Empathizing and systemizing profiles of Brazilian and Portuguese nursing undergraduates.

AIM: To analyze the empathizing and systemizing profiles of Brazilian and Portuguese nursing undergraduates. BACKGROUND: Empathy is a fundamental skill for nursing practice and should be analyzed during the student's education. METHODS: Descriptive study with cross-sectional design. Participants were 968 undergraduate students, including 215 (22.2%) Brazilians from a university in the state of São Paulo and 753 (77.8%) Portuguese students from a higher education institution in central Portugal. The Portuguese and Brazilian versions of the Empathizing/Systemizing Quotient have good internal consistency and reliability. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS: In Brazil, approval for the study was obtained from the Research Ethics Committee of the University of São Paulo at Ribeirão Preto College of Nursing (protocol 191/2016) and in Portugal, from the Ethics Committee of the Health Sciences Research Unit: Nursing, Coimbra Higher School of Nursing (protocol P362-09/2016). RESULTS: Most (86%) participants were female and aged between 20 and 24 years. In the general profile analysis between both groups, the domains "Social Skills," "Contents," and "Processes" scored higher. Gender differences exist for the feeling of empathy and systemizing, as women scored better on the short version of the Empathy Quotient and men on the Systemizing Quotient. CONCLUSION: As demonstrated in the domain scores for "Social Skills," "Contents," and "Processes," the undergraduate nursing students analyzed have the ability to deal intuitively and spontaneously with social situations; they are also characterized as methodical people, who like to follow rules, and experience practice better than theory, and the women have a higher empathetic level than men, who in turn are more systemizing.

Empathic profile of nursing freshmen.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the empathic profile and the empathy scores of freshmen of the nursing course. DESIGN AND PARTICIPANTS: Descriptive study involving 399 freshmen students of two modalities of nursing courses: Bachelor and Bachelor and Teaching Diploma, in the period from 2012 to 2015. A sociodemographic questionnaire and the Empathy Inventory were applied. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS: The research received approval from the Research Ethics Committee of the University of São Paulo at Ribeirão Preto College of Nursing. The students registered their acceptance to participate in the research by signing the Free and Informed Consent Form and anonymity was guaranteed. FINDINGS: The mean age of the participants was 19 years, being 85.5% female. The students were grouped by course modality and all groups presented high empathy scores. A significant difference (p < 0.001) was found, which indicates that students of the Bachelor and Teaching Diploma program presented a higher degree of empathy for the General Score, Domain 2 (Interpersonal Flexibility), and Domain 3 (Altruism) in relation to students in the Bachelor program. CONCLUSION: Results show that nursing undergraduate freshmen are emphatic, with minimum differences between the two courses. This profile is relevant for the development of future professionals capable to demonstrate a balance between instrumental and expressive competences.

Expectations and perceptions of clients concerning the quality of care provided at a Brazilian hospital facility.

PURPOSE: To identify the expectations and perceptions of clients concerning the quality of hospital care provided to them and their respective companions at a private Brazilian hospital using SERVQUAL. The SERVQUAL questionnaire can provide information concerning expectations and perceptions of clients. In addition, it is able to identify the participation of frontline employees and how they contribute to the organization's end product (service delivery). METHODS: In total, 172 inpatients for surgical reasons answered the SERVQUAL questionnaire. It consists of 23 pairs of statements, 22 of which are distributed into the dimensions of tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy. Statement 23 refers to the overall quality of care. Exploratory analysis, internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) and the kappa Coefficient were calculated using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences and SAS 9.2. Ethical approval was obtained from the Institutional Review Board at the Hospital das Clínicas at the University of São Paulo at Ribeirao Preto Medical School. RESULTS: Most participants had a bachelor's degree and were over than 60years old. Cronbach's alpha coefficients indicated good internal consistency (α=0.93) and high levels of agreement were observed (91.10%). CONCLUSION: The SERVQUAL questionnaire was sensitive to items in each dimension for which clients' perceptions surpassed their expectations. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: The continuous quality assessment of health services is mandatory for nursing leadership. The nursing leadership can further explore the SERVQUAL with a view to better attending to the clients' expectations.

The Evolution of World Health Organization's Initiatives for the Strengthening of Nursing and Midwifery.

