Student Nurse Perceptions of Gypsy Roma Travellers; A European Qualitative Study.

Background; Gypsy Roma Travellers are Europe’s largest ethnic minority group. Yet they remain one of the most stigmatised communities who have significant health inequalities. Whilst nurses have a role in promoting health access, there have been minimal studies exploring health care professionals’ attitudes towards these communities and no studies exploring nursing students’ perceptions. Objectives; To explore nursing students understanding, knowledge and perceptions of working with Gypsy Roma Travellers Participants; 23 nursing students from across four European countries (UK, Spain, Belgium, Turkey) participated in the study. The students ages ranged between 19-32 year old, there was a mix of students between year one to year three of their programme and both male (n=3) and female students (n=19). Methods; This qualitative research utilised focus groups and one to one interviews based at the four different universities, all following a pre-agreed interview schedule. Focus groups and interviews were conducted by the research team in the students’ first language and later translated into English for analysis using thematic analysis. The COREQ criteria were used in the reporting of the study. Results; Four themes were identified which included: Exposure to Gypsy Roma Traveller Communities, Perceptions of Gypsy Roma Traveller cultures, Unhealthy lifestyles and culture and Nursing Gypsy Roma Travellers. Conclusions; Although personal and professional contact with Gypsy Roma Travellers was limited, most of the students’ perceptions of these communities were negative. Nurse educational programmes need to embed transformational learning opportunities enabling student nurses to critically reflect upon values and beliefs of Gypsy Roma Travellers developed both before and during their nursing preparatory programme if they are to work effectively in a respectful, culturally sensitive way. There is also generally, a lack of research focussing upon healthcare professionals’ attitudes towards these communities that needs to be explored through further research

Nurses, practicantes and volunteers: The dissolution of professional boundaries during the Spanish Civil War

A hypothetical journey from the moment a soldier was wounded to his discharge from the field hospital was detailed in order to provide an idea of the organisation of military health services, evacuation strategy and roles of health care personnel during the Spanish Civil War. It was observed that despite both Nationalists and Republicans formally banning female nurses as part of the military units stationed on the front lines, nurses working at the auto-chirs, advanced surgical units and some field hospitals often found themselves only metres from the firing lines.Both men and women volunteered to nurse the war casualties from the start. It was soon observed, however, that untrained nursing staff could often cause more harm than benefit to patients, hence training courses for both nurses and orderlies were organised by a variety of organisations and political groups all over Spain.Due to the circumstances of war, nursing experienced a clear practical development expanding its professional boundaries from core to complex procedures which, until the outbreak of war, had been the sole responsibility of another professional group known as practicante. Nursing's unchallenged evolutionary process during the Spanish Civil War was explained by a number of factors including not only the war situation itself but the large number of nurses available, their determination, adaptability and capacity to evolve in order to meet the new health care needs of the population. The impact of key individuals such as Mercedes Mil, Inspector General of all Female Hospital Personnel, in the Nationalist side, and the nurses of the International Brigades, in the Republican side, on Spanish nursing was also significant.The evidence confirmed the hypothesis that the Civil War exerted a positive impact on Spanish nursing

¿Somos diferentes, somos iguales?: Evolución histórica de la Enfermería en España e Inglaterra

“¿Somos iguales, somos diferentes? Evolución histórica de la Enfermería en España e Inglaterra”. Este fue el título de la conferencia impartida por Isabel Antón Solanas el día 5 de mayo en Ourense, a donde acudió invitada por el Grupo de Investigación en Historia y Pensamiento Enfermero “Ágora”, grupo de investigación integrado en la Red Internacional de Historia y Pensamiento Enfermero de la Fundación Index. Isabel Antón pertenece al comité de redacción de la revista de historia y pensamiento enfermero Temperamentvm, es Doctora en Enfermería por la Universidad de Manchester, su tesis versó sobre la enfermería en la Guerra Civil española, y vive y trabaja en Reino Unido.Ante más de ochenta profesionales, repasó la historia de la enfermería en ambos países, desde mediados del siglo XIX hasta nuestros días, parándose en aquellos hechos más relevantes acaecidos en uno y otro país en cada periodo. No podía faltar una mención a dos figuras coetáneas de gran relevancia para la enfermería, Florence Nigtingale en Inglaterra y Concepción Arenal en España; como tampoco faltó una breve y concisa descripción de la situación actual de la profesión, estableciendo comparaciones entre uno y otro país.Siguió un intenso y prolongado coloquio en el que se debatió sobre similitudes y diferencias entre una y otra enfermería, y sobre las ventajas e inconvenientes en su desarrollo académico y profesional, abordando temas como los grados o niveles profesionales (enfermería en Reino Unido), la especialización, la prescripción enfermera o el acceso al doctorado.<br/