Epidemiological profile and postoperative complications of women undergoing gynecological surgery in a reference center in the northern brazilian legal amazon

Objective: To evaluate the epidemiological profile and the operative complications of patients undergoing gynecological operations for benign diseases in a tertiary public hospital in the state of Roraima, Brazil. Methods: We conducted a retrospective survey through the analysis of 518 records of patients submitted to gynecological operations between January and June 2012. We included the three major operations during this period (n = 175): hysterectomy, colpoperineoplasty and suburethral sling placement. We excluded 236 cases of tubal ligation and 25 cases where it was not possible to access to medical records. Results: The mean age was 47.6 years; the education level of most patients was completed junior high (36.6%); 77% were from the State capital, 47.4% were in stable relationships and 26.3% were housewives. The majority of patients had given birth three or more times (86.6%), with previous vaginal delivery in 50.2%, and cesarean delivery, 21%. The main diagnostic indications for surgical treatment were uterine myoma (46.3%), urinary incontinence (27.4%) and genital dystopias (17.7%). We found three cases (1.7%) of high-grade intraepithelial lesions on Pap smear. The most common procedure was total hysterectomy (19.8%), 15.5% vaginally. The most common complication was wound infection (2.2%). Conclusion: Women undergoing gynecological operations due to benign disease had a mean age of 47 years, most had levels of basic education, came from the capital, were in stable relationships, predominantly housewives, multiparous and showed low operative complication rates.

“Development work thesis” as a tool for continuing professional education

Julkaisumaa: 158 TW TWN Taiwan

The lived experience of women with recurrent ovarian cancer /

The purpose of this study was to understand the Hved experience of 6 women with recurrent ovarian cancer. Six women were interviewed 2-20 weeks after the recurrence of their ovarian cancer. Interview questions focused on the meaning of the recurrence and their communication with others. Women were asked about the information and support that they felt they needed at that time, van Manen's method of reflection and writing guided the inquiry. Analysis of the data revealed the themes of: my cancer is back; it means that I will die; talking about it; we are people, we are not a disease; information; and life has changed/life hasn't changed. This study revealed the perspectives of these 6 women with recurrent ovarian cancer. It provided an understanding and knowledge about the lives of these women. Future research should explore the experiences of a larger group of women with recurrent ovarian cancer in order to address their unique needs.

Research in the clinical setting : a qualitative study of the value of play research in the continuing education of occupational therapists.

Occupational therapists have always recognized playas an important part of a child's life. However, until recently play has been viewed as a medium for reaching treatment goals, rather than as an activity that is valuable in and of itself. If occupational therapists think of playas the primary activity or occupation of childhood, then play should be a very important area of focus for paediatric clinicians. In order to assist children to become as independent as possible with play and to have fulfilling play experiences the occupational therapist needs to have a clear understanding of how to assess, set goals which lead towards competence in play, and promote play. Recent play literature has placed importance on play behaviours and looking at the relationship between the child and both the human and nonhuman environment. Believing that play and playfulness can and should be promoted, for children with physical disabilities, requires that therapists learn new assessment and intervention strategies. A new assessment tool, The Test of Playfulness, was developed by Bundy in 1994. It addressed play behaviours and environmental influences. The author, a co-investigator and eight occupational therapists were involved in a playfulness study using this test to compare the playfulness of children with physical disabilities with their able-bodied peers. After the study was completed the author questioned whether or not involvement in the playfulness study was enough of a change agent to bring about transformative learning in order to further the eight occupational therapists' education about play.This study investigated changes in either the therapists' thinking about play or their behaviour in their clinical practice. The study also examined the participants' retention of knowledge about the Test of Playfulness. The eight therapists who had been involved in the playfulness study (participants) were matched with eight therapists who had not been involved (nonparticipants). The therapists were interviewed 9 to 12 months after completion of the playfulness study. They were asked to describe various scenarios of play and open ended prompts were used to elicit the therapists' perceptions of play, good play, the role or value of play, environmental and gender influences on play, play assessment and intervention, and play research, for children with and without disabilities. The participants were also prompted to discuss their experience with the playfulness study. A self-report questionnaire was also completed at the end of the interview. The results of the study demonstrated that: (a) the play research project was a good format for continuing the participants' education about play; (b) their thinking had changed about play; (c) according to self report, they had used this new knowledge in their clinical practice; and (d) the participants remembered the items on the Test of Playfulness and could use them in describing various aspects of play. This study found that participating in a play research project had been an effective method of professional development. It also highlighted the need for increased awareness of the recent literature on play and the developing role of the occupational therapist in the assessment and intervention of play.