PURPOSE: To describe the evolution in the resolutions approved by World Health Organization (WHO)'s World Health Assembly (WHA) to strengthen nursing and midwifery. METHODS: Qualitative and descriptive study, undertaken through a search of resolutions presented by WHA, on the WHO website, regarding the theme "strengthening of nursing and midwifery." The resolutions on the theme "nursing and midwifery" were included, whose titles were available and whose full texts were accessed, excluding those on general health themes. The key words used were resolutions, strengthening, and nursing and midwifery. Among the 20 resolutions found, 12 were selected, adopted between 1948 and 2013, in accordance with the study inclusion criteria. The data were interpreted using thematic qualitative analysis, identifying and grouping the data in categories related to the study theme. FINDINGS: Based on the content analysis of the 12 resolutions studied, three thematic categories were defined: "nursing and midwifery in primary health"; "role of nursing and midwifery in health for all"; and "nurses and midwives' professional training." CONCLUSIONS: Based on the categories, the evolution in the strengthening of nursing and midwifery was demonstrated through the initiatives and resolutions approved by WHA, highlighting the importance of nurses and midwives as multiprofessional health team members and their fundamental role in the improvements of the health system. Therefore, in accordance with the needs of each country, the member states can implement strategies presented by the WHA resolutions to strengthen nursing and midwifery services. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: This study has relevance for the development of health policies considering the relevant contributions of nurses and midwives to healthcare systems and services, based on the analysis of WHO resolutions involving these professions.

Empathy in Brazilian nursing professionals: a descriptive study.

BACKGROUND: Essential for the help relation, empathy is the ability to understand, share, and perceive the subjective experience of other human beings. OBJECTIVE: The objective in this non-experimental, exploratory, and descriptive research was to verify, observe, and document empathy in nursing professionals. RESEARCH DESIGN: Non-experimental, exploratory, and descriptive research. Participants and research context: the study was conducted at two large hospitals, one public and the other private, across all shifts. The sample included 159 individuals. A questionnaire was used to identify sociodemographic characteristics and the empathy inventory was applied. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS: This study received approval from the Research Ethics Committee at the University of São Paulo at Ribeirão Preto College of Nursing, opinion 1348/2011, and authorization from the health institutions involved. FINDINGS: The association tests demonstrated that professionals working in the night shift and in a work scale rotation scheme, older professionals, and professionals with longer professional experience are less empathetic. On the other hand, professionals working in the day shift and in a single shift are more empathetic. Other influential factors are the time on the job, education, and work shift. CONCLUSION: There is a lack of empathy studies in professional practice contexts, in human resource development programs, and throughout the professional education process.

RESEARCH ETHICS COMMITTEES' ANALYSIS OF NURSING PROJECTS IN BRAZIL.

The objective in this exploratory study is to consider the demand for nursing related projects in the Ethics Committees registered on the website of the National Information System Commission about Ethics in Research Involving Human Beings (SISNEP) between 2003 and 2010. The data were collected in two phases: research projects approved in specific Ethics Committees of Nursing Schools/ Faculties registered for at least four years, and projects whose title contained the keywords Nurse and/or Nursing, approved in general Ethics Committees. In total, 2576 projects were approved in the six Committees analyzed.

The perception of drug users about their human rights.

The objective was to understand how illegal drug users monitored at a psychosocial care center for alcohol and drug users perceive and experience their human rights. The data were collected through semistructured interviews with 17 users and analyzed through content analysis. The results demonstrated the difficulty the users perceive to express what their human rights are, as if rights were something extraneous to their own life, particularly in function of the prejudice and stigma related to illegal drugs use in Brazil.

Challenges for nursing education in Angola: the perception of nurse leaders affiliated with professional education institutions.

BACKGROUND: Angola is one of the African countries with the highest morbidity and mortality rates and a devastating lack of human resources for health, including nursing. The World Health Organization stimulates and takes technical cooperation initiatives for human resource education and training in health and education, with a view to the development of countries in the region. The aim in this study was to identify how nurses affiliated with nursing education institutions perceive the challenges nursing education is facing in Angola. METHODS: After consulting the National Directory of Human Resources in Angola, the nurse leaders affiliated with professional nursing education institutions in Angola were invited to participate in the study by email. Data were collected in February 2009 through the focus group technique. The group of participants was focused on the central question: what are the challenges faced for nursing education in your country? To register and understand the information, besides the use of a recorder, the reporters elaborated an interpretative report. Data were coded using content analysis. RESULTS: Fourteen nurses participated in the meeting, most of whom were affiliated with technical nursing education institutions. It was verified that the nurse leaders at technical and higher nursing education institutions in Angola face many challenges, mainly related to the lack of infrastructure, absence of trained human resources,bureaucratic problems to regularize the schools and lack of material resources. On the opposite, the solutions they present are predominantly centered on the valuation of nursing professionals, which implies cultural and attitude changes. CONCLUSIONS: Public health education policies need to be established in Angola, including action guidelines that permit effective nursing activities. Professional education institutions need further regularizations and nurses need to be acknowledged as key elements for the qualitative enhancement of health services in the country.

