Impact of "+Contigo" training on the knowledge and attitudes of health care professionals about suicide

OBJECTIVES:

to evaluate the results of "+Contigo" training, developed by nurses and directed at 66 health professionals of integrated school health teams in Primary Health Care.

METHOD:

quantitative with data collection through the Suicide Behavior Attitude Questionnaire, administered before and after the training.

RESULTS:

significant increases were observed in suicide prevention knowledge and in changing attitudes of health professionals towards individuals with suicidal behavior.

CONCLUSION:

these results allow us to affirm that nurses hold scientific and pedagogical knowledge that grant them a privileged position in the health teams, to develop training aimed at health professionals involved in suicide prevention.     

Child safety from the perspective of essential needs

OBJECTIVE:

to characterize the maternal care for children under one year of age with a view to child health promotion at home.

METHOD:

exploratory study with qualitative data analysis, thematic mode, based on the conceptual framework of the essential needs of children, based on interviews recorded with 16 mothers.

RESULTS:

the analysis of the maternal narratives showed elements that facilitate the promotion of child safety: presence and involvement of the parents, constant surveillance for physical and emotional protection, experiences to stimulate child development, support networks for childcare at home; and inhibiting elements of child safety: limited perception of characteristics of child development and of children''s singularities, overprotection and difficulties to set limits.

CONCLUSION:

the study enhances the understanding of home care in child health promotion, directing professional actions to guarantee ongoing nurturing relationships, protection, respect for individual differences, experiences appropriate to child development, limit setting and construction of stable and supportive social networks. In addition, the relevance of considering the maternal perspective in child health care is considered, as a strategy to apprehend aspects related to the attendance of the growth and development needs, particularly for child health promotion at home.     

Factors associated with reporting of abuse against children and adolescents by nurses within Primary Health Care

OBJECTIVE:

to analyze the factors associated with the underreporting on the part of nurses within Primary Health Care of abuse against children and adolescents.

METHOD:

cross-sectional study with 616 nurses. A questionnaire addressed socio-demographic data, profession, instrumentation and knowledge on the topic, identification and reporting of abuse cases. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression was used.

RESULTS:

female nurses, aged between 21 and 32 years old, not married, with five or more years since graduation, with graduate studies, and working for five or more years in PHC predominated. The final regression model showed that factors such as working for five or more years, having a reporting form within the PHC unit, and believing that reporting within Primary Health Care is an advantage, facilitate reporting.

CONCLUSION:

the study''s results may, in addition to sensitizing nurses, support management professionals in establishing strategies intended to produce compliance with reporting as a legal device that ensures the rights of children and adolescents.     

Napping during the night shift and recovery after work among hospital nurses

OBJECTIVE:

To analyze the association between the length of napping during the night shift and the recovery after work among nurses.

METHOD:

Cross-sectional epidemiological study involving 1940 nurses from 18 public hospitals in the City of Rio de Janeiro. A multidimensional and self-applied questionnaire was used with information about health, sociodemographic and occupational characteristics, health-related behaviors and housework. Multiple logistic regression was applied to identify the association, adjusted for confounding variables.

RESULTS:

The gross analyses showed 44%, 127% and 66% higher chances of a high level of recovery after work for nurses who sleep up to two hours, between 2.1 and 3 hours and 3.1 hours or more, respectively, when compared to the nurses who do not sleep. After adjusting for confounding variables, the association only continues significant for the group that sleeps 2.1 to 3 hours during the night shift (OR=1.79; 95%CI=1.33-2.41).

CONCLUSION:

The association between the length of napping and the high level of recovery after work, confirmed in the present results, can be included in the studies that aim to support more appropriate policies aimed at improving the workers'' work, life and health conditions, not only in nursing, but night-shift workers in general.     

Nurses' workload and its relation with physiological stress reactions

OBJECTIVE:

to analyze the relation between the workload and the physiological stress reactions among nurses working at a hospital service.

METHODS:

cross-sectional, correlational, quantitative study, involving 95 nurses, in 2011 and 2012. Spearman''s bivariate Correlation Test was used.

RESULTS:

most subjects are female, between 23 and 61 years old and working between 21 and 78 hours per week. The most frequent physiological reactions were back pain, fatigue/exhaustion, stiff neck and stomach acidity, with 46.3% of the subjects presenting low and 42.1% moderate physiological stress responses. No correlation was found between the workload and the physiological stress responses.

CONCLUSION:

although most of the nurses work more than 36 hours/week, physiologically, they do not present high reaction levels in response to stress. These workers deal with conflicts in the vertical and horizontal relations between professionals, family members and patients. In that sense, taking care of professionals who offer health services can be a fundamental strategy, as good user care mainly depends on healthy teams.     

Experience of taking care of children exposed to HIV: a trajectory of expectations

OBJECTIVE:

to learn about the experience of caregivers/mothers providing care to infants exposed to HIV through vertical transmission.

