AIM: This study aimed to determinate the prevalence of falls in the elderly and its relationship with the functional capacity. METHOD: This is an epidemiological and cross-sectional study; a two-stage cluster sample of 240 male and female subjects aged over 60 years was used. Data were collected from November 2010 to February 2011. The following questionnaires were used: socio-demographic profile, assessment of falls, Functional Independence Measure, Lawton and Brody Scale. Significance was set at 0.05. To identify the occurrence of falls and their relation with functional capacity, the prevalence ratio and prevalence odds ratios were used, as well as multiple logistic regression. RESULTS: Average age was 73.5 years (±8.4); 25% 80 years or more, with preponderance of female gender; 48.8% attended school between 1-4 years. The average was 1.33 falls (±0.472), with prevalence in women and elderly between 60 and 79 years old; the most frequently sites were the backyard and bathroom. Strong correlation between the level of functional independence and instrumental activities and age was found, but no relation between elderly victims of falls and the gender and age variables. CONCLUSION: Women who suffered falls related to functional independence were predominant, which can be prevented through elderly health promotion strategies, a policy that serves to offer living conditions to people in the aging process.

AIMS: randomized clinical trial aimed at evaluating the auriculotherapy in reducing stress levels in 75 nursing professionals and analyze the coping domains that have changed after treatment. METHODOLOGY: volunteers were divided into 3 groups (Control, Needles and Seeds) and received eight sessions at Shenmen, Kidney and Brainstem points. The Control Group didn't receive any intervention. RESULTS: ANOVA test showed statistical differences in stress levels for Needle/Control Groups in the third and fourth assessments, according to Stress Symptoms List when compared the three groups in four assessments. For the Inventory of Folkman/Lazarus, a significant difference was obtained for Spacing domain between needle/control. In analysis within the same group, differences were found for Confrontation in fourth assessment between Needle/Control Groups and for Social Support in the third one between Seeds/Control Groups. CONCLUSION: The auriculotherapy decreased stress levels, changed Coping domains after treatment, suggesting that both Auriculotherapy with needles and seeds can produce positive impact to improve strategy Coping in the nursing team. However, more studies are needed to conceive the extent of the technique.

OBJECTIVE: To reveal the meaning of violence in everyday female prostitution. METHOD: we used a phenomenological approach of Martin Heidegger. The survey was conducted in Teresina / Piauí / Brazil, with 11 women members of the Association of Prostitutes of Piaui. The data were produced by means of open interviews conducted by a script with questions regarding their experience as a prostitute and its relationship to violence. RESULTS: The reports indicate that it is prostitution a risky activity in which gender violence is a phenomenon present. In the relational world, prostitution and violence are intertwined in the face of negotiations established between women and men with formal contracts in the dark, verbally, without witnesses, and whose object of contract is the woman herself for the purpose of providing sexual pleasure to the contractor. Through interpretative analysis was possible to understand the lived violence leads women to remain in daily life where is this fear, inauthenticity and ambiguity. CONCLUSIONS: violence unveils lived relations of domination and assertion of male power, manifested by violence physical, psychological, moral and sexual. The study advances in scientific knowledge by showing that violence against women, in prostitution, must be understood as a process factual as well as the suffering experienced by them.

OBJECTIVE: To adapt and validate a Brazilian Portuguese version of the European Heart Failure Self-Care Behavior Scale. METHODS: The cross-cultural adaptation (translation, synthesis, back-translation, expert committee review, and pretesting) and validation (assessment of face validity, content validity, and internal consistency reliability) were carried out in accordance with the literature. The European Heart Failure Self-Care Behavior Scale assesses key components of self-care: recognition of the signs and symptoms of decompensated heart failure (HF) and decision-making when these signs and symptoms arise. It comprises 12 items (range 12-60, where lower scores indicate better self-care). RESULTS: The sample comprised 124 HF patients with a mean age of 62.3 ± 12 years. The Cronbach's Alpha internal consistency was 0.70 and the intraclass correlation coefficient for reproducibility was 0.87. CONCLUSION: Face and content validity, internal consistency and reproducibility have lended validity and reliability for the use of the instrument in Brazil.

OBJECTIVE: to characterize the profiles of families in the area covered by a Primary Health Center and to identify those in a vulnerable situation. METHOD: this is an epidemiological, observational, cross-sectional and quantitative study. 320 home visits were made, defined by a random sample of the areas covered by the Urban Center 1 in the city of São Sebastião, in Brazil's Federal District. A structured questionnaire was used for data collection, elaborated based on the Family Development Index (FDI). RESULTS: there was a predominance of young families, women, and low levels of schooling. The FDI permitted the identification of families in situations of "high" and "very high" vulnerability. The most critical dimensions were: "access to knowledge" and "access to work". CONCLUSION: the study indicated the importance of greater investments in the areas of education, work and income, and highlighted the need for the use of a wider concept of vulnerability by the health services.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to identify the occurrence of Burnout Syndrome (BS) and assess its relationship with different labour-related aspects, among nursing professionals at two medium-sizes hospitals in the city of Cáceres. METHOD: This is a transversal and descriptive study, with a sample totalling 141 subjects. As an instrument of research, we used a questionnaire for the limitation of labour-related aspects, with the addition of the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). RESULTS: Out of the 141 professional people considered, 13 had BS, according to the MBI. In relation to the different labour aspects, the professional people most affected were those with: work regime based on pay by the day, a working week of 30 hours, regularly hired, with double employment, lower graduation period, less time spent at the unit, and active in the administrative segment. CONCLUSIONS: Hence, there was the demonstration of the presence of BS within the sample, showing the need for the proposal of organisational changes within the working environment so as to reduce these factors and their interference on the health of the worker.

