Occupational stress and work capacity of nurses of a hospital group

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.Se trata de un estudio con objetivo de evaluar la relación entre el estrés laboral y el índice de capacidad para el trabajo de 368 enfermeros (82,1% de la población) de un Grupo Hospitalario. Se utilizó un cuestionario con cuestiones socio ocupacionales y dos escalas: la Job Stress Scale y el Índice de Capacidad para el Trabajo. El grupo de enfermeros es predominantemente femenino (93,2%), trabaja en actividades asistenciales (63,9%), posee por lo menos un curso de posgraduación (76%) y está satisfecho con la unidad donde trabaja (70,5%). El estrés laboral está presente en 23,6% de los enfermeros, de estos 15,2% presentan Alta Exigencia en el trabajo y 8,4% Trabajo Pasivo. El Apoyo Social ejerce influencia positiva significativa sobre todos los grupos expuestos y no expuestos al estrés laboral. En cuanto a la Capacidad para el Trabajo, está es Moderada (28-36 puntos) para 51,4% de los enfermeros y Buena (37-43 puntos) para 47,4%. No se encontró correlación entre el estrés y la capacidad para el trabajo.Este estudo teve como objetivo avaliar a relação entre o estresse laboral e o índice de capacidade para o trabalho, de 368 enfermeiros (82,1% da população) de um grupo hospitalar. Utilizou-se um questionário com questões sócio-ocupacionais e duas escalas: a Job Stress Scale e o índice de capacidade para o trabalho. O grupo de enfermeiros era predominantemente feminino (93,2%), trabalhando em atividades assistenciais (63,9%), possuía pelo menos um curso de pós-graduação (76%) e satisfeito com a unidade onde trabalhava (70,5%). O estresse laboral está presente em 23,6% dos enfermeiros, e, desses, 15,2% apresentam alta exigência no trabalho e 8,4% trabalho passivo. O apoio social exerce influência positiva significativa sobre todos os grupos - expostos e não expostos ao estresse laboral. Quanto à capacidade para o trabalho, essa é moderada (28-36 pontos) para 51,4% dos enfermeiros e boa (37-43 pontos) para 47,4%. Não há correlação entre o estresse e a capacidade para o trabalho

Coherence and recurrency: maintenance, control and integration in working memory

Working memory (WM), including a ‘central executive’, is used to guide behavior by internal goals or intentions. We suggest that WM is best described as a set of three interdependent functions which are implemented in the prefrontal cortex (PFC). These functions are maintenance, control of attention and integration. A model for the maintenance function is presented, and we will argue that this model can be extended to incorporate the other functions as well. Maintenance is the capacity to briefly maintain information in the absence of corresponding input, and even in the face of distracting information. We will argue that maintenance is based on recurrent loops between PFC and posterior parts of the brain, and probably within PFC as well. In these loops information can be held temporarily in an active form. We show that a model based on these structural ideas is capable of maintaining a limited number of neural patterns. Not the size, but the coherence of patterns (i.e., a chunking principle based on synchronous firing of interconnected cell assemblies) determines the maintenance capacity. A mechanism that optimizes coherent pattern segregation, also poses a limit to the number of assemblies (about four) that can concurrently reverberate. Top-down attentional control (in perception, action and memory retrieval) can be modelled by the modulation and re-entry of top-down information to posterior parts of the brain. Hierarchically organized modules in PFC create the possibility for information integration. We argue that large-scale multimodal integration of information creates an ‘episodic buffer’, and may even suffice for implementing a central executive

