Spanish Nursing Students' Practical Experience of Computer Applications in Nursing

This study aimed to determine the level of computer practical experience in a sample of Spanish nursing students. Each student was given a Spanish language questionnaire, modified from an original used previously with medical students at the Medical School of North Carolina University (USA) and also at the Education Unit of Hospital General Universitario del Mar (Spain). The 10-item self-report questionnaire probed for information about practical experience with computers. A total of 126 students made up the sample. The majority were female (80.2%; n=101). The results showed that just over half (57.1%, n=72) of the students had used a computer game (three or more times before), and that only one third (37.3%, n=47) had the experience of using a word processing package. Moreover, other applications and IT-based facilities (e.g. statistical packages, e-mail, databases, CD-ROM searches, programming languages and computer-assisted learning) had never been used by the majority of students. The student nurses' practical experience was less than that reported for medical students in previous studies.

Trends in socioeconomic inequalities in preventable mortality in urban areas of 33 Spanish cities, 1996–2007 (MEDEA project)

Background: Preventable mortality is a good indicator of possible problems to be investigated in the primary prevention chain, making it also a useful tool with which to evaluate health policies particularly public health policies. This study describes inequalities in preventable avoidable mortality in relation to socioeconomic status in small urban areas of thirty three Spanish cities, and analyses their evolution over the course of the periods 1996–2001 and 2002–2007. Methods: We analysed census tracts and all deaths occurring in the population residing in these cities from 1996 to 2007 were taken into account. The causes included in the study were lung cancer, cirrhosis, AIDS/HIV, motor vehicle traffic accidents injuries, suicide and homicide. The census tracts were classified into three groups, according their socioeconomic level. To analyse inequalities in mortality risks between the highest and lowest socioeconomic levels and over different periods, for each city and separating by sex, Poisson regression were used. Results: Preventable avoidable mortality made a significant contribution to general mortality (around 7.5%, higher among men), having decreased over time in men (12.7 in 1996–2001 and 10.9 in 2002–2007), though not so clearly among women (3.3% in 1996–2001 and 2.9% in 2002–2007). It has been observed in men that the risks of death are higher in areas of greater deprivation, and that these excesses have not modified over time. The result in women is different and differences in mortality risks by socioeconomic level could not be established in many cities. Conclusions: Preventable mortality decreased between the 1996–2001 and 2002–2007 periods, more markedly in men than in women. There were socioeconomic inequalities in mortality in most cities analysed, associating a higher risk of death with higher levels of deprivation. Inequalities have remained over the two periods analysed. This study makes it possible to identify those areas where excess preventable mortality was associated with more deprived zones. It is in these deprived zones where actions to reduce and monitor health inequalities should be put into place. Primary healthcare may play an important role in this process.

Motivational profiles Spanish students of Compulsory Secondary Education: Differential analysis of academic self-attributions

Academic goals and academic self-attributions are relevant variables in school settings. The objective of this study is to identify whether there are combinations of multiple goals that lead to different motivational profiles and to determine whether there are significant differences between the groups obtained regarding causal attributions of success and failure (ability, effort, or external causes) in Mathematics and Language and Literature, and in overall academic performance. The Goal Achievement Tendencies Questionnaire (AGTQ) and the Sydney Attribution Scale (SAS) were administered to a sample of 2022 students of compulsory secondary education, ranging in age from 12 to 16 years (M = 13.81, SD = 1.35). Cluster analysis identified four motivational profiles: a group of students with a high generalized motivation profile, a group of students with low generalized motivation profile, a group of students with predominance of learning goals and achievement goals, and a final group of students with predominance of social reinforcement goals. Results revealed statistically significant differences between the profiles obtained in academic self-attributions.

