Attitudes towards morphine use among Swiss nurses and physicians

Background: There is little information regarding risk perception and attitudes on morphine use in Switzerland. Objectives: We aimed at assessing such attitudes in a sample of health professionals in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Study design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: five non-university hospitals of the French-speaking canton of Valais, Switzerland. Methods: 431 nurses and 40 physicians (age range: 20-63). Risk perception and attitudes towards morphine use were assessed using a validated questionnaire. Results: Over half of participants showed a negative attitude regarding most adverse events related to morphine, while less than one third showed a similar attitude regarding other statements. On bivariate analyses, participants working in geriatrics showed a more negative attitude towards use of morphine than participants working in medicine and surgery. Non-Swiss participants also showed a more negative attitude than Swiss regarding use of morphine. Conversely, no differences were found between genders, profession (nurses or physicians), years of experience (<=14 and >14) and religion (catholic vs. others/no religion). These findings were further confirmed by multivariate adjustment. Limitations: possible selection bias due to responders only. Results limited to French speaking participants. Conclusion: Attitudes regarding morphine uses are mainly driven by its potential adverse effects and vary according to specialty and nationality. Educational measures directed at health professionals working in geriatrics or coming from abroad might reduce the high morphinophobia levels observed in these groups.

Consumer Advisory Bulletin, Prevent Home Repair Scams and Disputes, April 2009

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Consumer Advisory Bulletin, Prevent Identity Theft Take Control of Your Personal Information, May 2009

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Consumer Advisory Bulletin, Counterfeit Check Scams, July 2009

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Consumer Advisory Bulletin, Consumer “Private Right of Action” -- What Consumers Need to Know, August 2009

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Consumer Advisory Bulletin, Consumer “Cash for Clunkers” Consumer Tips, August 2009

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Consumer Advisory Bulletin, How to Deal With Credit Card Offers, October 2009

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Policy attitudes, ideological values and social representations

This article reviews research on policy attitudes and ideological values from the perspective of social representations theory. In the first part of the paper, key features of lay political thinking are presented, its pragmatic imperative, its focus on communication and the social functions of shared knowledge. Objectification transforms abstract and group-neutral ideological values into concrete and socially useful knowledge, in particular stereotypes of value-conforming and value-violating groups. Such shared understandings of intergroup relations provide citizens with common reference knowledge which provides the cognitive and cultural basis of policy attitudes. Social representations theory further suggests that lay knowledge reflects the social context in which it has been elaborated (anchoring), an aspect which allows conceptualising aggregate-level differences in policy attitudes. In the second part of the paper, a model of lay conceptions of social order is outlined which organises four shared conceptions of social order, along with the stereotype-based thinking associated with each conception: Moral order, Free Market, Social diversity and Structural inequality. We conclude by arguing that policy attitudes are symbolic devices expressed to justify or to challenge existing social arrangements.

Consumer Advisory Bulletin; Tips for Buying a Used Car, November 2009

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Consumer Advisory Bulletin; Consumer Tips for Holiday Shoppers, December 2009

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Consumer Advisory Bulletin; Beware of “Foreclosure Rescue Scams, January 2010

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Consumer Advisory Bulletin; Beware of Avoid Rapid Tax-Refund Loans, February 2010

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Consumer Advisory Bulletin; New Protections for Credit Card Consumers, March 2010

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Consumer Advisory Bulletin; The U.S. Census;Be Counted, but Don’t be Cheated, April 2010

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