One way to evaluate health services is through the satisfaction of users. This study evaluates the satisfaction of users cared for by the Tuberculosis Control Program (TBCP) in a primary health care unit in Itaboraí, RJ, Brazil. Users satisfied with the services tend to adhere to their treatment, which is of course essential for successful TB treatment. This descriptive and quantitative study was carried out from December 2008 to February 2009; 88 individuals composed a non-probabilistic sample. A questionnaire validated and adapted to measure the satisfaction of individuals with tuberculosis was used. The study obtained high rates of user satisfaction. These positive evaluations can be explained by the fact these patients were included in the TBCP and were cared for by a health team with whom they established bonds and received support for treatment adherence. Studies with a qualitative approach could broaden the understanding of satisfaction and complement this study?s findings.

This qualitative descriptive study, guided by the Social Representations Theory, aimed to describe the content of the social representations regarding the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) for seropositive individuals in outpatient monitoring of the public health network and to analyze the interface of the social representations of AIDS with the quotidian of the individuals living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), especially in the adherence to treatment process Interviews were conducted with 30 seropositive individuals and the manual content analysis technique was used. From the analysis, six categories emerged that re-translated the quotidian of seropositive people permeated by the stigma, prejudice, struggle for life and the need for the continuous use of antiretrovirals. AIDS was assimilated to chronic diseases such as diabetes, showing a trend of transformation of the social representation of AIDS, substituting the idea of death, with life. It is concluded that people living with HIV are more optimistic due to effective treatments for the control of the disease.

Surface cleaning is a well-known control procedure against the dissemination of microorganisms in the hospital environment. This prospective study, carried out in an intensive care unit over the course of 14 days, describes the cleaning/disinfection conditions of four surfaces near patients. In total, 100 assessments of the surfaces were carried out after they were cleaned. Three methods were used to evaluate cleanliness: a visual inspection, an adenosine triphosphate (ATP) bioluminescence assay and testing for the presence of Staphylococcus aureus and meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus/MRSA. Respectively, 20%, 80% and 16% of the assessments by the visual method, ATP and the presence of Staphylococcus aureus/MRSA failed. There were statistically significant differences (p<0.05) between the rates of failure of the cleaning using the ATP method, compared to the visual and microbiological methods. The visual inspection was not a reliable measure to evaluate surface cleanliness. The results demonstrated that the adopted cleaning routine should be reconsidered.

This qualitative study identifies and analyzes the practices of nurses regarding collective care interventions in the context of the Family Health Strategy (FHS) and its knowledge development. Semi-structured interviews were held with nurses working in the FHS and thematic analysis was used to analyze data. The theoretical framework was based on the theories of institutional analysis and work processes. The results are arranged into two main themes: Conceptions that support collective care practices and Practices of nurses in collective care. The conclusion is that nurses actively participate both in proposing, coordinating, performing and monitoring these collective actions, though they are still predominantly guided by the traditional approach to health in general and specifically to health education.

This study aimed at understanding the meaning of chemotherapeutic treatment for adolescents with cancer. It is a qualitative study using Alfred Schütz?s social phenomenology as a framework. Seven adolescents were interviewed. Four themes emerged from the analysis of their discourses: Impact of the disease on their lives; The discomfort of treatment; Coping strategies and Projection to the future without the disease. The statements of the adolescents revealed that the experience with the chemotherapeutic treatment affects several possibilities of being-in-the-world-with-the-others. The healthcare team plays a fundamental role in the lives of these adolescents, and this relationship goes beyond the scientific level.

This study departs from the assumption that studies addressing sexuality in the field of nursing present changes and broaden the scope of discussion to include gender and sexual rights, although a strong tendency to link sexuality to its biological aspects is still observed. This study identifies the state-of-the-art of studies addressing sexuality published by two international journals: Latin American Journal of Nursing and The Brazilian Journal of Nursing. The sources were papers published in both periodicals over a period of ten years (from 1998 to 2007). In a universe of 1,894 searched abstracts, 29 mentioned the word ?sexuality?. The results confirm this study?s assumption showing that the studies addressing sexuality from the perspective of nursing published by these two journals broaden the understanding on the subject as they incorporate categories such as gender, but also excessively link sexuality to its biological aspects.

