based information, were not interactive and did not have the possibility of communicating with users after the first contact. Other limitations we came across were a lack of financial disclosure as well as no guarantee of privacy concerning information obtained and no distinction made between editorial content and advertisements. CONCLUSIONS: There is a disparity between the high demand for online support in giving up smoking and the scarcity of quality online resources for smokers. It is necessary to develop interactive, customized online resources based on evidence and random clinical testing in order to improve the support available to Brazilian smokers.

Water-contact patterns and schistosoma mansoni infection in a rural community in northeast Brazil

We evaluated the influence of water-related human activities, contaminative behaviour, house location, education and socio-economic status on endemic Schistosoma mansoni infection. The study was conducted in a hilry non-irrigated area of rural northeast Brazil amongst a defined population of subsistence farmers, of whom 93% were infected by age 20. The area was mapped, water bodies were surveyed, and a detailed questionnaire was performed on each household. Infection was assessed by duplicate stool examinations using the sensitive Bell technique to quantify egg excretion. For each household, and index of intensity of infection was computed by grouping individual log-transformed egg counts as an age-sex adjusted Z score. Few households had a sanitary installation or a domestic water supply. However, neither water-contact nor contaminative behavior were indiscriminate. The people made considerable effort to defaecate far from a water source, to obtain household drinking water from the cleanest source, and to bathe only at certain sites where privacy is assured. Land ownership and literacy correlated poorly with the household index of intensity of infection. The key influence on infection status was the relative location of the house and snail-free or snail colonized water sources. In this area, a safe domestic water supply is the critical input needed to achieve definitive control of endemic Schistosomiasis.

The representations of adolescents about gynecological consultation

Objective: To analyze the social representation of adolescents about gynecological consultation and the influence of those in searching for consultations. Method: Qualitative descriptive study based on the Social Representations Theory, conducted with 50 adolescents in their last year of middle school. The data was collected between April and May of 2010 by Evocations and a Focal Group. The software EVOC and contextual analysis were used in the data treatment. Results: The elements fear and constraint, constant in the central nucleus, can justify the low frequency of adolescents in consultations. The term embarrassment in the peripheral system reinforce current sociocultural norms, while prevention, associated with learning about sex and clarifying doubts, allows to envision an educative function. Obtained testimonies in the focal groups exemplify and reinforce those findings. Conclusion: For an effective health education, professionals, including nurses, need to clarify the youth individually and collectively about their rights to privacy, secrecy, in addition to focus the gynecological consultation as a promotion measure to sexual and reproductive health.

Virtual Environment: assistance in nursing care for the deaf based on the protocol of Primary Care

Objective: Presenting a Virtual Environment (VE) based on the Protocol of Treatment of Hypertension and Diabetes Mellitus type 2, used in Primary Care for evaluation of dietary habits in nursing consultations. Method: An experimental study applied by two nurses and a nurse manager, in a sample of 30 deaf patients aged between 30 and 60 years. The environment was built in Visual Basic NET and offered eight screens about feeding containing food pictures, videos in Libras (Brazilian sign language) and audio. The analysis of the VE was done through questionnaires applied to patients and professionals by the Poisson statistical test. Results: The VE shows the possible diagnostics in red, yellow, green and blue colors, depending on the degree of patients’ need. Conclusion: The environment obtained excellent acceptance by patients and nurses, allowing great interaction between them, even without an interpreter. The time in consultation was reduced to 15 minutes, with the preservation of patient privacy.

Instrument for assessing the quality of mobile emergency pre-hospital care: content validation

OBJECTIVES To validate an instrument to assess quality of mobile emergency pre-hospital care. METHOD A methodological study where 20 professionals gave their opinions on the items of the proposed instrument. The analysis was performed using Kappa test (K) and Content Validity Index (CVI), considering K> 0.80 and CVI ≥ 0.80. RESULTS Three items were excluded from the instrument: Professional Compensation; Job Satisfaction and Services Performed. Items that obtained adequate K and CVI indexes and remained in the instrument were: ambulance conservation status; physical structure; comfort in the ambulance; availability of material resources; user/staff safety; continuous learning; safety demonstrated by the team; access; welcoming; humanization; response time; costumer privacy; guidelines on care; relationship between professionals and costumers; opportunity for costumers to make complaints and multiprofessional conjunction/actuation. CONCLUSION The instrument to assess quality of care has been validated and may contribute to the evaluation of pre-hospital care in mobile emergency services.