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Background. Home care (HC ) is placed between the health and social welfare systems, and the clients of HC mostly need health services. Along with other providers, family doctors (FDs) are usually involved in the provision of care. Objectives. This paper aims to describe and compare the involvement of HC providers to elderly and disabled persons in Poland and Estonia. Material and methods. This study is part of the international project EURHOMA P (Mapping Professional Home Care in Europe). Data was collected in 2008-2010. Experts from different areas of health and social care were queried by using a questionnaire containing structured case narratives, which were hypothetical descriptions of the situations of elderly or disabled persons living at home and in need of care. Results. There are a number of HC services, e.g. nursing, medical and social, available in both countries. The application for HC is mostly made by the patient or a close family member; the point of entry to HC can differ and depends on the client's primary problem. FDs, together with social workers, play an important role in the provision of HC services in both countries. However, due to a shortage of round-the-clock professional services at a client's home, families are also expected to play a large role in providing HC . Conclusions. Health care professionals, mainly those working in primary health care, play a remarkable role in access to and provision of HC services. Nevertheless, responsibility for 24-hour care lies, to a large extent, with the client's immediate family. This situation seems to be typical in Eastern European countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A qualitative descriptive design using an interview guide approach was adopted to investigate the patient-nurse relationship and paediatric ward amenities from the perspective of parents and hospitalised children in Poland. The study included 26 parents or caregivers of hospitalised children (between 13 months and 15 years old) and 22 children (from 10 to 16 years old). Qualitative content analysis was used to analyse the recorded verbal data. Data from patients’ transcripts were coded and classified in terms of topics on the patient-nurse relationship and hospital care. We identified five main topics. 1. Nurse qualities; 2. Nurse verbal behaviour; 3. Nurse tone of voice and non-verbal behaviour; 4. Hospital amenities; 5. Parents’ expectations towards nurses. Our study contributes to increased understanding of parents’ and children’s experiences of paediatric hospital care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored perceptions of the nursing profession held by medical students in Poland. Specifically, this study aimed to: (i) elicit medical students’ opinions about the nursing profession; (ii) identify what skills and abilities they perceive as important for nurses and (iii) ascertain what nursing functions are considered a major component of the nurse’s job. A cross-sectional study, based on the social construct of role theory, was conducted in medical universities from 2005 to 2006 in three cities situated in different regions of Poland: Białystok, Bydgoszcz and Kraków. A total of 900 medical students, 300 students in each region, in medical school years 1, 3 and 6 completed the Professional Nursing Image Survey. The most favourable nurse characteristics were: ‘professional reliability’, ‘demonstration of good technical skills’ and the personal characteristics of friendliness and courteousness. Medication administration, recording vital signs and administering intravenous therapy were most frequently identified as a major part of the nurses’ role. In conclusion, the opinions of Polish medical students suggest that nursing therapeutic activities trump independent nursing practice activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding patient dissatisfaction is essential as it provides information on how to improve the relationship between healthcare users and medical professionals. The aim of this paper is to determine how Polish patients verbally express negative opinions of their healthcare services, and to compare the patterns of opinion-giving behaviour between patients in Poland and Western Europe. A qualitative approach employing in-depth interviews was used. Nine primary healthcare centres were chosen in various regions of Poland, taking into account both type of practice, i.e. small and large, and location of residence, i.e. urban (small and large towns) and rural. In every centre, interviews were performed with four patients coming consecutively to their family physician. Thirty-six patients aged 20–78 years were interviewed. Their views could be categorised into eight reasons for avoiding expressing negative opinions: unpleasant emotions induced by giving a negative evaluation; avoiding offending healthcare providers; fear that their utterances could have a negative effect on their further medical care; fear of giving a hasty evaluation based on their own inexpert medical knowledge; determinants from recent Polish history; prestige of the medical profession; entrusting the most important aspect of life, i.e. health, to a doctor; and lack of faith that their opinions could cause change for the better. The respondents used certain rhetorical tricks to soften their criticisms. Patients face cultural barriers to expressing dissatisfaction about their health care. In the Polish context, these are the high social status of the physician and the low position of the patient. In their spontaneous utterances, the respondents gave detailed suggestions for raising the level of patient satisfaction with health care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]