OBJECTIVES To evaluate effectiveness of Milieu Therapy in reduction of conflict and containment rates among schizophrenia patients. METHODS This study utilized quasi experimental non-equivalent control group pre-post design. HDM201 MDMX inhibitor One hundred schizophrenia patients admitted in acute psychiatric wards were non-randomly assigned to either of the experimental (n=50) or control group (n=50). The experimental group received both milieu therapy and routine hospital treatment. The Milieu Therapy intervention Included environmental modification and structuring ward activities, establishing effective interaction with patient, and teaching caregivers on managing conflict behavior of patient. The control group received only routine treatment in the hospital. Outcome measures on conflict and containment rates were evaluated for both the groups at baseline and at 2nd, 3rd and 15th day. The Patient-Staff Conflict Checklist Shift Report (PCC-SR) was used to collect information about rates of conflict and containment. RESULTS Compared with control group, the experimental group participants showed decrease in aggressive behavior, self-harm behavior and general rule breaking behavior at baseline and 2nd, 3rd and 15th day (F=4.61, p less then 0.004, η2=0.04; F=11.92, p less then 0.001, η2=0.11; F=6.94, p less then 0.001, η2=0.06) over seven days interval. CONCLUSIONS The present study findings provided evidence for the effectiveness of integrating Milieu Therapy in psychiatric acute wards in reducing conflict behaviors among schizophrenia patients. Milieu therapy should be considered as an integral part of psychiatric care settings in these patients. Copyright by the Universidad de Antioquia.OBJECTIVES This article explored and compared social representations of nurses held by incoming and outgoing Nursing students in the Technical Nursing Program in San Juan, Argentina. METHODS Our research was descriptive and utilized the prototypicality method of analysis for social representations, from a structural approach. The sample was made up of 194 students (104 incoming and 90 outgoing), to whom we applied the word association technique for the term “nurse”. RESULTS Differences were found in the representations that incoming and outgoing students had. i) For incoming students we observe a wide and general concept of a nurse, expressed in non-specific terms such as “health” in the central core, while for outgoing students the term “care” emerged; ii) We infer distancing from the hegemonic medical model on the part of outgoing students, as well as an emphasis on the relational, as terms such as “vocation”, “humanization”, “love” and “empathy” are evoked, while the term “illness” decreases; iii) We understand that outgoing students highlight their autonomy with respect to doctors and nursing as a profession with the term “professional” with no mention of “assistance”, “help” and “assistant”, terms which did appear with incoming students; iv) Outgoing students convey a sense of a nurse’s diverse roles that go beyond the hospital setting, as instead of mentioning “hospital” and “injection” like incoming students, they mention “prevention” and “research”. CONCLUSIONS The comparison of representative structures held by incoming and outgoing students suggests a transformation of self-image through a process of academic education. Copyright by the Universidad de Antioquia.OBJECTIVES To evaluate the effect of interactive training conducted during pregnancy on choosing delivery method among primiparous women. METHODS Quasi-experimental study carried out in 2017 in two hospitals in the city of Bushehr (Iran), with the participation of 108 primiparous pregnant women in an educational program consisting of eight 2-hour sessions every two weeks in which interactive training activities were performed (group discussions, classroom sessions, and delivery of printed educational material) on themes related with physiological delivery, painless vaginal delivery methods, and complications of cesarean delivery without indication, among others. Before and after the intervention, the Knowledge and Preferred Method of Delivery Questionnaire by Moradabadi et al., was used to obtain information. RESULTS The results indicated that the level of knowledge in the group of mothers increased significantly between the pre-intervention and post-intervention assessment (13.2 versus 19.4, of 20 possible maximum points; p less then 0.001). Additionally, significant difference was observed in the selection of the vaginal delivery method before and after the intervention (74.1% versus 98.1%; p less then 0.001). CONCLUSIONS Implementation of interactive training increased knowledge of pregnant women on the delivery and induced a positive effect to encourage the primiparous mothers to have a vaginal delivery. Copyright by the Universidad de Antioquia.OBJECTIVES To know the social representations of female sex workers about their sexuality. METHODS Qualitative study based on the Theory of Social Representations. Thirty-nine women from a health region of Alto Sertão Produtivo Baiano – Brazil agreed to participate. For the production of empirical data, the techniques of Free Word Association and in-depth interviews were used. The answers were analyzed based on Constellation Target Content Analysis and Semantic Content Analysis. RESULTS Two thematic categories emerged “negative representation of sexuality”; “my pleasure is the money”. Therefore, the theme sexuality and meanings derived from the social representations elaborated by the sex workers about sexuality, based on their experiences and daily life, showed that the work involved a negative representation of sexuality when associated with sexual satisfaction with the client, in addition to the allusion to sex as a source of income. CONCLUSIONS The social representations about sexuality constructed by sex workers are linked to the feeling of denial of pleasure and obtaining money for subsistence. Reflecting on sexuality points out ways to rethink the care to be provided for a stigmatized and vulnerable group. Copyright by the Universidad de Antioquia.