Acute poisoning: perceptions and practices of working professionals in hospital urgency and emergency services
Keywords:
Profissional de Saúde, Intoxicação, Serviço Hospitalar de Emergência.Abstract
Objective: To evaluate the perceptions and practices of health professionals working in the emergency services of the public and private network of São Luís, Maranhão, about different aspects of acute intoxication. Method: This was a study with a qualitative-quantitative approach, carried out through semi-structured individual interviews. To optimize data collection and registration, an interview questionnaire with 24 questions related to patient's profile, technical knowledge and practices related to acute poisoning was developed and used by the researchers. Data collection was carried out from October 2011 to April 2012. The content of the semi-structured interviews was analyzed using Content Analysis techniques. The study and cleaning was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Universitary Hospital of the Federal University of Maranhão, under opinion 252/11. Results: A total of 96 professionals were interviewed. The average age of participants was 36 years. The average work time of the professionals in the hospitals was 5-6 years and 66.6% (n = 64) were female. Fifty-six participants (58.3%) could not conceptualize the term intoxication ("poisoning is a respiratory discomfort"). Sixty-four participants (66.6%) cited only drugs, food, pesticides products as examples of toxic agents. Seventy-two participants (75%) demonstrated limited knowledge about the identification of toxic syndromes or the importance of case history. Regarding the treatment measures, 78.1% of the participants (n = 75) reported only the use of activated charcoal and gastric lavage ("gastric lavage is performed first and activated carbon is then used if necessary"). Conclusion: The participants demonstrated several weaknesses related to the technical knowledge and practices necessary for the proper assistance to the intoxicated patient.
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