Relationship between sleeping on the night shift and recovery from work among nursing workers - the influence of domestic work

P>Aim. This paper is a report of a study on the association between sleep patterns during work nights and recovery from work among nursing workers, considering domestic work hours. Background. Several hospitals allow nursing workers to sleep during the night shift, but this is rarely evaluated from the workers` health perspective. The need for recovery from work concept can be useful for testing the impact of night work on sleep. Recovery is not a problem if workers have enough time to recover between periods of work. Therefore, domestic work would be likely to interfere in the recovery process. Methods. This cross-sectional study was carried out at three hospitals in 2005-2006, through a comprehensive questionnaire. All nursing teams engaged in assistance to patients were invited to participate. Analyses included female night workers with no incidence of insomnia. Participants (n = 396) were classified into those who did not sleep during night shifts, those who slept for up to 2 hours and those who slept for 2-3 hours. Results. Binomial logistic regression analysis showed that sleeping on the job for 2-3 hours during night shifts is related to a better recovery from work provided the workers do not undergo long domestic work hours. Conclusions. Being allowed to sleep at work during night shifts seemed to contribute to, but was not enough to guarantee, a good recovery from work in the studied population. Recommendations to deal with sleep-deprivation among night workers should consider the complexity of gender roles on the recovery process.

Contraceptive methods with male participation: a perspective of Brazilian couples

Objective: To assess the perspectives of couples who requested vasectomy in a public health service on the use of male participation contraceptive methods available in Brazil: male condoms, natural family planning/calendar, coitus interruptus and vasectomy. Methods: A qualitative study with semi-structured interviews was held with 20 couples who had requested vasectomy at the Human Reproduction Unit of the Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Brazil. Data analysis was carried out through thematic content analysis. Findings: The couples did not, in general, know any effective contraceptive options for use by men and/or participating in their use, except for vasectomy. The few methods with male participation that they knew of were perceived to interfere in spontaneity and in pleasure of intercourse. Men accepted that condom use in extra-conjugal relations offered them protection from sexually transmitted diseases; that their wives might also participate in extra-marital relationships was not considered. Discussion: The few contraceptive options with male participation lead to difficulty in sharing responsibilities between men and women. On the basis of perceived gender roles, women took the responsibility for contraception until the moment when the situation became untenable, and they faced the unavoidable necessity of sterilization. Conclusion: Specific actions are necessary for men to achieve integral participation in relation to reproductive sexual health. These include education and discussions on gender roles, leading to greater awareness in men of the realities of sexual and reproductive health.

Vägen till jämställdhet - Kvinnor i styrelserum eller män i förskolan? : En kritisk analys av den svenska jämställdhetsdiskursen

Equality between the sexes has been discussed in Sweden for more than 50 years. In the 60´s and during the 70´s the discourse that dominated the debate was based on the assumption that both men and women needed to liberate themselves from their traditional gender roles. In this approach information and education was perceived as the key to equality. During the 80´s however, power and subordination became the main focal point of concern within this debate, and focus upon changing the patriarchal power structures dominating society were perceived as the principal key for establishing equality between the sexes. Today, the latter discourse still dominates both the scientific and the political perspective upon equality. By examining the debate on equality from two different fields of occupation this paper tries to analyse the fact that the Swedish equality discourse looks very different on male - versus female domination. Although the proportion of male teachers in Swedish preschools is about 3 % and the amount of women serving as public company directors is about 20 %, the current discourse views male dominance within the business sector as problematic, whilst, the dominance of women in the preschool childcare sector as less problematic. In respect of the theory supported by Bourdieu (1999), Hirdman (1990 & 2003) and Foucault (1998 & 2002) this paper advocates that the discourse is biased and simplified and that a perspective that only focuses on areas of male domination sets the wrong priorities. With regards to equality ideals prevalent throughout Norway this paper concludes that the Swedish equality discourse needs a broader and more open approach to assure that Swedish institutions promote equality between men and women in the best possible way.

Who Is the Shrew? : Irony as deconstruction in The Taming of the Shrew

In this thesis William Shakespeare’s comedy The Taming of The Shrew is analyzed from a feminist perspective. It is argued that the female characters Katherina and Bianca are mainly constructed through language expressed by male characters as binary oppositions. By an act of deconstruction within the play, these images, or constructed representations, are adjusted and somewhat reversed in the end. In addition, it is shown how the Induction, an introductory part of the play, adds aspects of construction and deconstruction, which supports an ironic reading and a questioning of the constructed gender roles.