The Timing of the Cognitive Cycle

We propose that human cognition consists of cascading cycles of recurring brain events. Each cognitive cycle senses the current situation, interprets it with reference to ongoing goals, and then selects an internal or external action in response. While most aspects of the cognitive cycle are unconscious, each cycle also yields a momentary “ignition” of conscious broadcasting. Neuroscientists have independently proposed ideas similar to the cognitive cycle, the fundamental hypothesis of the LIDA model of cognition. High-level cognition, such as deliberation, planning, etc., is typically enabled by multiple cognitive cycles. In this paper we describe a timing model LIDA's cognitive cycle. Based on empirical and simulation data we propose that an initial phase of perception (stimulus recognition) occurs 80–100 ms from stimulus onset under optimal conditions. It is followed by a conscious episode (broadcast) 200–280 ms after stimulus onset, and an action selection phase 60–110 ms from the start of the conscious phase. One cognitive cycle would therefore take 260–390 ms. The LIDA timing model is consistent with brain evidence indicating a fundamental role for a theta-gamma wave, spreading forward from sensory cortices to rostral corticothalamic regions. This posteriofrontal theta-gamma wave may be experienced as a conscious perceptual event starting at 200–280 ms post stimulus. The action selection component of the cycle is proposed to involve frontal, striatal and cerebellar regions. Thus the cycle is inherently recurrent, as the anatomy of the thalamocortical system suggests. The LIDA model fits a large body of cognitive and neuroscientific evidence. Finally, we describe two LIDA-based software agents: the LIDA Reaction Time agent that simulates human performance in a simple reaction time task, and the LIDA Allport agent which models phenomenal simultaneity within timeframes comparable to human subjects. While there are many models of reaction time performance, these results fall naturally out of a biologically and computationally plausible cognitive architecture

Quality of life and burden in carers for persons with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease receiving oxygen therapy

OBJECTIVE:to assess the quality of life and burden of caregivers to Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease patients on Long-Term Oxygen Therapy and to investigate the factors influencing this burden.METHOD:this is an analytical, cross-sectional study of 80 persons with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease on Long-Term Oxygen Therapy who used the specialized outpatient center of the Federal University of São Paulo, and their carers. The following instruments were used: Medical Outcomes Studies 36 (SF-36), Caregiver Burden Scale (CBS) and the Katz Index, along with socio-demographic and clinical variables.RESULTS:the most compromised scores on the carers' quality of life questionnaire were for Vitality and Mental Health. On the Caregiver Burden Scale, the domain which created the greatest burden for carers was the Environment. With the exception of Emotional Involvement, all the domains of quality of life were affected negatively by the domains of caregiver burden.CONCLUSION:it was shown that carers' quality of life was compromised and that they were overburdened with care tasks, confirming that assisting persons with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease is an important element in carers' quality of life.OBJETIVO:evaluar la calidad de vida y la sobrecarga de cuidados experimentada por cuidadores de portadores de la Enfermedad Pulmonar Obstructiva Crónica en uso de Oxigenoterapia Domiciliar Prolongada e investigar los factores que influencian esa sobrecarga.MÉTODO:se trata de estudio transversal analítico, con 80 portadores de la Enfermedad Pulmonar Obstructiva Crónica en uso de Oxigenoterapia Domiciliar en el ambulatorio especializado de la Universidad Federal de São Paulo y de sus respectivos cuidadores, aplicando los instrumentos: Medical Outcomes Studies 36 (SF-36), Caregiver Burden Scale (CBS), índice de Katz y variables sociodemográficas y clínicas.RESULTADOS:los puntajes del cuestionario de calidad de vida de los cuidadores más comprometidos fueron la Vitalidad y la Salud Mental. El Ambiente fue el dominio del Caregiver Burden Scale que generó mayor sobrecarga de cuidados. Con excepción del Envolvimiento Emocional, todos los dominios de calidad de vida fueron influenciados de forma negativa por los dominios de sobrecarga de cuidados.CONCLUSIÓN:se demostró que la calidad de vida y la sobrecarga de cuidados, de los cuidadores, estaban comprometidos, confirmando que cuidar a los portadores de Enfermedad Pulmonar Obstructiva Crónica, es un importante interviniente en la calidad de vida del cuidador.OBJETIVO:avaliar a qualidade de vida e a sobrecarga de cuidados, vivenciada por cuidadores de portadores de Doença Pulmonar Obstrutiva Crônica, em uso de Oxigenoterapia Domiciliar Prolongada, e investigar os fatores que influenciam essa sobrecarga.MÉTODO:trata-se de estudo transversal analítico, com 80 portadores de Doença Pulmonar Obstrutiva Crônica em uso de Oxigenoterapia Domiciliar do ambulatório especializado da Universidade Federal de São Paulo e seus respectivos cuidadores, aplicando-se os instrumentos: Medical Outcomes Studies 36, Caregiver Burden Scale, índice de Katz e variáveis sociodemográficas e clínicas.RESULTADOS:os escores do questionário de qualidade de vida dos cuidadores mais comprometidos foram vitalidade e saúde mental. O ambiente foi o domínio do Caregiver Burden Scale que gerou maior sobrecarga de cuidados. Com exceção do envolvimento emocional, todos os domínios de qualidade de vida foram influenciados de forma negativa pelos domínios de sobrecarga de cuidados.CONCLUSÃO:demonstrou-se comprometimento da qualidade de vida e sobrecarga de cuidados dos cuidadores, confirmando que assistir portadores de Doença Pulmonar Obstrutiva Crônica é um importante interveniente na qualidade de vida do cuidador.Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) Escola Paulista de EnfermagemUniversidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) Hospital São PauloUNIFESP, Escola Paulista de Enfermagem (EPE)UNIFESP, Hospital São PauloSciEL

