The aim of this study was to evaluate knowledge of patients before outpatient diagnostic cardiac catheterization after viewing an explanatory Digital Video Disc, in a cardiology reference hospital. This cross-sectional study was carried out with patients undergoing their first cardiac catheterization and was performed from May to June 2009 in the hemodynamic sector. An instrument was used with questions (12) regarding the patients' understanding of the procedure. The intervention was a five-minute video prepared by the researchers. The sample was composed of 94 patients, divided into an intervention group (45) and a control group (49), with a mean age of 55±9 years and predominantly male. The patients of the IG had a higher rate of correct answers (74.6±17.1) compared to the CG (31.6±18.8), P=.000. The results demonstrated the efficacy of the presentation of a guidance video for patients undergoing a hemodynamic procedure.

This is a descriptive cross-sectional study, which aimed to analyze the health related quality of life (HRQoL) and its relationship with gender, age, duration and indication for the use of oral anticoagulants. A total of 178 patients were interviewed and the HRQoL was assessed through eight domains of the SF-36. The descriptive statistics used were, the Student's t, ANOVA and Tukey's tests for the comparison of the means between the groups. The indication for use was predominantly the metallic prosthetic heart valve (50%) with warfarin the most widely prescribed anticoagulant (83.3%). The means of the domains of the SF-36 ranged from 82 (Social aspects) to 54.8 (Physical aspects). Women, elderly, patients diagnosed with atrial fibrillation and with less than one year of medication use, presented a worse HRQoL evaluation. The results obtained can guide nursing actions, in that they indicate possible associations between the HRQoL and the sociodemographic and clinical variables of the patients.

This is a cross-sectional study conducted with 228 people living with HIV/AIDS in a municipality in the State of São Paulo during 2007 and 2008. The aims of this study were to investigate the intensity of the depressive symptoms in individuals with HIV/AIDS treated at two referral units in Ribeirão Preto, Brazil, and to compare the quality of life with the different degrees of intensity of the depressive symptoms in these individuals, according to gender. Data were collected through individual interviews, using the Beck Depression Inventory and HIV/AIDS Targeted Quality of Life (HATQoL). A total of 63 (27.6%) patients with symptoms of depression (mild, moderate and severe) were detected. The women presented more severe symptoms of intensity of depression than men. Individuals with depressive symptoms presented lower scores of quality of life than individuals without these symptoms, with statistically significant differences between the means/medians in most domains of the HATQoL. Healthcare professionals should offer integral care for people with HIV/AIDS, emphasizing the depressive symptoms.

The potential use of computer technology in teaching and continuous education for nursing motivated the development of this study to evaluate the virtual learning object, "Diagnostic Reasoning in Nursing Applied to Preterm Newborns" at an intermediate neonatal care unit. This descriptive study evaluates the appearance and content of the virtual object concerning aspects related to presentation, organization, usability and overall impression. Experts from the fields of computer technology (12) and nursing (31) participated in the evaluation process. Each sub-item of the instrument was assessed on a Likert scale and blank space was provided for comments/suggestions. All items were positively evaluated by over 80% of the experts, except for the 'informational density' criterion in the evaluation performed by computer technology experts. The developed product is considered adequate to be used for teaching for nursing students and in continuous education of diagnostic reasoning in the development of Nursing Diagnoses for preterm newborns, in the problem-posing pedagogical framework.