Applying the WHO recommendations on health-sector response to violence against women to assess the Spanish health system. A mixed methods approach

This methodological note describes the development and application of a mixed-methods protocol to assess the responsiveness of Spanish health systems to violence against women in Spain, based on the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations. Five areas for exploration were identified based on the WHO recommendations: policy environment, protocols, training, accountability/monitoring, and prevention/promotion. Two data collection instruments were developed to assess the situation of 17 Spanish regional health systems (RHS) with respect to these areas: 1) a set of indicators to guide a systematic review of secondary sources, and 2) an interview guide to be used with 26 key informants at the regional and national levels. We found differences between RHSs in the five areas assessed. The progress of RHSs on the WHO recommendations was notable at the level of policies, moderate in terms of health service delivery, and very limited in terms of preventive actions. Using a mixed-methods approach was useful for triangulation and complementarity during instrument design, data collection and interpretation.

Structures, Systems and Organizational Communication Processes in Franchises in times of crisis: the Spanish case

Current economic crisis together with the Internet revolution has had direct impacts on the franchise sector of Spain: in particular on its unique communication network. The aim of this research is to analyse how Spanish franchise companies have adapted to these changes through its corporate communications management. We want to determine whether the management of communications is ideal to the growth and consolidation of companies in the market. Corporate communications plans and organizational structures were analyzed to verify whether or not information technology (i.e. the use of the Internet) is maximized: the communications aspect being a critical area of company growth. We found that most franchise companies surveyed had adapted well to the changes in information technology, despite economic challenges. The Internet as a communications tool has been limited to its utility as a “bulletin board” for information. The marketing advantage of Internet communication, or its use as an avenue for customer exchange and exchange of goods and services has yet to be maximized. Future research may look into the details of how companies are able to maximize the communications-marketing advantage that Online/Internet can contribute to the franchise sector.

Assessment of Web Content Accessibility Levels in Spanish Official Online Education Environments

Diversity-based designing, or the goal of ensuring that web-based information is accessible to as many diverse users as possible, has received growing international acceptance in recent years, with many countries introducing legislation to enforce it. This paper analyses web content accessibility levels in Spanish education portals according to the international guidelines established by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI). Additionally, it suggests the calculation of an inaccessibility rate as a tool for measuring the degree of non-compliance with WAI Guidelines 2.0 as well as illustrating the significant gap that separates people with disabilities from digital education environments (with a 7.77% average). A total of twenty-one educational web portals with two different web depth levels (42 sampling units) were assessed for this purpose using the automated analysis tool Web Accessibility Test 2.0 (TAW, for its initials in Spanish). The present study reveals a general trend towards non-compliance with the technical accessibility recommendations issued by the W3C-WAI group (97.62% of the websites examined present mistakes in Level A conformance). Furthermore, despite the increasingly high number of legal and regulatory measures about accessibility, their practical application still remains unsatisfactory. A greater level of involvement must be assumed in order to raise awareness and enhance training efforts towards accessibility in the context of collective Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), since this represents not only a necessity but also an ethical, social, political and legal commitment to be assumed by society.

Women's Songs. The Lullaby in the Spanish Autonomous Region of Valencia

A lullaby is a song performed almost exclusively by women in all cultures to make children fall asleep. But traditional lullaby singing has declined due to social change. This study analyzes its structure and content thoroughly and aspects of this tradition providing information on usage, customs, themes and types of melody, and reflecting the importance of this form of cultural expression.

‘La familia ya no es lo que era’: intercultural lesbian relationships in contemporary Spanish cinema

Este artículo considera el papel variable de las mujeres con respecto a la institución del matrimonio y al entorno familiar a través de la representación cinematográfica de relaciones interculturales y de lesbianas. Sostiene que ese tipo de relación constituye un ejemplo de la visibilidad emergente de formas familiares alternativas al modelo heteronormativo. Tomando en cuenta las dimensiones lingüísticas, temporales, y espaciales de estas relaciones, analiza tres películas: Costa Brava: Family Album, A mi madre le gustan las mujeres y Room in Rome. En resumen, el artículo cuestiona la posición del deseo intercultural lésbico dentro de las representaciones cinematográficas de la familia contemporánea en España.