The person inside the nurse : the professional socialization of baccalaureate nursing students

The goal ofthis research was to gain an understanding ofthe process ofprofessional socialization by accessing role meaning ofstudents engaged in a BScN program. Students from each ofthe four years and faculty members from the school ofnursing volunteered as participants. G. Kelly's (1955) Personal Construct Theory provided the framework to determine awareness and constructed meanings. A reflective tool, called LifeMapping, was adapted and utilized to relate student experiences within education that have attributed to nurse role meaning. Focus group interviews verified data interpretation. Students are informed oftheir choice to study nursing through part-time and volunteer work, secondary school cooperative placements. Descriptions reveal that choices are tested and both positive and negative aspects ofthe role observed. Bipolar images of good and bad nurses seem to be context-related. These images may establish biases in choices related to learning experiences. The person inside ofeach aspiring nurse interprets, revises and understands experiences to incorporate individual meaning into their value and belief structures. Students are aware ofchanges and descnbe them as developments that occur personally up to Year ill and role-image changes that begin in Year II. The major difficulty that students encountered was descnbed as negative attitudes towards their anticipated role. Humanistic-interactionist philosophies are echoed in student accounts of learning experiences. Growth and role development corresponds to process factors of small group, problem-base learning.

Women over thirty choosing education as a solution to a problem

This study explored motivations of mid-life women over 30 years old who had returned to school. It sought to fmd whether these women returned to solve a problem arising from life events, whether viewing a problem was related to internal or external motivation, whether this perception was related to having greater coping skills, and whether having greater coping was related to seeking support from internal or external sources. This study examined which emotions were most related to viewing a life event as a problem. Finally, it explored the results of previous research of mid-life women in their role as a student. Women (N==83) from three types of institutions volunteered for this study: a university (N==34), a college (N==28), and an adult education centre (N==21). Participants took home a questionnaire package - a I3-page questionnaire and consent form - that were completed and mailed back to the researcher in pre-paid envelopes. Results showed that women over 30 seek education as a solution to a life event problem. External motivation was related to a life event being a problem (p<.005). There was a significant difference in coping scores between institutions. Moods that were related to viewing a life event as problematic were: anger and depressive moods (p<. 001), fatigue and vigor (p<.O 1), and tension/anxiety (p<.05). Mid-life women students' satisfaction in this role was related to being externally motivated. These women sought support from both internal and external sources, rarely had social interactions with peers, and viewed this role as important, yet, temporary in that it will help them change their lives. Implications ofthe results suggest further exploration ofthe roles of anger and depression in motivating women over 30 to learn and finding ways of directing women to use their emotional intelligence to seek out learning.

Mothers' experiences in the elementary school education of their children of mixed heritage /

This study explores the perceptions and experiences of middle-class women, mostly mothers, regarding the elementary school education of their children of mixed heritage. Because it endeavours to provide a forum in which the voices of women are considered a source of valuable information for educators, this study contributes to the fields of feminist and mothering research. Participants assign meanings to their lived experiences (Schon, 1983; van Manen 1997) and contemplate the various ways in which a mixed heritage mayor may not affect a child's schooling. Four main participants were interviewed who are mothers whose children of mixed heritage presently attend public elementary schools in Ontario, Canada. The study had an emergent design, thus allowing the researcher to make decisions as the study progressed. Three additional participants were included in the study to provide a wider perspective on the topic. These 3 additional women were the researcher herself as she explored her self-conceptual baggage (Kirby & McKenna. 1989); the researcher's mother in an attempt to consider the motherline (Lowinsky, 1992); and a volunteer non-mother of mixed ethnicity. The study involved a total of 12 individual interviews of approximately 2 hours in length. The 4 main participants and the researcher were each interviewed twice; the researcher's mother and the volunteer non-mother were each interviewed once. The researcher also attempted a focus group and kept a journal throughout the research process. Much of the analysis centers on women's interpretations of the mixed heritage experience and on their suggestions for elementary school educators. It concludes pondering on the invisibility (Chiong, 1998) of such children within the school system and calling for increased teacher education as a way to bring the mixed heritage experience out of the shadows.