Technology use for health education to caregivers: an integrative review of nursing literature.

Providing caregivers with health education through educational technologies enhances safe care; and stimulates the decision process and communication among professionals, caregivers and patients. This article is an integrative review to identify what educational technologies have been used for health education to caregivers. The databases Web of Science, Bireme and Scopus were consulted. The inclusion criteria are as follows: full papers, published between 2001 and 2011, in English, Portuguese or Spanish. The descriptors used are the following: educational technology, health education and caregivers. Thirty-four papers were found, 27 of which were excluded because they did not comply with the inclusion criteria, resulting in a final sample of 7 papers. The results evidenced the use of light and hard technologies in health education for caregivers, aimed at the therapeutic discussion of care as well as telehealth service delivery. Research is needed which uses and assesses the use of hard educational technologies in health education for caregivers.

Investment in nursing human assets: education and minds of the future.

This paper analyzes issues related to education, crises and changes in light of the postmodern order, emphasizing efforts towards human capital as the impetus to promote changes. Focusing on universities and organizations, we discuss the main five types of minds valued by modern and future societies, proposing investment in human assets through the use of strategies and technologies to ensure continuing education throughout life.

[Legal issues of Brazilian hyperbaric nursing: why regulate?]. / Aspectos legais da enfermagem hiperbárica brasileira: por que regulamentar?

This study aimed to show the needs to standardize nursing care related to hyperbaric oxygenation and regulate working conditions for nursing staff that works on this area. They approach the legislation at the Brazilian Society of Hyperbaric Medicine, on Brazilian Chapter of the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society, on Regulating Rules of the Ministry of Labor and on the Code of Ethics of Nursing Professionals, as instruments still insufficient to legalize the Hyperbaric Nurse, its procedures in hyperbaric conditions and pressurized environments. It allowed pondering on the disclosure of the state of art of hyperbaric nursing, as well as the incorporation of this activity in relation to the specialties on the COFEN Resolution 290/2004 and postgraduate courses in Nursing.

Quality management at a hospital's nursing service.

The study aimed to know the opinion of nurses in relation to the Quality Management implemented in a hospital service. This is an exploratory and descriptive study carried out with a sample of 17 individuals. The main results, among the 14 principles of quality, reveal that the seventh principle 'adopt and institute leadership' received the highest score. On the other hand, the lowest scored principle was the third: 'cease the dependency of mass inspection'. The obtained results, coupled with theoretical knowledge on the subject and professional experience on the management of nursing services, lead us to the conclusion that nurses consider Total Quality a practical philosophy to be implemented in the services under their responsibility and accept the challenge of overcoming barriers related to tradition, going from discourse to practice.

[The search for attitudinal commitment: tendency in the manager nurse's ethical behavior]. / La búsqueda del compromiso actitudinal: tendencia de la conducta ética del enfermero gerente.

Historically, nurses' management functions have evidenced that their conduct is compatible with programmatic commitments. This fact was observed in the analysis of 18 studies carried out in healthcare services located in different Brazilian regions. Since the 1990's, management experts have alerted that traits such as commitment, interdisciplinarity, risk, uncertainty, spirituality, and ethical involvement will frame the characteristics of the human capital of 21st century organizations. In this much more humane environment, people's integrity and their way of relating at work must be based on the dimension of BEING. In order to face the new century institutions' healthcare demands, nurses are now urged to present a conduct permeated by the ethics of the attitudinal commitment. Thus, this study aims to stimulate a critical reflection on this ethical trend of nurses and finally propose that this trend be an essential value in nursing management processes.

Standard Operating Procedure: use in nursing care in hospital services.

This is a descriptive and quantitative study, carried out in three hospitals in the Northwest of São Paulo, Brazil. It aimed to verify the existence and use of Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) by nursing teams. SOPs describe each critical and sequential step of a task to ensure its expected result. A total of 261 nursing professionals participated in the study, randomly selected from different units and shifts between August and September 2006. Results indicate that 56.7% use SOPs only when they have doubts; 54.02% of the nursing technicians and auxiliaries and 62.86% of nurses do not believe the procedures are being complied with. These findings indicate the need for continuing training on SOP use and compliance by all professionals, with a view to improving nursing care.

Conceptual reflections about organizational and professional commitment in the health sector.

