Introduction: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has become an important part of healthcare. This study aimed to compare three groups of health care students' attitudes towards, knowledge of, personal use of, and opinions about the integration of CAM into higher education and health care in Hungary. Comparisons were made between those participating and those who did not participate in a Complementary Medicine (CM) course as an optional course during student training. Methods: A survey of the 314 full time students (nurses, midwives and health visitors) were asked to take part in an online survey using a self-complete questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: Students' attitudes towards CAM were positive. The most commonly known alternative methods were massage, relaxation, acupuncture, herbal medicine and meditation. The most commonly personally used and perceived as being effective CAM modalities were herbal medicine, massage and relaxation. Most students believed that the integration of CAM into higher education and into health care is necessary. There were no differences in attitudes towards CAM between students who participated and those who did not participate in the CM course. Participants considered the course to be useful and reported higher knowledge about three CAM modalities and preferred formal education as information sources. Conclusion: Health care students are open to learning CAM. Increasing the number of health care students in the CM courses would result in ensuring that future health care professionals obtain reliable knowledge about CAM practices which may in turn make their work more effective.

No abstract

Objective: The poor health of Roma is well documented, but there is only limited data regarding the health of Roma children. The aim of this study was to describe the socioeconomic status, health related behaviour, and health of children living in segregated Roma settlements, and to compare the data with that of non-Roma children.Methods: In March-April of 2011, a cross-sectional questionnaire-based survey among 11-year-old (211 boys and 252 girls) and 13-year-old (205 boys and 247 girls) children living in Roma settlements was performed (response rate: 91.5%). These data were compared with data from the Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children (HBSC) survey carried out in 2009/2010.Results: The parents of Roma children were substantially less educated and less likely to be actively employed, and Roma children reported lower material welfare than non-Roma ones. The prevalence of consuming sweets and soft drinks at least 5 times per week was 1.5−2 times higher among Roma children. The prevalence of regular intense physical activity was higher at the age of 13 years among Roma boys, while physical inactivity was substantially higher in both age groups among Roma girls. Almost one quarter of Roma children and approximately 14% of non-Roma children had tried smoking at the age of 11. More Roma boys tried alcohol at the age of 11 than non-Roma ones. One in ten Roma children was obese in both age groups. The self-rated health status of Roma children was worse than that of non-Roma children.Conclusions: Children living in Roma settlements reported poorer socioeconomic conditions, higher consumption of sweets and soft drinks, earlier smoking and alcohol initiation, and worse self-rated health, but with some exceptions do not differ in fruit or vegetable consumption and BMI from general child population. To promote health of children living in Roma settlements, a multi-sector approach, special health education, plus social and health promotion programmes are needed.

No abstract

Aim: To predict nurses' intent to stay on the job as a function of organizational culture. Background: Organizational climate significantly contributes to retention of nurses. Communication by conflict and organizational control over problem-solving has not thoroughly been studied. Methods: A cross-sectional design was used with a randomly selected final sample of 367 nurses from regional hospitals in Hungary. Organizational climate, perceived stress, locus of control and self-esteem were assessed as main measures. Nurses indicated their intent to stay for the next 5 years. Spearman correlation coefficients were calculated to evaluate associations. Bivariate logistic regression was performed to predict intent to stay in nursing. Findings: Organizational climate was negatively correlated with perceived stress and personal locus of control and positively with personal self-esteem. Organizational level internal locus of control (belief that employees have control over problem-solving) doubled the probability of staying on the job. Conflictual communication and perceived stress both decreased intent to stay by 50%. Discussion and conclusions: Organizational internal locus of control, stress and conflictual communication were main predictors of intent to stay. The belief that nurses had collective control over problem-solving capabilities had a positive and greater impact on nurse retention compared to other measures. Implication for nursing policy: Healthcare organizations should routinely scan workplace culture for conflictual communication, stress and organizational problem-solving capacities. Graduate nurse and nurse manager training should include practices that enable developing positive work atmospheres. Hospital managements should allocate training budget to stimulate and achieve cultural change. Implications for nursing practice: Nurse managers should promote internal trainings to help staff nurses adopt techniques that minimize conflict and emphasize positive impact of collaborative problem-solving.