[Clean intermittent self catheterization in spinal cord injury]. / Autocateterismo vesical intermitente na lesão medular.

The clean intermittent self catheterization is an effective and safe technique for the treatment and prevention of urinary tract disease that result from spinal cord injuries. Although it has been described as of 1972, there is still resistance from health professionals for its utilization. The present study presents a report about the method used for training and encouraging of the patients towards using the technique, in a project of clinical and voluntary nursing care, performed in at a philanthropic association in the city of Curitiba. Our objective was to disseminate the experience that was learnt, to encourage professionals who assist people with spinal cord injuries towards recommending this technique.

[Nursing students' perception about the Nursing Laboratory as a teaching strategy]. / Percepção de estudantes de enfermagem sobre o Laboratório de Enfermagem como estratégia de ensino.

The objective of this study is to get to know the nursing students' perception in terms of the physical, educational and human aspects of the nursing laboratory in the teaching-learning process. This is a quantitative, cross-sectional, non-experimental study. Participants were 85 students who answered to a questionnaire about the laboratory in regard to human resources, teaching resources, physical infrastructure, and accommodation and hours of operation. Regarding the physical infrastructure of the lab, the majority of students (58.8%) rated it as bad or average, and accommodation was rated between bad and extremely bad by 50.6% of the students. The lab working hours were rated from good to excellent by 63.5% of the students. The nursing specialists and monitors of the laboratory were positively rated by the students, with 87.0% and 84.9% rating them from good to excellent, respectively. According to the students, the best aspect of the laboratory was human resources.

[Functional evaluation of aged with fractures at hospitalization and at home]. / Avaliação funcional de idoso vítima de fraturas na hospitalização e no domicílio.

Trauma is often related to functional impairment, representing an important social, economic and health issue. This study intended to evaluate the functional independence of aged individuals with fractures, at admission, discharge and after one month from their regressing home. Furthermore, this study also intended to verify the relationship between functional independence and demographic and health variables. Thirty-four aged individuals hospitalized at the Orthopedics and Traumatology Institute of the University of São Paulo Faculty of Medicine were interviewed and submitted to the application of the Functional Independence Measure (FIM). Among all fractures, 67.6% were femur fractures. The motor and total FIM scores increased at discharge; on the other hand, the total FIM score decreased one month after their returning home. Functional impairment increased with age and also with longer length of stay. Hypothyroidism was related to cognitive impairment, while dementia and depression were related to motor impairment.