Advance directives of patient’s will: A study among resident physicians

Introduction: The advance directives of the patient's will are a tool that prioritizes the will, intention and discernment of the patient, it was conducted in the form of a document that expresses the types of treatments that the individual wishes to receive in the instant that he or she is not able to make their own decisions anymore. Objective: To investigate the level of agreement of resident physicians in a public hospital, about the Resolution 1995/2012 of the Federal Council of Medicine of Brazil which deals with Advance Directives. Methods: This is a descriptive and exploratory study with a quantitative approach. To collect data, an adapted questionnaire containing socio-demographic questions and also questions about the subject was used, using the Likert scale. It was performed a descriptive and inferential statistical analysis by the Chi square adherence test. Results: It was found that about 98% of the participants fully or partly agree to respect the wishes of the patients or their representatives, if they are unable to express themselves. However, 73% of participants reported to disregard the wishes of the patient if they contravene the Medical Ethics Code and 76.9% of physicians agree that advance directives should be recorded in the medical record. It is noteworthy that expressed favorable that the wishes of the patient prevails over the wishes of the family. Conclusion: It is noticed that the physicians participating in the research, understand and agree with the assumptions of Resolution 1995/2012 of the Federal Council of Medicine of Brazil, which guides as the Advance Directives, considering it adequate and appropriate to direct medical action against dilemmas and conflictive situations that commonly arise in the management of patients in terminal condition.   DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3823/235

Burnout syndrome: understanding of medical teaching professionals

This study aimed to investigate the understanding of medical teaching professionals about Burnout Syndrome. This is a qualitative, exploratory study, consisting of ten teaching physicians, who work at the hospital of a higher education institution. The data were collected from May to June 2013, through a form with questions pertinent to the proposed research objective, after approval by the Research Ethics Committee (Protocol No. 84022), and analyzed qualitatively, through the content analysis technique (Bardin). Among the 10 participants in the study, eight had adequate knowledge about Burnout Syndrome, while others showed insufficient knowledge. From the empirical material analysis, five thematic categories emerged: Syndrome characterized by physical and psychological exhaustion due to work stress; Physical and psychological signs and symptoms of Burnout Syndrome; Burnout syndrome and its implications for the worker’s health; The most vulnerable workers who develop Burnout Syndrome and Relation of Burnout Syndrome to the work of the teaching physician. The study showed that most participants in the research adequately understand Burnout Syndrome, but the subject is still little explored in academia. Therefore, intervention measures are necessary with the professionals of the risk group and new studies that contribute to expand the knowledge about that syndrome, aiming to improve the quality of life of the workers. Keywords: Worker’s Health; Professional Exhaustion; Doctors; Professors; Work Conditions.   DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3823/239

Brazilian Flora 2020: Leveraging the power of a collaborative scientific network

International audienceThe shortage of reliable primary taxonomic data limits the description of biological taxa and the understanding of biodiversity patterns and processes, complicating biogeographical, ecological, and evolutionary studies. This deficit creates a significant taxonomic impediment to biodiversity research and conservation planning. The taxonomic impediment and the biodiversity crisis are widely recognized, highlighting the urgent need for reliable taxonomic data. Over the past decade, numerous countries worldwide have devoted considerable effort to Target 1 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC), which called for the preparation of a working list of all known plant species by 2010 and an online world Flora by 2020. Brazil is a megadiverse country, home to more of the world's known plant species than any other country. Despite that, Flora Brasiliensis, concluded in 1906, was the last comprehensive treatment of the Brazilian flora. The lack of accurate estimates of the number of species of algae, fungi, and plants occurring in Brazil contributes to the prevailing taxonomic impediment and delays progress towards the GSPC targets. Over the past 12 years, a legion of taxonomists motivated to meet Target 1 of the GSPC, worked together to gather and integrate knowledge on the algal, plant, and fungal diversity of Brazil. Overall, a team of about 980 taxonomists joined efforts in a highly collaborative project that used cybertaxonomy to prepare an updated Flora of Brazil, showing the power of scientific collaboration to reach ambitious goals. This paper presents an overview of the Brazilian Flora 2020 and provides taxonomic and spatial updates on the algae, fungi, and plants found in one of the world's most biodiverse countries. We further identify collection gaps and summarize future goals that extend beyond 2020. Our results show that Brazil is home to 46,975 native species of algae, fungi, and plants, of which 19,669 are endemic to the country. The data compiled to date suggests that the Atlantic Rainforest might be the most diverse Brazilian domain for all plant groups except gymnosperms, which are most diverse in the Amazon. However, scientific knowledge of Brazilian diversity is still unequally distributed, with the Atlantic Rainforest and the Cerrado being the most intensively sampled and studied biomes in the country. In times of “scientific reductionism”, with botanical and mycological sciences suffering pervasive depreciation in recent decades, the first online Flora of Brazil 2020 significantly enhanced the quality and quantity of taxonomic data available for algae, fungi, and plants from Brazil. This project also made all the information freely available online, providing a firm foundation for future research and for the management, conservation, and sustainable use of the Brazilian funga and flora