This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, ceiling and floor effects, reliability, and convergent construct validity of the Brazilian version of the Mini Cuestionario de Calidad de Vida en la Hipertensión Arterial (MINICHAL). The study included 200 hypertensive outpatients in a university hospital and a primary healthcare unit. The MINICHAL was applied in 3.0 (± 1.0) minutes with 100% of the items answered. A "ceiling effect" was observed in both dimensions and in the total score, as well as evidence of measurement stability (ICC=0.74). The convergent validity was confirmed by significant positive correlations between similar dimensions of the MINICHAL and the SF-36, and significant negative correlations with the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire - MLHFQ, however, correlations between dissimilar constructs were also observed. It was concluded that the Brazilian version of the MINICHAL presents evidence of reliability and validity when applied to hypertensive outpatients

The goal was to describe the content validity of a short version of the state subscale of Spielberger's "State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI)", based on the original version adapted to Spanish, in Spanish patients receiving invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV). The sample consisted of 16 patients receiving IMV at the Alicante Hospital (Spain), who selected the items from the full Spanish version of the STAI-state that were most relevant to them. Items 1, 5, 9, 10, 12 and 20 from the original scale are the most relevant for the Spanish patients receiving IMV and 5 of these are included in the short version of the scale (83.3% agreement). The short scale has shown adequate content validity for Spanish patients receiving IMV.

The study aims to identify the nursing diagnosis Spiritual distress in 120 patients with Chronic Renal Insufficiency, using different instruments, and to evaluate the effectiveness of these instruments in support of this identification. Data were collected separately by two nurses using a questionnaire containing sociodemographic information and the defining characteristics of Spiritual distress, as well as direct questioning to the patient regarding the presence of the diagnosis and the instruments: the Spirituality Rating Scale; Pinto and Pais-Ribeiro's Spirituality Scale; and the Spiritual Well-being Scale. The study found that 25.8% to 35.8% of the patients had the diagnosis. The diagnostic evaluation developed by the expert nurses presented no divergence between the two and obtained a perfect concordance coefficient (96.7%) with the opinion of the patient; this demonstrated substantial concordance with the Existential Well-being Sub-scale (83.3%) and with the Pinto e Pais-Ribeiro's Spirituality Scale (87.5%), which demonstrated their usefulness for diagnostic identification.

This study identifies the factors associated with death and readmission into the Intensive Care Unit. This is a longitudinal prospective study of 600 adult patients admitted in general Intensive Care Units of four hospitals in São Paulo, Brazil. The multiple regression analysis showed that patients with a longer length of stay and higher Nursing Activities Score, Simplified Acute Physiology Score II and Logistic Organ Dysfunction Score on the last day in the unit had a higher chance of death. Nevertheless, higher Nursing Activities Score and Logistic Organ Dysfunction Score on the first day in the intensive care unit were protective factors against death. Viral hepatitis as an antecedent increased the chance of readmission. On the other hand, higher Nursing Activities Score at discharge decreased this risk. It was concluded that the nursing workload was the main variable related to the outcomes analyzed.

This study develops a theoretical model concerning the experience of families of children with Down syndrome in preschool and school age. The frameworks used were Symbolic Interactionism and Grounded Theory. Semi-structured interviews were used as the instrument of investigation and ten families participated in the study. The Theoretical Model "Seeking the child's independence and autonomy through constant stimulation" was identified, which shows the family's efforts to enable the child to develop the best s/he can through stimulation in order to become less dependent in the future. This model can be used to facilitate interaction with the family and can be further expanded. Nurses should use spaces dedicated to care delivery to establish bonds with the family, and seek other spaces families frequent, to better meet their needs, since there are significant gaps in care and research addressing this population. Instead, they should be welcomed and seen as a partner in care delivery.

Among the methods available for assessing body composition, traditional methods like hydrodensitometry and skin-fold measurements are well known. In this review, we focus on the impedance and interactance methods, which use systems that are usually inexpensive, easily transportable and simple to operate. We also discuss the usefulness of dual energy X-ray absorptiometry, particularly for the measurement of fat distribution. Nurses need to be skilled in the use of the equipment and familiar with the techniques.

This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a teaching strategy on nursing diagnoses based on problem-based learning in the performance of clinical reasoning and diagnostic trial of undergraduate students. Experimental study conducted in two phases: content validation of problems and implementation of educational strategy. The results showed improvement in the data pooling ability of students in the experimental group. It is concluded that the strategy put in practice exerted a positive influence.