Prospective roles for Canadian oncology nurses in breast cancer rapid diagnostic clinics.

The introduction of rapid diagnostic clinics for breast cancer increases oncology nurses' (ONs) responsibility for patient education and coordination of multidisciplinary care. Developed as an outcome of the E-Mentorship Oncology Nursing Program, this paper proposes new roles for these nurses to respond effectively and competently to such diagnostic innovation. The Oslo Manual Conceptual Framework of Innovation inspired the idea of change in prospective ONs' roles, corroborated by the Canadian Association of Nurses in Oncology's Standards of Practice and Competencies. New roles for ONs that are informed by the domain of information dynamics and evidence-based care are proposed.

Awakening professionals' critical awareness of health literacy issues within a francophone linguistic-minority population in Ontario.

INTRODUCTION: We carried out a qualitative evaluation of immediate learning and attitudinal change among health care and social services professionals who attended a workshop promoting critical reflection about health literacy among linguistic-minority Franco-Ontarians. METHODS: The study involved 41 francophone health care and social services professionals. The workshop facilitator used evocative objects to elicit reflection on health literacy. Data sources were audio-recordings of group discussions and feedback forms completed by participants. RESULTS: The study found that the workshop awakened participants' awareness of health literacy and stimulated them to promote health literacy in their professional practice. The workshop also broadened participants' vision of health literacy as a social determinant of health that interacts synergistically with culture, age, immigration status, social support, and socioeconomic status. CONCLUSION: Professionals expressed their awakened awareness of health literacy as collective accountability. This corroborates our claim that critical pedagogy applied to in-service education effectively stimulates professionals' awareness of their potential to change their practice and work environment.

TITRE: Susciter chez les professionnels une prise de conscience critique des enjeux liés à la littératie en santé pour des francophones en situation de minorité linguistique en Ontario. INTRODUCTION: Nous avons procédé à une évaluation qualitative des changements immédiats sur les plans de l'apprentissage et de l'attitude chez des professionnels de la santé et des services sociaux ayant participé à un atelier visant à susciter une réflexion critique sur la littératie en santé des Franco-Ontariens en situation de minorité linguistique. MÉTHODOLOGIE: L'étude a été réalisée auprès de 41 professionnels francophones de la santé et des services sociaux. L'animatrice de l'atelier a utilisé des objets évocateurs pour susciter la réflexion sur la littératie en santé. Les sources de données étaient les enregistrements audio des discussions de groupes et les formulaires de rétroaction remplis par les participants. RÉSULTATS: L'étude a révélé que l'atelier avait suscité chez les participants une prise de conscience à propos de la littératie en santé et les avait incités à promouvoir la littératie en santé dans leur pratique professionnelle. L'atelier a aussi élargi la vision de la littératie en santé qu'avaient les participants à sa dimension de déterminant social de la santé qui agit en synergie avec la culture, l'âge, le statut à l'égard de l'immigration, le soutien social et le statut socioéconomique. CONCLUSION: Les professionnels ont estimé que la prise de conscience des problèmes de littératie en santé relevait d'une responsabilité collective. Cela corrobore notre hypothèse selon laquelle une pédagogie critique appliquée à la formation continue stimule chez les professionnels la prise de conscience de leur capacité à vouloir changer leur pratique et leur milieu de travail.

Scientific and popular health knowledge in the education work of community health agents in Rio de Janeiro shantytowns.

Health education for socially marginalized populations challenges the efficacy of existing strategies and methods, and the pertinence of the educational and philosophical principles that underpin them. The Brazilian Community Health Agents Initiative (CHAI) hires residents of deprived marginalized communities to undertake health promotion and education in their communities. The ultimate goal of the CHAI is to connect populations with the public healthcare system by promoting social re-affiliation, protecting civil rights and enhancing equity of access to health services. In this article, we present the education work of community health agents through interplay between popular and scientific health knowledge in nine Rio de Janeiro shantytowns. A critical ethnographic research design, using thematic analysis, allowed us to explore agents' education work to enhance family health literacy in shantytowns. Local culture and social practices inspire Agents to create original strategies to reconcile forms of health knowledge in their work.

[The nursing labour market in Canada (1985-1999)]. / Le marché du travail en soins infirmiers au Canada (1985-1999).

This literature review analysed both published and unpublished scientific and professional studies on the nursing labour market in Canada within the period of 1985 to 1999. The goal was to conduct a situational analysis utilising statistical data and canvassing all concerned parties to extract their points of view. The analysis revealed significant cyclical variations in the evolution of the workforce, particularly with respect to auxiliary nurses, such as the perceived existence of major problems in recruiting new professionals in the field and retaining existing professionals in their organisations, the lack of homogeneity in educational training programmes, and the co-existence of several operational structures for organising nursing care, of which there is a lack of evaluation on their effectiveness. The results of the literature review identify the necessity to further develop the knowledge base on such a relevant dimension of the nursing labour market.