PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

M A Prieto Rodríguez

Publications and source records attributed to M A Prieto Rodríguez.

13 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2002

[Nursing practice in home care: social-demographic profile and professional practice].

OBJECTIVES: To characterise the Andalusian nurses providing home care (HC), to describe the activities developed, to define the components of nursing practice and to identify differences between the care of terminal cancer, of AIDS patients, of elderly people with dementia and of patients who had undergone more serious out-patient surgery. DESIGN: Cross-sectional descriptive study using a postal questionnaire. SETTING: Primary care centres in Andalusia. PARTICIPANTS: 348 PC nurses working in home care. Multi-stage sampling, proportional by provinces. MAIN MEASUREMENTS: Social-demographic and work characteristics, nursing activity in the home, type and frequency of activities performed in the care of each kind of patient and use of protocols. RESULTS: 61.14% reply rate. 65.5% were women, with mean age of 39.7 and averaging 10 years of PC experience. Mean number of patients attended was 10.5 per week, and mean time was 20.7 minutes. 90.1% had attended cancer patients, 16.7% AIDS patients, 83.3% elderly people with dementia, and 87.2% patients discharged early. In all cases the most commonly developed item was the technical one, followed by preventive/health promotion and psycho-social. Except in the case of evaluation of physiological needs, in all the other activities the frequency of the item was in function of the pathology of the patient (P<.05). Nursing practice in the home of terminal cancer patients and of elderly people with dementia only differs in the handling of emotional problems in both patient and carer, and in the preventive item (P<.05). 60% of the sample said they used no protocol in home care. CONCLUSIONS: The most common activities in care of home care patients are giving treatment, dressings, bandages, and monitoring of the vital constants, followed by assessment of physiological needs. Nursing practice does not seem to be fully conditioned by the pathology, but rather in function of groups of patients with similar needs and problems. Most Andalusian home-care nurses use no protocol in caring for these four classes of patient.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed2001

[Unnecessary attendance at a hospital emergency service and linked factors].

OBJECTIVES: To adapt to our environment a protocol that assesses the adequacy of attendance at a hospital emergency service (HES), in order to calculate the frequency of unnecessary attendance and to analyse possible linked factors. DESIGN AND SETTING: Qualitative study using retrospective cross-sectional analysis of 269 records of patients attended at a third-level HES in Granada. METHODS: A heterogeneous group of experts (4 HES doctors and 4 PC doctors) agreed a scale for identifying unnecessary attendance at HES, which was then applied to a randomised sample of records of patients seen in the preceding year. An analysis was made of the proportion of unnecessary attendance and various associated factors: demographic variables, accessibility and variables involving the reason for consultation. The statistical techniques used were: confidence intervals to calculate percentage of unnecessary attendance, kappa index for agreement among observers on using the scale, and multiple logistic regression to analyse the association between unnecessary attendance and the factors studied. RESULTS: Inter-observer concordance for 73% of the scale. 35% of visits unnecessary (95% CI, 29-41%). Unnecessary use of the HES was more by women (OR, 1.94, p = 0.023), patients from unreformed health areas (OR, 2.02, p = 0.028), those coming from home without having seen their general practitioner (OR, 2.54, p = 0.08), those who had had for longer the condition occasioning the attendance, and medical-type emergencies (OR, 1.52, p = 0.022). CONCLUSIONS: More studies to test the reliability of the scale need to be performed. The apparent deduction is that a special reverence for emergency hospital care still exists and that this is sometimes used to side-step waiting-lists.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

[The quality perceived by the users of health centers and by private insurance companies].

OBJECTIVE: To find and analyse the views of both health centre users and users of private insurance companies on the quality of services offered. DESIGN: Descriptive, crossover study using qualitative methodology. The views of health centre and private insurance company users on the quality of services delivered were gathered through 8 focus groups. The variables of opinion analysed were defined according to the SERVQUAL model of Parasuraman on perceived quality. SETTING: Three health districts in a health area in Andalusia. PARTICIPANTS: 70 users took part. RESULTS: Accessibility (prior appointment, information and reception service, hours open), capacity for response (speed and efficiency of processing) and internal organisational coordination were considered by health centre users weak-points of the primary care services, which affected negatively their credibility. These variables were identified by private insurance users as the main advantages of the care model for which they had opted. Reliability was valued positively by health centre users, but received a higher valuation from private insurance users. However, the courtesy and friendliness of health centre professionals was seen as an outstanding point of the service, and no different from that of private professionals. The use of clinical records, the competence of the professionals and the tangible aspects of health centres were identified by their users as strong points of the primary care services and give the public care model an advantage over the private one.

Attitude to Health↗
PubMed1996

[Violence and sexism in television cartoons for children. Analysis of the contents].

OBJECTIVE: To detect features of violence and sexism in cartoons in the children's programmes of Spanish television companies. DESIGN: Analysis of the content of cartoons broadcast by TV-1, TV-2, Canal Sur, Antena 3 and Tele 5 during one week. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The programmes recorded were viewed by two independent observers, first separately and then together. All those scenes with violent contents or sexist messages were noted. The main findings were: a) violent contents were very common; b) roles and jobs linked to gender were found; c) advertising accompanied and was inserted within children's programming. CONCLUSIONS: The points identified show the need for both school and family to encourage children to develop a critical attitude to the messages they receive.

Advertising↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Qualitative techniques for public health research and the development of health care services: more than just another technique].

Regarding the debate on the existence of two current focuses on health science research (qualitative and quantitative), the paper states the need for complementing the techniques which contribute to a better knowledge of populations and communities, and the need for offering effective solutions to different problems. The article analyses the usefulness of qualitative methods, describes the techniques and procedures more frequently used to guarantee the validity and reliability of research findings and ends bringing up the need for using qualitative and quantitative approaches. This way of working together or learning from each other will enrich research and interventions on public heath and health management fields. Qualitative methods are useful for sound understanding of a given issue that is being investigated or evaluated taking into account the point of view of the participants under research. Key techniques, listed from the most structured to the less structured are among others: structured interview, Delphi, nominal group, case study, semistructured interview, focal group, brainstorming, discussion group, in depth interview, life story and participant observation.

Health Services Administration↗