Women’s Literary Club of St. Catharines Fonds

The Women's Literary Club of St. Catharines was founded in 1892 by a local author, Emma Harvey (Mrs. J.G.) Currie (1829-1913) and held its last official meeting on February 19, 1994. The Club developed, flourished and eventually waned. After more than one hundred successful years, the last members deposited the Club's archives at Brock University for the benefit of researchers, scholars and the larger community. The ‘object of the Club’ was established as “the promotion of literary pursuits.” The Club was a non-profit social organization composed of predominantly white, upper middle class women from the St. Catharines and surrounding areas. Club meetings were traditionally held fortnightly from March to December each year. The last meeting of the year was a celebration of their Club anniversary. The early meetings of the Club include papers presented and music performed by Club members. The literary pursuits that would dominate the agendas for the entire life of the Club reflected an interest in selected authors, national and local history, classical history, musical performances and current cultural and newsworthy events. For example in 1893 a typical meeting agendas would contain papers on Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Hawaii, Brook Farm, Miss Louisa May Alcott and “Education of Women 100 years Ago.” Within the first year of the Club’s existence, detailed minute books became the norm and an annual agenda or program developed. The WLC collection contains a near complete set of meeting minutes from 1892 until 1995 and a comprehensive collection of yearly programs from 1983-1967 which members took great care to publish each year. Mrs. Currie brought together a group of women with a shared interest in literature and history, who wanted to pursue that interest in a formal and structured manner. She was well educated and influenced at an early age by her tutor and mentor William Kirby, local historian, writer and newspaper editor from Niagara-on-the-Lake. While Currie’s private education influenced her love of literature and history, the Club movement of the 1890’s offered a more public forum for her to share knowledge and learning with other women. Mrs. Currie was the wife of St. Catharines lawyer, James G. Currie, who also served as a Member of Parliament for the county of Lincoln. Mrs. W.H. McClive, who was also married to a St. Catharines lawyer, worked closely with Currie and they began research into the possibility of a literary Club in St. Catharines. Currie corresponded with a variety of literary Clubs across North America before she and Mrs.McClive tagged onto the momentum of the Club movement and published “A Clarion call for Women of St. Catharines To Form a Literary Club” in the local paper The St. Catharines Evening Journal. in 1892 and asked like Clubs to publish the news of their new Club. The early years of the WLC set the foundation of how the Club meetings and events would unfold for the next 80 plus years. Photos and minutes from the first ten years reveal an excitement and interest in organized Club outings. One particular event, an annual pilgrimage to the homestead of Laura Secord, became a yearly celebration for the Club. Club President, Mrs. Currie’s own personal work on Laura Secord amplified the Club’s interest in the ‘heroine of 1812’ and she allocated the profits from her publication on Secord in order to create a commemorative plaque/monument in the name of Laura Secord. The Club celebrated this event with a regular pilgrimage to this site. The connection felt by Club members and this memorial would continue until the Club’s last meetings. The majority of members in the early years were of the upper middle classes in the growing city of St. Catharines. Many of the charter members were the wives of merchants, business men, lawyers, doctors, even a hatter. Furthermore, the position of president was most often held by a woman with a comprehensive list of interests. This is particularly the case in Isabel Brighty McComb (1876-1941). Brighty who became a member in 1903, became Club president in 1932 and stayed in her post until her death in 1941. Similar to Mrs. Currie, Brighty was a local historian and published 2 booklets on local history. Her obituary indicates her position in the community as an author and involved community member committed to lifetime memberships in the Imperial Order of Daughters of Empire, I.O.D.E., the National Organization of Women, N.O.W. and the United Empire Loyalist Society, as well as the WLC. She was a locally known ‘teacher of elocution’ and a devoted researcher of Upper Canadian history. In a Club scrapbook dedicated to her, the biographical sketch illustrates the professionalism surrounding Brighty. There is very little personal history mentioned and the focus is on her literary works, her published essay, booklets and poetry. This professional focus, evident in both her obituary and the scrapbook, illustrate the diversity of these women, especially in their roles outside of the home. The WLC collection contains a vast array of essay, lectures clippings and scrapbooks from past meetings. Organized predominantly by topic or author, the folders and scrapbooks offer a substantial amount of research opportunity in the literary history of Canada. The dates, scope of topics and authors covered offer historians an exciting opportunity to examine the consumption of particular literary trends, artists and topics within the context of a midsized industrial city in English Canada. This is especially important because the agenda adhered to by the Club was bent on promoting, discussing and reviewing predominantly Canadian material. By connecting when and what these women were studying, scholars many gain a better understanding of the broader consumption and appreciation of literary and social trends of Canadian women outside of publishing and institutional records. Furthermore, because the agendas were set by and for these women, outside of the constructs of an institutionalized canon or agenda, they offer a fresh and on the ground examination of literary consumption over an extensive length of time.

