RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Chronic respiratory conditions are increasingly becoming a cause of health concern with India attributing 11% of its mortality due to non-communicable diseases to chronic respiratory conditions. Chronic bronchitis and asthma take a large toll in terms of morbidity. Lesser number of studies have mentioned their counts of these conditions affecting women in rural area and therefore the present study was conducted with the objectives of determining the prevalence and correlates of chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD) in an area of a primary health centre in rural central India. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 24 villages of the study area. Women aged 40 years or more were interviewed using the IUATLD questionnaire. Chronic bronchitis was measured by using the standard criteria for chronic bronchitis, that is, "Presence of cough with expectoration for more than 3 months in a year for the past two or more years". RESULTS: Prevalence of chronic bronchitis among women was found to be 2.7%. Factors like older age, presence of a cattle shed within house premises, storage of fertilizers inside house, history of allergy, past history of pulmonary tuberculosis emerged as significant correlates of chronic bronchitis. CONCLUSIONS: The present study provides an insight into the prevalence of chronic bronchitis among rural women exposed to several epidemiological determinants and an opportunity to address the modifiable risk factors.
RESUMO
INTRODUCTION: Determination of staffing requirement for an Emergency Department (ED) is often difficult due to random arrivals of a complex mix of cases, fluctuating volumes and lengths of stay. Most staffing strategies are based on patient census, lengths of stay, patient dependency or patient classification systems. However, the actual quantity of workload is seldom employed as a basis to calculate staffing. AIM: The aim of this study was to determine the requirement of nurses for a high volume academic ED and to suggest measures to optimally schedule them. METHODOLOGY: Structured interviews were held with ED nurses to list their health service activities, support and additional activities. Time taken for the activities was calculated based on observations and interviews. Records were perused to obtain annual service statistics. Workload Indicators of Staffing Need (WISN) described by World Health Organization was utilized to analyze and determine staffing need. RESULTS: The study identified 34 health service activities, 21 support activities and 3 additional activities to be performed by 125 nurses with a total available working time of 187,250â¯h for an annual volume of 105,103 patients. The WISN ratio was 0.90 which indicates that the current staff strength was inadequate. The Emergency Department requires 13 more full time staff nurses for it to function optimally. In case of reallocation of certain relevant duties to phlebotomists or nursing assistants, the requirement of staff nurses is 102. Consequently, a skill mix ratio of 82% nurses to 18% nursing assistants and phlebotomists is suggested. DISCUSSION: The Workload Indicators of Staffing Need is a simple, easy to use method that can prospectively measure direct and indirect nursing activities and translate workload into nursing full time equivalents for the ED. This method is also useful to identify activities that do not require nursing professional skills and prescribe the skill mix of staff.