Financial expense incurred by medical leaves of health professionals in Rondonia public hospitals, Brazil

The study investigates the additional payroll expense caused by absenteeism due to illness among nursing professionals and physicians at two public hospitals at Cacoal, Rondonia, Brazil. Non-programmed absences of up to 15 days which occurred at the hospital units between 2004 to 2007 were verified in the database of the institutions’ human resource sector. From 1,704 non-programmed absences, 1,486 were justified by medical declarations. It was verified that absenteeism caused by illness was responsible for 87.2% of all non-programmed absences. When these data are grouped by professional categories, it was observed that the nurse absenteeism due to illness reached 83.3%, when compared with 16.7% for physicians. The general absenteeism index, adding up nurses and physicians, corresponded to 0.85%, resulting in an additional payroll expense of 5.2% and 7.4% in the salaries of nursing professionals and physicians, respectively.El objetivo de este estudio fue investigar el gasto adicional en la planilla de pago, causado por el absentismo enfermedad de profesionales de enfermería y médicos, en dos hospitales públicos de la ciudad de Cacoal, en Rondonia, Brasil. Fueron verificadas ausencias no programadas de hasta 15 días en las unidades hospitalarias, en el período de 2004 a 2007, constatadas en el banco de datos del sector de recursos humanos de las instituciones. Se constató 1.704 ausencias no programadas, de las cuales 1.486 son justificadas con certificados médicos. Se verificó que el absentismo por motivo de enfermedad fue responsable por 87,2% de las ausencias no programadas. Si fuese descrito por categoría profesional, el absentismo enfermedad de los profesionales de enfermería alcanzaría el índice de 83,3% y el de los médicos 16,7%. El índice de absentismo general de los profesionales de enfermería y médicos fue de 0,85%, en cuanto que el gasto adicional en la planilla de pago en el período alcanzó 5,2% en los salarios de los profesionales de enfermería y 7,4% de los médicos.O objetivo deste estudo foi investigar o gasto adicional na folha de pagamento, causado pelo absenteísmo doença de profissionais de enfermagem e médicos, em dois hospitais públicos da cidade de Cacoal, Rondônia, Brasil. Foram verificadas ausências não programadas de até 15 dias nas unidades hospitalares, no período de 2004 a 2007, observadas no banco de dados do setor de recursos humanos das instituições. Constatou-se 1.704 ausências não programadas, das quais 1.486 são justificadas por atestados médicos. Verificou-se que o absenteísmo por motivo de doença foi responsável por 87,2% das ausências não programadas. Se for descrito por categoria de profissional, o absenteísmo doença dos profissionais de enfermagem atingiu índice de 83,3% e dos médicos 16,7%. O índice do absenteísmo geral dos profissionais de enfermagem e médicos foi de 0,85%, enquanto que o gasto adicional na folha de pagamento no período atingiu 5,2% nos vencimentos dos profissionais de enfermagem e 7,4% dos médicos