METHODS:

this qualitative study used Symbolic Interactionism as the theoretical framework. A total of 39 caregivers of children exposed to HIV in follow-up at a specialized service were interviewed. Data were analyzed through inductive content analysis.

RESULTS:

four categories were identified that report on the lonely experience of handling the child''s antiretroviral therapy, mainly due to a lack of information or incomplete information; being attentive to required care, such as the use of prophylaxis for pneumonia, vaccines, and other practices restricted to the mother-child interaction; the desire to omit the HIV out of fear of prejudice and fear of the disease, considering future prospects.

CONCLUSION:

the HIV and the threat this infection may affect the child cause apprehension and feelings such as fear, guilt and anxiety in the caregivers. Healthcare workers need to work together with mothers so they are able to cope with demands and distress. Only then will the treatment to avoid vertical transmission be efficient and will mother and child be supported during the process, despite apprehension with the outcome.     

Presence and extent of the primary health care attributes among children hospitalized for pneumonia

OBJECTIVE:

to analyze the presence and extent of the primary health care attributes among children hospitalized for pneumonia.

METHOD:

observational and retrospective study with hospital-based case-control design, developed in three hospitals associated to the Brazilian Unified Health System, located in a city of the State of São Paulo, Brazil. The study included 690 children under five years old, with 345 cases and 345 controls.

RESULTS:

both groups scored high for access to health services. In contrast, high scores for attributes such as longitudinality and coordination of care were observed for the controls. Despite low scores, integrality and family counseling were also high for the controls.

CONCLUSION:

knowledge of the aspects involving the primary health care attributes and its provision for child care are very important because they have the potential to support professionals and managers of the Brazilian Unified Health System in the organization of health services.     

Care for technology dependent children and their relationship with the health care systems

OBJECTIVE:

to understand the experience of care delivery to technology dependent children based on the mothers'' experience.

METHOD:

exploratory study with qualitative approach, based on the theoretical framework of medical anthropology and the narrative method. Twelve mothers participated and, as the technique to obtain the narratives, open interviews were held at the participants'' homes.

RESULTS:

the narratives were organized into three thematic categories: the family system, identifying the care forms, the association between popular and scientific knowledge and the participation of the social network; the professional system, which discusses the relations between professionals and family, the hegemony of the biomedical model and the role of nursing; and the popular system, presenting popular care practices like spirituality and religiosity.

CONCLUSION:

the study provided support for a health care project that takes into account the families'' moral and symbolic values and beliefs in view of the illness of a technology-dependent child. The results found can contribute towards changes in the health work process, so that its foundation is guided not only by the biomedical model, allowing the integration of the sociocultural dimensions into the health care movement.     

Barriers for the inclusion of sexuality in nursing care for women with gynecological and breast cancer: perspective of professionals

AIM:

qualitative study, which aimed to identify the barriers that influence nursing care practices related to the sexuality of women with gynecological and breast cancer.

METHODS:

the study was conducted with 16 professionals of the nursing area (nurses, nursing technicians and nursing assistants) from two sectors of a university hospital situated in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The data was collected using semi-structured, in-depth individual interviews. All the interviews were recorded and the participants'' responses were identified and categorized using Content Analysis.

RESULTS:

three major themes were identified. These are as follows: 1) barriers related to the biomedical model; 2) barriers related to institutional dynamics and 3) barriers related to the social interpretations of sexuality.

CONCLUSIONS:

the results of this study showed that the systematized inclusion of this issue in nursing care routines requires changes in the health paradigm and in the work dynamic, as well as reflection on the personal values and social interpretations related to the topic. A major challenge is to divest sexuality of the taboos and prejudices which accompany it, as well as to contribute to the nursing team being more aware of the difficulties faced by women with gynaecological and breast cancer.     

The causes of bullying: results from the National Survey of School Health (PeNSE)

Objective:

to identify the characteristics and reasons reported by Brazilian students for school bullying.

Method:

this cross-sectional study uses data from an epidemiological survey (National Survey of School Health) conducted in 2012. A total of 109,104 9th grade students from private and public schools participated. Data were collected through a self-applied questionnaire and the analysis was performed using SPSS, version 20, Complex Samples Module.

Results:

the prevalence of bullying was 7.2%, most frequently affecting Afro-descendant or indigenous younger boys, whose mothers were characterized by low levels of education. In regard to the reasons/causes of bullying, 51.2% did not specify; the second highest frequency of victimization was related to body appearance (18.6%); followed by facial appearance (16.2%); race/color (6.8%); sexual orientation 2.9%; religion 2.5%; and region of origin 1.7%. The results are similar to those found in other sociocultural contexts.

Conclusion:

the problem belongs to the health field because it gathers aspects that determine the students'' health-disease-care continuum.