Agenda for the fifty-third annual meeting of the National Council of Women of Canada, 1946

The National Council of Women of Canada was founded in 1893 in Toronto to address the need for societal reform, such as better education for women and women’s suffrage. The first president was Lady Ishbel Aberdeen, the wife of the Governor General. The group’s early efforts focused on improving conditions for women prisoners, women working in factories, and women immigrants. The efforts of the Council also helped to achieve the passing of the Act to Confer the Electoral Franchise Upon Women in 1918. Members of the Council have advocated for the welfare of children, the family, the community, the environment and equal pay for work of equal value. The Council continues to be concerned with these issues, and presents an annual brief to the Prime Minister and Members of the Cabinet, as well as occasionally serving on special advisory committees.

A Qualitative Study of the Professional Experiences of Teachers With Mobility Challenges and Their Self-Perceptions of Professional Success

This qualitative investigation explored the professional experiences of 3 Ontario teachers who have mobility challenges. The study’s participants (2 male and 1 female) were Ontario teachers who have permanent physical disabilities that challenge their means of mobility. Each participant has an Ontario Certified Teaching License and has either taught or is currently teaching in an Ontario school. My primary source of data collection was a semi-structured face-to-face interview with each participant. The focus of the interview was participant perspectives. Data analysis was accomplished in 3 phases. Data analysis generated 5 prominent themes of commonality among participants: (a) independence and sacrifice, (b) living with pain, (c) barriers and obstacles, (d) the importance of communication, and (e) professional benefits and personal rewards.

Professional Development of Academic Library Professionals in Kerala

The paper aims to bring out the problems and prospects of the professional development opportunities of academic library professionals in the Universities in Kerala. The study is a part of research undertaken to survey the professional development activities and educational needs of library professionals in the major Universities of Kerala because of the developments in Information communication technology. The study recommends methods for improving the knowledge/skills of library professionals. The aim of the study is to evaluate the professional development activities of Library professionals and their attitude towards continuing education programmes. In order to achieve the objectives of the study a survey was conducted with the help of structured questionnaires distributed to 203 library professionals in seven major universities in Kerala, (South India) of which 185 questionnaires were returned. Results of the analysis show that majority of the professionals have pursued higher degrees in library science or IT allied courses after entering the profession, and that they have a positive attitude towards participation in training programmes and workshops. The results show that developments in ICT have a positive influence on majority of library professionals‘ attitude towards continuing education programmes.

The Baltic Museology School : its role in the professional education system

Due to various reasons museum employees from the Baltic States rarely use the chance to study museology abroad. Therefore the State Authority on Museums of Latvia in collaboration with ICOM-Latvia decided to ―deliver‖ this knowledge, by inviting internationally acknowledged lectors from different countries to widen the scope of takers of this opportunity. Estonian and Lithuanian colleagues are also joining in the project, which is included in the cooperation programme of the Ministries of Culture of the Baltic States.

Exploring identities and cultures in inter-professional education and collaborative professional practice

Although the concept of multi-agency working has been pursued and adopted as the most appropriate way to improve child care provision and health workforces in recent years, both in the UK and more globally, research suggests that participation in such work can be problematic. This article examines current developments in inter-professional education and collaborative professional practice. Drawing on desk research across the fields of Education, Health and Social Care, it applies a critical lens to re-examine inter-professional working using well-established concepts of profession, identity, culture, career, and training/work transitions. The article uses theoretical hooks to look for similarities and differences in the promotion of inter-professionality across the Education, Health and Social Care sectors, alongside those which occur within each. It looks towards a re-invigoration of knowledge creation and application through research. This is viewed as especially urgent in times of fragmentation, transformation, and arguably, disintegration, in the services its professional and academic educators and workers seek to serve.