The study aimed to evaluate the relationship between occupational stress and the work capacity index of 368 nurses (82.1% of the population) of a Hospital Group. A questionnaire with socio-occupational questions was used as well as two scales: the Job Stress Scale and the Work Capacity Index. The group of nurses was predominantly female (93.2%), worked in care activities (63.9%), had undertaken at least one Postgraduate course (76%) and were satisfied with the unit where they worked (70.5%). Occupational stress was present in 23.6% of the nurses, of these 15.2% presented High Strain work and 8.4% Passive Work. Social Support exercised a significant positive influence on all groups - exposed or not to occupational stress. Regarding the Work Capacity, this was Moderate (28-36 points) for 51.4% of the nurses and Good (37-43 points) for 47.4%. There was no correlation between stress and work capacity.

Introduction: Cancer is a disease of high incidence among children and the patients need a caregiver during the treatment. Aim: to evaluate: the burden of care and quality of life (QOL) of caregivers of children/adolescents with cancer during chemotherapy treatment and relate them to each other and to the socio-demographic data and the presence and degree of signs of depression, Method: It is a cross-sectional study, with 32 caregivers. Socio-demographic, care burden (Caregiver Burden Scale) and QOL data (SF-36) were collected. Results: 87.5% of the caregivers were mothers, total score of burden 1.92±0.09 and most compromised score of the SF-36: emotional aspects (59.3), vitality (60.0), pain (60.9). There was a significant correlation between burden and mental health and vitality. Conclusion: Caregivers presented care burden and compromised aspects of QOL and possibly need interventions that will promote social and emotional wellbeing to reduce the burden, improve the quality of life QOL and consequently deliver better care.

The aim of this study was to analyze the causal factors of pleasure and suffering in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) nursing staff and to compare the occurrence of these factors at the beginning and end of the career. This was a cross-sectional descriptive study conducted with 26 nurses and 96 nursing technicians. The previously validated Pleasure and Suffering Scale was used. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics with the SPSS 12.0 software and the Kruskal Wallis test was used to assess the presence of these factors at the beginning and end of the career. The results indicated that, for both the nurses and the nursing technicians, the factors that contribute to feelings of pleasure, professional achievement and freedom of expression, and the factors that cause suffering, professional exhaustion and lack of recognition, were encountered at critical levels.

Changes in the profile of sexually transmitted diseases have increased the need for their detection, particularly where there is a concentration of individuals with risk behavior, so that diagnosis and immediate treatment can be translated in the reduction of resulting problems. The objective was to identify the prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases in female sex workers in a medium-sized city in São Paulo state. This population prevalence study was conducted in 2008 on 102 females. The prevalence was 71.6%. When considered separately and in association, the highest values found were: HPV (67.7%) and Chlamydia (20.5%). HPV typing showed oncogenic genotypes. The prevalence of syphilis was 4.0% and of trichomoniasis 3.0%. No cases of hepatitis B or gonorrhea were identified. It was concluded that the prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases in the studied group was high, since approximately two thirds of the women showed some type of disease under this classification.

This cross-sectional study aimed to clinically validate the defining characteristics of the Nursing Diagnosis Excess Fluid Volume in patients with decompensated heart failure. The validation model used follows the model of Fehring. The subjects were 32 patients at a university hospital in Rio Grande do Sul. The average age was 60.5 ± 14.3 years old. The defining characteristics with higher reliability index (R): R = 0.80 were: dyspnea, orthopnea, edema, positive hepatojugular reflex, paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea, pulmonary congestion and elevated central venous pressure, and minor or secondary, R> 0.50 to 0.79: weight gain, hepatomegaly, jugular vein distention, crackles, oliguria, decreased hematocrit and hemoglobin. This study indicates that the defining characteristics with R> 0.50 and 1 were validated for the diagnosis Excess Fluid Volume.

This study is the result of a survey carried out with professionals of the Family Health Strategy?s teams (FHS) in Araraquara, SP, Brazil. The study analyzed the conceptions held by FHS professionals concerning women, men and gender-based violence from the perspective of gender. The theoretical and methodological framework used was composed of gender and gender-based violence as social constructs guiding health practices. Empirical data were obtained from workshops and submitted to content analysis. The coexistence of critical and potentially transforming conceptions with conservative ones that reproduce the hegemonic ideology of male dominance was observed. These results confirm the need to broaden professional education to enable workers to deal with gender-based violence, which is a common element in the routine lives of women seeking health services.