Kontakt, 2018 (vol. 20), issue 1

Helping from the nursing perspectiveEditorial

Sylva Bártlová

Kontakt 2018, 20(1):e1-e2 | DOI: 10.1016/j.kontakt.2017.11.002  

Validating the clinical learning environment and supervision and nurse teacher scale (CLES + T scale) in SlovakiaNursing - Original article

Elena Gurková, Katarína Žiaková, Gabriela Vörösová, Helena Kadučáková, Andrea Botíková

Kontakt 2018, 20(1):e3-e10 | DOI: 10.1016/j.kontakt.2017.09.003  

Aim: The application of reliable and valid tools may be helpful to evaluate the effectiveness of the clinical learning environment in nurse education and to enhance international comparison of clinical learning between European countries. The purpose of this study was to investigate the psychometric properties (internal consistency and construct validity) of the Slovak version of the Clinical Learning Environment + Teacher (CLES + T) evaluation scale, and to evaluate its usefulness in the context of clinical learning.Design: A cross-sectional validation study.Methods: The sample included 503 students from six Slovak universities. The structure...

Ensuring a sufficient number of personnel as part of the safety culture in medical facilitiesNursing - Original article

Radka Pokojová, Sylva Bártlová

Kontakt 2018, 20(1):e11-e16 | DOI: 10.1016/j.kontakt.2017.10.002  

The goal of the research was to find the way medical employees in acute and later care services perceive the safety of patients at their workplace. The article is focused on partial results associated with personnel issues. The opinions were obtained with the quantitative research method using a standardized questionnaire: the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSPSC) of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). The research group consisted of 331 medical employees and did not include doctors. The composite score, which expresses the aspects of a certain phenomenon with a single number, was calculated by averaging all of the positive...

Attitudes towards communication skills among nursing students and its association with sense of coherenceNursing - Original article

Zuzana Škodová, Ľubica Bánovčinová, Andrea Bánovčinová

Kontakt 2018, 20(1):e17-e22 | DOI: 10.1016/j.kontakt.2017.09.014  

The aim of the study is to examine the relationships between attitudes towards communication skills, self-evaluation of communication abilities, and sense of coherence among students of nursing. A cross-sectional correlational study design was employed. Altogether, 227 university nursing students participated in the study (20.53 ± 2.04; 96.9% females). Communication Skills Attitudes Scale (CSAS), Sense of Coherence Scale (SOC), and short self-evaluation scale of communication ability of own design were used. The results showed a high average score in the positive attitudes subscale and moderate negative attitudinal scores in the CSAS questionnaire,...

The continuing education on personal work values of general nurses working in hospitals of the Czech Republic: A Euclidean distance-based measureNursing - Original article

Jiří Vévoda, Šárka Vévodová, Eva Prošková

Kontakt 2018, 20(1):e23-e30 | DOI: 10.1016/j.kontakt.2017.09.001  

Aim: The aim of our research was to find out the position (and its changes over a period of time) of continuing education on the personal work values scale of general nurses working in hospitals in the Czech Republic.Methods: The research was designed as a comparative study (comparison of results from the years 2006, 2011 and 2016). The data were obtained through a questionnaire using Herzberg's two-factor theory of motivation. However, the theory was adapted to reflect current conditions of care-givers who work within a multidisciplinary team. The questionnaire aimed at distinguishing the order of the selected factors of working environment, which...

Measuring women's quality of life during pregnancyNursing - Original article

Lucia Mazúchová, Simona Kelčíková, Zuzana Dubovická

Kontakt 2018, 20(1):e31-e36 | DOI: 10.1016/j.kontakt.2017.11.004  

The aim of this study was to find out the quality of life of women during pregnancy, which areas of quality of life are the most risky, and to determine the impact of age, parity and period of pregnancy on the quality of life of pregnant women.The work is a quantitative cross-sectional study. The QOL-GRAV standardized questionnaire was used to assess the quality of life of women during pregnancy. The study consisted of 304 pregnant women (mean age of 27 ± 4.95 years) with a physiological pregnancy. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation coefficient (p < 0.005) and variance analysis (ANOVA) (p < 0.05).The...

Quality of life in patients with colorectal cancer in the Slovak Republic: A pilot studyNursing - Original article

Martin Samohýl, Katarína Hirošová, Ľubica Argalášová, Jaroslav Stančiak, Diana Vondrová, Jana Jurkovičová

Kontakt 2018, 20(1):e37-e41 | DOI: 10.1016/j.kontakt.2017.10.005  

The aim of the study was to determine the level of QoL (quality of life) satisfaction/dissatisfaction in patients with colorectal cancer in eight health concepts in the study and control group. In this cross-sectional study, the standardized questionnaire MOS of the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) was used. The study group consisted of patients who were diagnosed with colorectal cancer (n = 18, 83.3% males; mean age 62.3 ± 15.9 years). The control group consisted of patients who were diagnosed with other diseases but not cancerous ones (n = 34, 58.8% males; mean age 50.6 ± 8.2 years). In the study group the highest rate of patient...

Is Feuerstein's Instrumental Enrichment (FIE) a good method for social inclusion of poor Slovak children in school? A study focused on social and educational levelsSocial Sciences in Health - Original article

Michal Kozubík, Svetlana Síthová, Alena Kajanová, Ivan Rác

Kontakt 2018, 20(1):e42-e47 | DOI: 10.1016/j.kontakt.2017.10.006  

The Feuerstein's Instrumental Enrichment (FIE) method, as an instrument of social inclusion of children from a socially disadvantaged environment in classroom, is yet to be analyzed in the Slovak Republic and the Czech Republic. The study objective was to separate qualitative predispositions for effectiveness of inclusion from the FIE method in two areas - social and educational. The methods of the study (conducted in 2015-2016) included a combination of questionnaire investigation and observation during direct work with eight children (seven girls and one boy) who came from a socially disadvantaged environment in the district of Partizánske (Slovakia)....