In the daily exercise of their functions, health professionals face a duality of systems, that is, the professional system and the organizational system, each of which has its own distinct values, principles and expectations. The authors aim to present organizational and professional commitment concepts and their relations in the context of the health sector. They consider that organizational and professional commitment are not incompatible, but can be reconciled in the organizational dynamics, and alert about the development of affective commitment in workers, due to the positive consequences for the organization and the profession.

Semantic validation of the short versions of the Empathy-Systemizing Quotient Scales.

OBJECTIVE: to perform the semantic validation of the short versions of the Empathy-Systemizing Quotient Scales, intended to measure the empathetic and systemizing profiles of individuals. The scales originated in Cambridge and were validated in Portugal, and were assessed for their psychometric properties. METHOD: methodological study included the scales' semantic validation (content validity) and verification of their psychometric properties (internal consistency). Five judges participated in the semantic validation. The Content Validity Index was calculated, a pretest was conducted with 18 undergraduate nursing students, and, finally, the scales were applied to a sample. RESULTS: the sample was composed of 215 undergraduate nursing students, 186 (86.51%) of whom were women aged 21 years old, on average. The scales presented good internal consistency with global Cronbach's alphas equal to 0.83 and 0.79 for the Empathy Quotient and the Systemizing Quotient, respectively. Correlations between the scales and subscales of the Empathy Quotient and Systemizing Quotient were all positive and significant according to the Pearson correlation coefficient. CONCLUSION: the scales are reliable and valid to measure the empathetic and systemizing profile of undergraduate nursing students and the final version was named "versões curtas das Escalas de Medição do Quociente de Empatia/Sistematização - Brasil" [short versions of the Empathy-Systemizing Quotient Scales - Brazil].

Psychiatric nursing care in Brazil: legal and ethical aspects.

Human rights, considered as rights inherent to all human beings, must be respected unconditionally, especially during health care delivery. These rights became actually protected by International Law when the UN was created in 1945 and, later, when the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was issued in 1948, giving rise to various subsequent treaties. Based on the historical evolution of Human Rights in the international sphere, associated with the principles of constitutional, penal and civil law and psychiatric patient rights in Brazil, we aim to understand some dilemmas of psychiatric nursing care: individuals' rights as psychiatric patients, hospitalization and nursing professionals' practice. In their practice, nurses attempt to conciliate patients' rights with their legal role and concerns with high-quality psychiatric care. In coping with these dilemmas, these professionals are active in three spheres: as health care providers, as employees of a health organization and as citizens.

Professional roles of a health team: a view of its components.

Based on the Theory of Roles, this study aimed to examine health team professionals' views on the role played by their colleagues. We interviewed 39 health professionals: 01 nutritionist, 02 psychologists, 02 nurses, 03 physiotherapists, 04 pharmacists, 10 dentists and 17 physicians. The results showed that the participants considered that teamwork shares responsibility, which relieves stress and is a way of learning; they also indicate that expectations regarding the professionals' role are not very clear and that most participants have little knowledge about their colleagues' professional role. The most clearly described professional roles are those of physicians, nurses and pharmacists. The most obscure is the psychologist's role.

[Conflict as a reality and a cultural challenge in the practice of nurses' management]. / O conflito como realidade e desafio cultural no exercício da gerência do enfermeiro.

The practice of nurses' management is permeated by conflicts that can be interpreted through culture references. The objective of this study is to denote cultural specificities, analyzed according to Geertz's Cultural Interpretative Theory, that are expressed as conflicts in the scope of nurses' management at a University Hospital. The results denoted the incorporation of ideological elements and mechanisms of control and power, whose origin can be seen in the way in which the work is organized. The application of policies based on the profession's very values was observed. Practices highlight a cultural construction that elucidates some understandings regarding cognitive, social and behavioral processes, because they organize the interpretations and the answers to the events of nurses' practices in management. The results of this study point out the importance of organizational culture in the practice of Nursing management in the face of labor uncertainties in the complexity of a hospital environment.

Nurses' management in the clinical practice: problems and challenges in search of competence.

With the purpose to enable reflections concerning nurses' managerial performance in hospitalization units, three studies conducted in three different decades, in the same university hospital, were analyzed. From this analysis, it was observed that nurses' managerial practice has been mainly characterized by the accentuated compliance to pre-established norms, thus showing a reiterative praxis. Understanding the fragility of this managerial situation in terms of involvement with and commitment to clients and service givers, an alternative managerial conduct, which is based on the creative praxis, is presented to nurses.