How initial vocational education and training (IVET) teachers in Sweden perceive their prospects of being able to prepare upper secondary school pupils for a future occupation

Vocational teachers in Swedish upper secondary schools are a heterogeneous category of teachers, connected to different types of trade. These teachers represent a broad set of trade skills varying in content and character. In their teacher role, they continue to wear the clothes, speak the language, share the culture and remain mentally in their former professions. Still, it is central that they keep up this contact to be able to school the pupils into the environment of the trade in question, but also to help them to understand what skills a profession demands. However, the individual teacher also has to distance himself from the negative elements in the culture of the profession: patterns and habits that, for various reasons, have to be broken or changed. This paper draws attention to the ways in which a group of vocational teachers, who were participants in a project that aimed to train unauthorized vocational teachers, expressed their ambitions to prepare the pupils for a future professional career. When collecting information, we used the degree dissertations they produced and discussed in seminars, and informal dialogues. The result shows that it is important that the instruction location resembles a real working site as far as possible. These places are more or less realistic copies of a garage, a restaurant kitchen, a hairdressing salon, and so on, in order to give the pupils a realistic setting for instruction. However, the fact that these simulated workplaces lack the necessary support functions that exist in a company creates problems, problems which make a lot of extra work for the teachers. Vocational teachers also have to instruct the pupil in the experienced practitioner’s professional skills and working situation, but the pupil herself/himself must learn the job by doing it in practice. Some vocational upper secondary programs lack relevant course literature and the businesses give little support. This also makes extra work for the teachers. Moreover, the distance between the vocational programs and the trainee jobs was experienced as being difficult to overcome. One reason seems to be differences between businesses and differing preconditions between small and big companies’ abilities to take care of these pupils. The upper secondary school vocational programs also play a role in cementing existing gender roles, as well as perpetuating class-related patterns on the labour market.

How initial vocational education and training (IVET) teachers in Sweden perceive their prospects of being able to prepare upper secondary school pupils for a future occupation

Vocational teachers in Swedish upper secondary schools are a heterogeneous category of teachers, connected to different types of trade. These teachers represent a broad set of trade skills varying in content and character. In their teacher role, they continue to wear the clothes, speak the language, share the culture and remain mentally in their former professions. Still, it is central that they keep up this contact to be able to school the pupils into the environment of the trade in question, but also to help them to understand what skills a profession demands. However, the individual teacher also has to distance himself from the negative elements in the culture of the profession: patterns and habits that, for various reasons, have to be broken or changed. This paper draws attention to the ways in which a group of vocational teachers, who were participants in a project that aimed to train unauthorized vocational teachers, expressed their ambitions to prepare the pupils for a future professional career. When collecting information, we used the degree dissertations they produced and discussed in seminars, and informal dialogues. The result shows that it is important that the instruction location resembles a real working site as far as possible. These places are more or less realistic copies of a garage, a restaurant kitchen, a hairdressing salon, and so on, in order to give the pupils a realistic setting for instruction. However, the fact that these simulated workplaces lack the necessary support functions that exist in a company creates problems, problems which make a lot of extra work for the teachers. Vocational teachers also have to instruct the pupil in the experienced practitioner’s professional skills and working situation, but the pupil herself/himself must learn the job by doing it in practice. Some vocational upper secondary programs lack relevant course literature and the businesses give little support. This also makes extra work for the teachers. Moreover, the distance between the vocational programs and the trainee jobs was experienced as being difficult to overcome. One reason seems to be differences between businesses and differing preconditions between small and big companies’ abilities to take care of these pupils. The upper secondary school vocational programs also play a role in cementing existing gender roles, as well as perpetuating class-related patterns on the labour market.

A masculinização da mulher líder no Brasil: quatro estudos sobre estereótipos de gênero e protótipos de liderança