The "inclusive volunteering" phenomenon: Research into the volunteering of people with disabilitiesSocial Sciences in Health - Original article

Aneta Marková

Kontakt 2018, 20(1):e48-e56 | DOI: 10.1016/j.kontakt.2017.10.003  

Social settings have recently undergone significant changes. The dynamics of society are increasing, as is the pressure of the changes in the skills and abilities needed for its good functioning. However, changes associated with this development may cause problems to those whose health is disadvantageous in terms of acquiring the necessary skills. For this reason, it is necessary to seek and find ways to eliminate the problems associated with the increasing societal pressure. Research on volunteering benefits shows that volunteering can play a significant role in the process of education and the subsequent involvement of people with disabilities in...

The quality of life of hospitalized and outpatient oncological patientsSocial Sciences in Health - Original article

Patricia Dobríková, Dana Stachurová, Miriam Slaná, Brian Littlechild

Kontakt 2018, 20(1):e57-e62 | DOI: 10.1016/j.kontakt.2017.09.006  

The quality of life of sufferers of chronic and serious diseases is a phenomenon which has come to the attention of contemporary medicine, nursing and other supporting professionals working with cancer patients. This research set out to determine whether there is a difference in the self-perception of the quality of life of hospitalized cancer patients and cancer outpatients.This study deals with the comparison of quality of life in 128 outpatient and hospitalized cancer patients in the curative stage of cancer. The QLACS (Quality of Life in Adult Cancer Survivors) "How do I live with the disease?" questionnaire was used in the survey. To ascertain...

The concept of control from the perspective of social work clientsSocial Sciences in Health - Original article

Radka Janebová, Zuzana Truhlářová

Kontakt 2018, 20(1):e63-e71 | DOI: 10.1016/j.kontakt.2017.09.009  

Social work can be seen as an ambivalent profession, the mission of which is to provide people with assistance as well as exercise a degree of control over them. Although dealing with the area of control in terms of human rights violations entails some risks, the field appears to be less conceptualized in the literature than the provision of aid. The present article attempts to address this deficit from the point of view of social work clients, with its aim being to present a hypothesis concerning what conceptions of control can be found within clients as well as to define the key aspects of these individual concepts. A qualitative content analysis...

Determinants characterizing the life of a caregiver treating an individual with Alzheimer's diseaseSocial Sciences in Health - Original article

Katarína Kotradyová

Kontakt 2018, 20(1):e72-e80 | DOI: 10.1016/j.kontakt.2017.10.004  

Alzheimer's disease is currently a serious social problem because by prolonging human life, this type of dementia appears more and more often. In many cases, patients with Alzheimer's disease are treated by family members who provide 24 h continuous care to a relative. The aim of the qualitative research, which we report in the scientific study, was to describe the stressors in caregivers of individuals with Alzheimer's disease, to map the main areas of burden on caregivers, and to identify the emotions that the caregivers/research participants described most frequently. The research was carried out using the focus group method and it was conducted...

Risky behaviour in older school childrenSocial Sciences in Health - Original article

Martina Hrušková, Tomáš Mrhálek

Kontakt 2018, 20(1):e81-e88 | DOI: 10.1016/j.kontakt.2017.11.001  

The aim of the study is to introduce selected characteristics of risky behaviour associated with addictive substances within all urban primary schools in the regional capital České Budějovice in order to capture the development of these pathologies in the population of older school children. The research was carried out as a quantitative survey designed as a descriptive and comparative study. The data (N = 1172) were obtained using a mass-administered questionnaire for all the pupils of the 6th and the 9th grades of primary schools in České Budějovice run by the municipality. The study focuses on the consumption of alcohol, nicotine, illegal drugs,...

Integrated care for people with Apallic syndrome in homes for people with disabilities in the Czech RepublicSocial Sciences in Health - Original article

Marie Špiláčková, Uršula Michníková

Kontakt 2018, 20(1):e89-e98 | DOI: 10.1016/j.kontakt.2017.11.003  

Long-term care for apallic clients in residential social institutions in the Czech Republic faces the problem of insufficient definition in present legislation. The trend in the provision of services to clients in a coma is an integrated attitude from a multidisciplinary team providing health and social services. The aim of the text is to analyze the conditions of integrated care for people with Apallic syndrome in homes for people with disabilities and, in a comprehensive manner, to describe the functioning of a registered residential social service for apallic people. The goal was achieved through qualitative research, making use of semi-structured...

The out-of-pocket health burden in the Czech Republic - Should we care?Social Sciences in Health - Original article

Veronika Kočiš Krůtilová, Dominika Doubková

Kontakt 2018, 20(1):e99-e107 | DOI: 10.1016/j.kontakt.2017.10.007  

The system of cost sharing has changed several times in the Czech Republic, and it is not out of the question that further changes will take place. High out-of-pocket payments have a considerable impact on patients and the burden on their household budgets. Therefore, we aim to evaluate the impact of out-of-pocket payments on the burden of Czech households from a long term perspective and to determine the most vulnerable groups, taking into account policy changes across the observed period of 2007-2014. We use micro data from the Household Budget Survey conducted by the Czech Statistical Office. The burden and its changes are observed and a burden...

Editorial BoardVaria

Editorial board

Kontakt 2018, 20(1):i | DOI: 10.1016/S1212-4117(17)30089-2