Steamboats and pleasure travels: success and failure of the first Spanish initiatives in the mid-nineteenth century

Steam technology revolutionised maritime transport during the nineteenth century. Together with the establishment of the first regular lines, steamers soon led to the commencement of pleasure navigation. The aim of this article is to analyse the impact and scope of this process in Spain, by means of a study of the first experiences in the mid-nineteenth century. In addition to a brief introduction and final conclusions, the paper is structured around four sections. The first contains an appraisal of the situation of passenger transport. Some information is then provided regarding the first cruise in 1854. Next, the essay highlights some of the features of short excursions that were very well received by the public, especially in the island of Majorca. Finally, attention is given to a very special type of travel, the main attraction of which lay in the opportunity to witness an event of a military nature.

Supplemental nursing staff´s experiences at a Spanish hospital: Qualitative phenomenology research

The objective of this study was to describe the Supplemental Nursing Staff´s experiences at different hospital units. A qualitative phenomenological approach was conducted; a purposeful and theoretical sampling was implemented with supplemental nursing staff at Santa Barbara Hospital of Soria (Spain), to gain a more in-depth understanding of the Supplemental Nursing Staff ´s experience. Data were collected by in-depth interviews and through a field notebook. Data were analyzed using the Giorgi proposal. Twenty-one nurses with a mean age of 46 years were included. Three main topics emerged from the data analysis: building the first contact, carving out a niche and establishing interprofessional/interpersonal relationships. We conclude that the experience of hosting the supplemental nursing staff in changing clinical environments is conditioned by various factors. It is necessary for nurses and hospital managers to establish clear objectives with regard to the supplemental nursing staff´s role in the units.

The influence of English on Spanish fashion terminology: -ing forms

As has been the case with other European languages, Spanish has welcomed the arrival of English words, in spite of all purist efforts to the contrary. Moreover, it has not only adopted and adapted true Anglicisms but it has also created other forms based on English patterns, such mechanisms particularly visible in the fashion jargon in Spanish. In this paper we focus on -ing forms in the Spanish language of fashion, which may at times be genuine Anglicisms (formal or semantic ones) or false Anglicisms (analogical creations, that is, English-looking lexical elements), found in Spanish editions of fashion magazines such as Vogue, Elle, InStyle, Grazia, Glamour, and Cosmopolitan. The main aim of this study is to qualitatively analyse and classify -ing Anglicisms and false Anglicisms in the aforementioned jargon in order to establish whether the impact of English in the Spanish fashion jargon is so important as to replace native words and expressions.

Way of scoring by Spanish First Division volleyball teams in relation to winning/losing, home/away, final classification, and type of confrontation

The aim of this study was to assess the way volleyball teams score with regard to: whether or not they won the game, whether they were the home or away team, the level of the opposing teams, and the type of confrontation. The sample was composed of 118,083 plays from 794 men’s volleyball matches and 125,751 plays from 719 women’s matches of Spain’s first division clubs (from the 2002-2003 season to the 2006-2007 season). The variables studied were: the way points were obtained in each play, being the home or away team, the level of the teams, the result of the match, and the type of confrontation between the teams with regard to their level. The results demonstrate that for both men’s and women’s teams, the majority of the points were obtained in attack and by opponent errors. Differences were found with regard to the way points were obtained when winning or losing the match was taken into account as well as when considering the level of the teams. This paper discusses the differences found with regard to whether the team is home or visiting and the type of confrontation.

The effect of electricity tariffs over the operating costs of the Spanish wastewater treatments plants

Given the complex structure of electricity tariffs and their steady growth in Spanish, we've studied its effect over the operating costs of the wastewater treatment plants (WWTP), concluding that in the last three years the revisions of electricity rates have meant increases in electricity costs of 64.5% in the rate 3.1.A and 79.1% in the rate 6.1. This has caused the cost of electricity, which was the most important, has increased from a 44% of total operating costs in the year 2009, to more than a 56% in the year 2012.