AIM: identify and analyze in the literature the evidence of randomized controlled trials on care related to the suctioning of endotracheal secretions in intubated, critically ill adult patients undergoing mechanical ventilation. METHOD: the search was conducted in the PubMed, EMBASE, CENTRAL, CINAHL and LILACS databases. From the 631 citations found, 17 studies were selected. RESULTS: Evidence was identified for six categories of intervention related to endotracheal suctioning, which were analyzed according to outcomes related to hemodynamic and blood gas alterations, microbial colonization, nosocomial infection, and others. CONCLUSIONS: although the evidence obtained is relevant to the practice of endotracheal aspiration, the risks of bias found in the studies selected compromise the evidence's reliability.

OBJECTIVE: to analyze the impact that caring has on a member of the family caring for a patient after a cerebrovascular accident, correlating life modifications and mental suffering with the perceived burden. METHOD: a cross-sectional, quantitative study, undertaken in January-April 2010 in Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil. RESULT: 61 individuals were investigated, monitored by three hospitals' Home Care Program. Data collection was through interviews for identifying life changes, and through the application of three scales for investigating perceived burden, mental state and mental suffering. Respectively these were the Caregiver Burden Scale (CBS), the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the Self Reported Questionnaire (SRQ). The majority of the carers were female, married, and the children of the stroke patients. The average age was 48.2 years (±12.4). The most-cited life modifications referred to the daily routine, to leisure activities, and to exhaustion or tiredness. Regarding burden, the dimensions of General tension, Isolation and Disappointment stood out. It was ascertained that overload was more severe when the carer presented more symptoms of psychological distress, in the absence of a secondary carer, and when the principal carers reported perceiving changes in their bodies and health. CONCLUSION: an association between burden and the carer's mental state was not observed. Understanding the care, through analysis of the burden and of the knowledge of the biopsychosocial situation will provide support for the nurse's work in reducing the overload for family caregivers.

OBJECTIVE: to ascertain the association between psychosocial stress and the occurrence of Minor Psychiatric Disorders in agentes socioeducadores. METHOD: a cross-sectional study with 381 agentes socioeducadores from the Centros de Atendimento Socioeducativo in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, in 2011. Brazilian versions of the social demand-control-support at work scale were used, and of the Self Reporting Questionnaire-20. RESULTS: the prevalence of minor psychiatric disorders was 50.1%. The chances of being classified with such a disorder were higher in the high strain work quadrant (OR=2.05; CI95%=1.03-4.09) and active work quadrant (OR=1.99; CI95%=1.09-3.63) when compared to that of low strain, after adjustment for potentially confusing factors. CONCLUSION: there is a positive association between psychosocial stress (high strain and active work) and minor psychiatric disorders among agentes socioeducadores. In order to prevent mental illness among these workers, the planning of health promotion actions is necessary.

AIM: to analyze whether nursing goals formulated for nursing diagnoses can be mapped to nursing outcomes classification and to identify the scales most appropriate to the outcomes mapped. METHOD: a descriptive study was developed in an intensive care unit. Data collection involved extraction of goals in 44 medical records, content standardization, cross-mapping to the outcomes, identification of appropriated scales and validation. Descriptive analysis and agreement with the cross-mapping process were performed. RESULTS: nursing goals (59) were mapped to (28) different outcomes, with agreement of 83% in the mapping process. All goals were mapped to outcomes, which allows to affirm that these outcomes contemplates the goals elaborated to patient care. CONCLUSION: these results favor the inclusion of outcomes and scales validated in the planning and evaluation phases of the nursing process of a software in construction.

AIM: to analyze whether the nursing process method is used at public and private centers in the health area Gipuzkoa (Basque Country) and, if yes, to analyze in the framework of which model and how it is used. METHOD: cross-sectional study, based on the analysis of the nursing records used at the 158 centers studied. RESULTS: the nursing process is applied at 98% of the centers. It is applied at all public and 18 out of 21 private centers. Virginia Henderson's model is the most used to apply it, and most centers use nursing diagnoses, the NIC-NOC terminology and standardized care plans. CONCLUSION: the use of the nursing process is widespread in Gipuzkoa, with greater use at public than at private centers.

AIM: to assess the clinical evolution of patients hospitalized due to the first episode of Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS) according to its clinical manifestation. METHODS: data were collected from 234 patients, hospitalized between May 2006 and July 2009 due to the first episode of an ACS, by consulting their medical records. RESULTS: 234 patients were hospitalized, 140 (59.8%) due to Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI). In the group with AMI, 19.3% presented complications, against 12.8% in the group with Unstable Angina (UA) (p=0.19). Angioplasty levels were higher among patients with AMI than with UA (p=0.02) and coronary artery bypass graft surgery was more frequent among UA patients (p=0.03). The majority (227; 97%) survived after the coronary event. Among the seven patients who died during the hospitalization, four had AMI (2.9%) and three UA (3.2%). CONCLUSIONS: A larger number of complications were found among infarction victims and the accomplishment of coronary artery bypass graft surgery differed between the groups.