Is nursing a profession in Turkey?

Nursing has been a dynamic process since the existence of humanity on Earth. As a part of this process, whether nursing is an occupation or a profession has been a long-lasting question. There exist different sets of criteria and schemes of classification that are used to define professions. In this article the authors inquire into the professionalism of nursing in Turkey in view of the criteria for nursing professionalism first set by B. K. Miller et al. (1993).     

Teaching nursing care methodology in Paraná

This inquiry has been carried out among professors in the Nursing program from Institutions of Higher Education in the State of Paraná. It aimed at investigating the teaching process of Health Care Assistance Methodology for Nursing, by promoting and opening possibilities for interchange among these professors by means of a Forum. Data were collected through a semistructured questionnaire sent by regular mail, fax, and email. The sample consists of 17 instruments answered by professors representing 8 educational institutions. These data have shown how relevant the teaching of Health Care Assistance Methodology for Nursing is, but its concept still poses disagreements. It points out the theoretical reference the professors carry, the pedagogical methodologies they use, and the articulation between theory and practice.     

Surface disinfection in nursing homes--what is really happening? Study of control success in three Duisburg nursing homes

The effectiveness of cleaning and disinfection of environmental surfaces was evaluated in three nursing homes using bacteriological monitoring. Samples from inmates (nose, throat and wounds) and surface cleaning equipment were also taken. Cleaning solutions, disinfectants and cleaning clothes were found to be highly contaminated in two of three institutions. Referring to the surfaces in some cases disinfection didn't reduce bacterial colony counts and seeded MRSA as a potential pathogen in one nursing home. Six MRSA-positive inmates and identical strains were registered in the environment. MRSA can be used as a marker organism to demonstrate effectiveness of cleaning. To achieve further improvement bacteriological monitoring can help in focussing special cleaning and disinfection related problems.     

Changes in nursing professions’ scope of practice: A pilot study using electronic nursing records

Objectives

This study aims to identify and evaluate comprehensive nursing service as a new nursing care service in Korea. To this end, we performed comparison analyses between the comprehensive nursing service and non-comprehensive nursing service wards’ nursing practices through nursing documentation.

... And nursing in the 21st century?

The failure of Descartes' system and the new world-wide context are aspects that point to a crises of current paradigms. This crises triggers the need of reconsidering philosophical and scientific models, as well as the trends guiding the professional practices and relationships. This study reflects about the tendencies that will lead the nursing practices in the twentieth-first century and the consequences of the care practice under new paradigms.     

Genesis of hospital nursing in Goiás State

The Hospital de Caridade S?o Pedro de Alcantara was created in the City of Goiás, being the first hospital institution implanted in the state. The work purposes to understand the historical-social context in which the "S?o Pedro" was implanted, looking for information about the structure and operation, especially what concerns to the nursing. The used approach was the dialectics. The results demonstrated the existence of ten nursing workers and that those were separate to patients' attendance according to gender. The work delivered by the male workers was better remunerated than the one delivered by female workers. The hospital and their servants, gradually, were assuming the responsibility for the ordering and cleanliness of the physical spaces, workers, prisioners, burials, etc. The work was arduous and badly paid.     

Citizen training in nursing: myth or potential utopia?

The objective of this study is to verify to what extent the concepts of university, citizenship, social compromise and health system influence the nursing practice. These topics were analysed through questionnaires answered by senior nursing students. The pedagogical project of the this course was used as reference to analyse students' speech. The study showed that these prospective professionals didn't have a satisfying advance concerning their view on education, health and conception of the world. This result suggested that this pedagogical proposal has to be constantly reexamined in order to broaden students' view on the aspects mentioned. It was noticed that students' discourses were heterogeneous, and contrasted with the apparent homogeneity in the understanding of specific contents. The research highlights the dialectical movement that affects the teaching practice, which oscillates between a critical formation and Descartes' logic. It was concluded that a continuous evaluation of the educational project is a vital strategy to consolidate a formation compromised with citizenship.     

Can we prevent aspiration pneumonia in the nursing home?

Aspiration pneumonia is a significant cause of morbidity, hospitalization, and mortality in the nursing home population. Patients who aspirate have three times higher mortality than patients who do not aspirate. We discuss the factors known to increase the risk of aspiration and its consequences, and recognize some of the preventive measures for aspiration pneumonia. We suggest approaches to decrease the risk of this very prevalent syndrome.     

Tetanus in the geriatric population: is it a collective health problem?

Tetanus is an infectious non-contagious disease caused by the bacillus Clostridium tetani, which penetrates in the organism through wounds. Psychomotor dysfunction facilitates accidents among elderly people and vaccinal coverage is low in this population, thus contributing to high lethality. This study aimed at reflecting on the situation faced by elderly people in relation to tetanus in the perspective of Collective Health. It is a Case Study conducted with two elderly males who had accidental tetanus and were hospitalized in a hospital in the municipality of Fortaleza. Data collection took place from March to April, 1998. The analysis showed the absence of vaccinal coverage as well as of the implementation of emergency prophylaxis. The two patients' conditions developed to death, which confirmed the high mortality due to tetanus in this age group. The critical reflection pointed out the urgency of a collective health approach.     

Falls in the nursing home: are they preventable?

INTRODUCTION: Falls are prevalent in elderly patients residing in nursing homes, with approximately 1.5 falls occurring per nursing home bed-years. Although most are benign and injury-free, 10% to 25% result in hospital admission and/or fractures. Primary care providers for nursing home residents must therefore aim to reduce both the fall rate as well as the rate of fall-related morbidity in the long-term care setting. Interventions have been demonstrated to be successful in reducing falls in community-dwelling elderly patients. However, less evidence supports the efficacy of fall prevention in nursing home residents. METHODS: The authors conducted a Medline search using the key words Falls and Nursing Homes. RESULTS: Several studies examined the efficacy of multifaceted intervention programs on reducing falls in nursing homes with varied results. Components of these intervention programs include: environmental assessment, assistive device evaluation and modification, medication changes, gait assessment and training, staff education, exercise programs, hip protector use, and blood pressure evaluation. Current literature supports the use of environmental assessment and intervention in reducing falls in nursing homes, and demonstrates an association between certain medications and falls. However, there are no studies that examine the effect of medication adjustments on fall rates. Also, the literature does not strongly suggest that exercise programs are effective in fall reduction. Although not effective in reducing fall rates, the use of hip protectors appears to result in less fall-related morbidity. CONCLUSION: More studies must be done to clarify the effects of high-risk medication reduction, the optimal nature and intensity of exercise programs, and patient targeting criteria to maximize the effectiveness of nursing home fall prevention programs. Based on the current literature, an effective multifaceted fall prevention program for nursing home residents should include risk factor assessment and modification, staff education, gait assessment and intervention, assistive device assessment and optimization, as well as environmental assessment and modification. Although there is no association between the use of hip protectors and fall rates, their use should be encouraged because the ultimate goal of any fall prevention program is to prevent fall-related morbidity.