Self-rated health and hospital services use in the Spanish National Health System: a longitudinal study

Background: Self-rated health is a subjective measure that has been related to indicators such as mortality, morbidity, functional capacity, and the use of health services. In Spain, there are few longitudinal studies associating self-rated health with hospital services use. The purpose of this study is to analyze the association between self-rated health and socioeconomic, demographic, and health variables, and the use of hospital services among the general population in the Region of Valencia, Spain. Methods: Longitudinal study of 5,275 adults who were included in the 2005 Region of Valencia Health Survey and linked to the Minimum Hospital Data Set between 2006 and 2009. Logistic regression models were used to calculate the odds ratios between use of hospital services and self-rated health, sex, age, educational level, employment status, income, country of birth, chronic conditions, disability and previous use of hospital services. Results: By the end of a 4-year follow-up period, 1,184 participants (22.4 %) had used hospital services. Use of hospital services was associated with poor self-rated health among both men and women. In men, it was also associated with unemployment, low income, and the presence of a chronic disease. In women, it was associated with low educational level, the presence of a disability, previous hospital services use, and the presence of chronic disease. Interactions were detected between self-rated health and chronic disease in men and between self-rated health and educational level in women. Conclusions: Self-rated health acts as a predictor of hospital services use. Various health and socioeconomic variables provide additional predictive capacity. Interactions were detected between self-rated health and other variables that may reflect different complex predictive models, by gender.

Trends in mortality due to motor vehicle traffic accident injuries between 1987 and 2011 in a Spanish region (Comunitat Valenciana)

Objective: To analyse the time evolution of the rates of mortality due to motor vehicle traffic accidents (MVTA) injuries that occurred among the general population of Comunitat Valenciana between 1987 and 2011, as well as to identify trend changes by sex and age group. Methods: An observational study of annual mortality trends between 1987 and 2011. We studied all deaths due to MVTA injuries that occurred during this period of time among the non-institutionalised population residing in Comunitat Valenciana (a Spanish Mediterranean region that had a population of 5,117,190 inhabitants in 2011). The rates of mortality due to MVTA injuries were calculated for each sex and year studied. These rates were standardised by age for the total population and for specific age groups using the direct method (age-standardised rate – ASR). Joinpoint regression models were used in order to detect significant trend changes. Additionally, the annual percentage change (APC) of the ASRs was calculated for each trend segment, which is reflected in statistically significant joinpoints. Results: For all ages, ASRs decrease greatly in both men and women (70% decrease between 1990 and 2011). In 1990 and 2011, men have rates of 36.5 and 5.2 per 100,000 men/year, respectively. In the same years, women have rates of 8.0 and 0.9 per 100,000 women/year, respectively. This decrease reaches up to 90% in the age group 15–34 years in both men and women. ASR ratios for men and women increased over time for all ages: this ratio was 3.9 in 1987; 4.6 in 1990; and 5.8 in 2011. For both men and women, there is a first significant segment (p < 0.05) with an increasing trend between 1987 and 1989–1990. After 1990, there are 3 segments with a significant decreasing APC (1990–1993, 1993–2005 and 2005–2011, in the case of men; and 1989–1996, 1999–2007 and 2007–2011, in the case of women). Conclusion: The risk of death due to motor vehicle traffic accidents injuries has decreased significantly, especially in the case of women, for the last 25 years in Comunitat Valenciana, mainly as of 2006. This may be a consequence of the road-safety measures that have been implemented in Spain and in Comunitat Valenciana since 2004. The economic crisis that this country has undergone since 2008 may have also been a contributing factor to this decrease. Despite the decrease, ASR ratios for men and women increased over time and it is still a high-risk cause of death among young men. It is thus important that the measures that helped decrease the risk of death are maintained and improved over time.