A entrada da mulher no mercado de trabalho gerou uma série de mudanças nas organizações, entretanto, a carreira da mulher executiva ainda apresenta disparidades em relação à carreira dos seus colegas homens. Essa disparidade pode decorrer da incongruência entre o papel social da mulher e o papel esperado de um líder. No entanto, este fenômeno parece está passando por mudanças, dado o empowerment das mulheres tanto no cenário corporativo como político. Neste sentido, surge a problemática desta pesquisa: qual o real comportamento da mulher ao assumir papeis de liderança? O quadro teórico que cerca esta pesquisa envolve a teoria do papel social (EAGLY, 1987), que postula que cada indivíduo tem um papel socialmente aceito, no qual se inclui o papel de líder, formado através de protótipos de como deve ou deveria se comportar, e também papeis gênero, no qual são definidos os comportamentos socialmente aceitos para homens e para mulheres. Nesta direção, para fazer a comparação dos papeis socialmente esperados de ambos os sexos e os papeis requeridos ao líder é utilizada a teoria de congruência de papeis (EAGLY e KARAU, 2002). Dado este quadro teórico, para atender ao objetivo desta pesquisa, são realizados quatro estudos que utilizam metodologias qualitativas, experimentais e quantitativas. No primeiro estudo, são testadas as relações entre sexo do líder e as dimensões agênticas e comunais do protótipo de liderança por meio de análise de conteúdo de descrições de mulheres e homens líderes. Já no segundo estudo, é testada, por meio de um experimento, a congruência da avaliação de líderes masculino e feminino com o comportamento agêntico e comunal. No terceiro estudo, são examinados quatro perfis de liderança e como estes estão associados entre si a partir de dados coletados por meio de questionários estruturados. São analisadas as características do líder em geral e do líder eficaz com as características do líder masculino e da líder feminina. Estas análises também são realizadas considerando o perfil sexual do respondente (BEM, 1974). Por fim, no quarto estudo são analisadas entrevistas em profundidade a fim de identificar como ocorrem e quais as causas destes acontecimentos supracitados. Os resultados demonstraram que ao assumir um papel de liderança, a mulher tende a assumir características agênticas do protótipo de liderança (como força, masculinidade e tirania), ou seja, tende a masculinizar-se para ser aceita pelas outras pessoas. Os resultados revelam também poucas diferenças entre os líderes homens e mulheres, o que corrobora a primeira conclusão. Por outro lado, as características comunais do líder (como sensibilidade) revelam-se como as mais críticas para a aceitação do líder pelos seus subordinados, mas não para a sua eficácia. Dessa forma, este trabalho busca contribuir para compreender melhor o fenômeno da liderança feminina, lançando luz sobre as eventuais incongruências entre os papeis sociais e gerenciais da mulher na sociedade brasileira contemporânea.

O professor como aluno

Esta dissertação relata a experiência de avaliação do grau de conhecimento adquirido pelo professor durante o seu processo de formação em relação à Proposta Curricular do 1o grau do Município do Rio de Janeiro, a qual pretende ver o construtivismo vivenciado em sala de aula, no processo ensino-aprendizagem. Esta experiência foi realizada durante o trabalho de supervisão educacional num Distrito de Educação e Cultura - DEC, da Zona Oeste do Rio. Para tanto, analisamos aspectos sócio-econômico, político, cultural e educacional da referida região, onde trabalhamos há mais de 25 anos. Evidenciamos com este estudo uma face da nossa realidade escolar, a proposta curricular. Nosso trabalho recebeu influências tanto de um dos projetos do Centro de Ciências do Estado do Rio de Janeiro - Cecierj, como de sua aplicação em nosso trabalho de supervisorajunto aos professores e às escolas públicas. A partir dessa prática, é sugerida uma linha de ação viável para a disseminação do construtivismo nas salas de aula, com ênfase na vivência, pelo professor, daquilo que ele proporcionará ao aluno.

Lifestyle factors, direct and indirect costs for a Brazilian airline company

OBJECTIVE: To analyze lifestyle risk factors related to direct healthcare costs and the indirect costs due to sick leave among workers of an airline company in Brazil. METHODS: In this longitudinal 12-month study of 2,201 employees of a Brazilian airline company, the costs of sick leave and healthcare were the primary outcomes of interest. Information on the independent variables, such as gender, age, educational level, type of work, stress, and lifestyle-related factors (body mass index, physical activity, and smoking), was collected using a questionnaire on enrolment in the study. Data on sick leave days were available from the company register, and data on healthcare costs were obtained from insurance records. Multivariate linear regression analysis was used to investigate the association between direct and indirect healthcare costs with sociodemographic, work, and lifestyle-related factors. RESULTS: Over the 12-month study period, the average direct healthcare expenditure per worker was US$505.00 and the average indirect cost because of sick leave was US$249.00 per worker. Direct costs were more than twice the indirect costs and both were higher in women. Body mass index was a determinant of direct costs and smoking was a determinant of indirect costs. CONCLUSIONS: Obesity and smoking among workers in a Brazilian airline company were associated with increased health costs. Therefore, promoting a healthy diet, physical activity, and anti-tobacco campaigns are important targets for health promotion in this study population.