The nature of care in light of Emmanuel Levinas

Abstract  The discipline of nursing is still struggling with the differences that need to be clearly defined between the notions of care and nursing care. To be able to clarify this distinction, agreement must first be reached on the meaning of care itself. The present article proposes a conception of care in light of the philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas (1906–1995). This philosopher's thought throws considerable light on the ontology of care, thanks especially to his focus on the deeper implications of human encounter. A profound sense of responsibility towards the other enables Levinas to bring out such dimensions of the concept of care as the relation involved, the feeling of affection, and the interventions. We examine here what these entail regarding nursing care.     

Lipid peroxidation, occupational stress and aging in workers of a prehospital emergency service.

BACKGROUND: Stressful conditions lead to formation of excessive free radicals, and lipid peroxidation is one of the major outcomes of free radical-mediated injury that directly damages membranes and generates a number of secondary products. OBJECTIVES: To determine the levels of malondialdehyde, an end product of lipid peroxidation, according to demographic and occupational variables in workers of a prehospital emergency service and to analyse the relationship between malondialdehyde levels and burnout. MATERIAL AND METHODS: One hundred and eleven healthy workers of a prehospital emergency service and eighty aged-matched healthy individuals of both sexes as a control group were surveyed. Malondialdehyde levels were measured by the Bull and Marnett method. To measure burnout, the Maslach Burnout Inventory was used. RESULTS: Professional category is associated with lipid peroxidation and burnout levels (Malondialdehyde levels were: physicians 338.10+/-14.47, nurses 329.17+/-12.62 and technicians 296.74+/-14.28; burnout levels were: physicians 41.29+/-3.59, nurses 37.38+/-6.05 and technicians 35.33+/-5.87). Working at night and in the evening increased malondialdehyde and burnout levels. Malondialdehyde levels increase with age. No significant variations with respect to sex were detected. Significant variations in malondialdehyde levels were detected between singles (303.13+/-12.74) and married people (344.43+/-13.43) but not with respect to divorcees (326.44+/-11.74). Significant differences were detected in erythrocyte malondialdehyde levels between smokers (341.37+/-17.09) and nonsmokers (302.21+/-12.38), but not for alcohol consumption. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest a positive correlation between malondialdehyde, a biomarker of lipid peroxidation and occupational stress, as estimated by elements of the Maslach Burnout Inventory, and oxidative stress.     

Falls and consequent injuries in hospitalized patients: effects of an interdisciplinary falls prevention program

Background  

Patient falls in hospitals are common and may lead to negative outcomes such as injuries, prolonged hospitalization and legal liability. Consequently, various hospital falls prevention programs have been implemented in the last decades. However, most of the programs had no sustained effects on falls reduction over extended periods of time.     

Localized Kaposi''s sarcoma in a patient with pemphigus vulgaris

We report the case of a patient with a 13-year history of pemphigus vulgaris (PV) treated with immunosuppressive agents, prednisone and mycophenolate mofetil who had developed lesions of Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) on a sole plaque of PV that had been previously treated with intralesional injections of steroids. The lesions were surgically removed and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) demonstrated human herpesvirus-8 (HHV-8) DNA. There were neither recurrences nor later dissemination of KS following gradual decrease of the immunosuppressive therapy. We suggest that the treatment with intralesional steroids may have influenced the local reactivation of a latent infection of the virus, determining the appearance of this localized KS.     

Diterpenoids from the Roots of Agastache rugosa

从土藿香根中得到两个二萜化合物，藿香酚（２）及异藿香酚（３）。经光谱解析（ＩＲ，ＵＶ，ＨＲＭＳ及ＮＭＲ谱），确定它们的结构分别为１１，１４ｄｉｈｙｄｒｏｘｙ１２ｍｅｔｈｏｘｙ１９（４→３）ａｂｅｏａｂｉｅｔａ４，（１８），８，１１，１３ｔｅｔｒａｅｎ７ｏｎｅ（２）和１１，１４ｄｉｈｙｄｒｏｘｙ１２ｍｅｔｈｏｘｙ１９（４→３）ａｂｅｏａｂｉｅｔａ３，８，１１，１３ｔｅｔｒａｅｎ７ｏｎｅ（３）藿香酚（２）为一新的化合物，而异藿香酚（３）系首次从天然界分离得到，二者为一对异构体。