[Patient satisfaction as a quality indicator in mental health]. / Satisfacción del paciente como indicador de calidad en salud mental.

OBJECTIVE: To improve the quality of care in a Mental Health Hospital and identify the level of patient satisfaction. MATERIAL AND METHOD: A descriptive, longitudinal, and retrospective study was conducted on 666 patients who completed treatment in the Mental Health Day Hospital of Salamanca, during the period 1994-2012, using the Hospital Management Annual Reports. A questionnaire designed for this purpose was used as the measurement tool. RESULTS: Most of the patients satisfactorily valued aspects, such as the general impression of the treatment (90% said «good/fairly good¼) and perception of being helped (94% perceived «very/fairly helped¼); with 83% believing that the hospital is accessible. As regards empathy-understanding, it was noted that 14% feel discontent. While 18% of patients expected to be completely cured, the 83% of patients that finished their treatment have said that, in their opinion, the symptoms have subsided «very or somewhat¼. As regards the knowledge that they have about their disease, 30% believe it has advanced «a lot.¼ CONCLUSIONS: Based on the perceptions reported by patients, it may be said that in general, the level of user satisfaction in the Mental Health Day Hospital is high. Assessing quality through the user opinions helps control the quality, considering that patient satisfaction is a good indicator of result of the care received during their hospitalisation.

[Epidemiological study and effect on antimicrobial use in the genus Acinetobacter in a university hospital]. / Estudio epidemiológico y efecto sobre la utilización de antimicrobianos en el genero Acinetobacter en un hospital universitario.

In recent years, bacteria of the genus Acinetobacter have gradually been gaining epidemiological importance. This is due to the fact that they have been emerging as opportunistic pathogens causing a great number of nosocomial infections, and due to their multiresistance to antimicrobial agents, which limits treatment options. This study aimed to determine the epidemiological importance of isolates of the genus Acinetobacter at the Clinical University Hospital of Salamanca, Spain. The identification and susceptibility of Acinetobacter was determined using the Pasco automated system for Gram-negative bacteria MIC/ID 6J. Clinical and epidemiological data were obtained from the clinical history. During the study period it was found that A. anitratus was the most frequently isolated species (56%). The origin of the bacteria was mainly nosocomial (70%), and it was most prevalent in the ICU.