Iroducing nursing documentation in Hungary: Where are we in 2002?
Mekes, M.

Objective: The Health Law of 1997 made it mandatory to use nursing documentation. The study wanted to look at how this legal provision is enforced and what was the opinion of nurses concerning the use of documentation.
Methods and sample: The sample was taken from students studying to obtain professional qualification as nurse in an instiution of nursing education. A questionnaire was adminsitered and answers by 52 respondents were analysed.
Results: Despite the statutory requirement, some of the healthcare facilities still fail to document nursing activities. Where, however, documentation is in place, it tends to place significant additional burden on nurses..
Conclusions: There seems to be a need to address organisational obstacles that hinder the proper keeping of documentation; also, action has to be taken to fix staffing problems related to it. Furthermore, it is indispensable to provide proper information to nurses about their statutory duties, to enforce these duties and control them.

Nurse satisfaction with nursing documentation
Raskovicsné Csernus, M.

The first stage of introducing nursing documentation in Hungary took place in the early 1990s. Since then, nurse researchers have pointed out, on the basis of observation and experience, the difficulties of introduction, the delying effect of attitude change, opposition of the nurses and inappropriate education. This study was undertaken to learn more about the factors that might influnce the use of nursing documentation in the daily practice of nursing.

Nurses’ opinion on female alcoholism
Töltösi, E.

Objective: To study prejudices against female alcoholism among nurses.
Methods and sample: Self-administered questionnaire among 113 nurses at two different hospital services (general medicine and psychiatry).
Results: One-third of the respondents considered female alcoholism a character flaw rather than a disease. Responding nurses were reluctant to care for alcoholic women and if possible, would avoid contact with them. Forty percent of the respondents thought of their patients as more aggressive and rude than their non-alcoholic patients. Fifty-one percent of the respondents had somenone in the family involved in the fight to control alcoholism. Conclusions: Alcoholic women tend to get less caring and understanding due to prejudiced approaches of nursing staff. The severity of the problem would warrant greater emphasis on training in mental health for nurses.

Nursing research – money, horse, arms?
Dr. Zrínyi Miklós, Ph.D:

The edited version of a talk given at the conference of baccalaureate nurses deals with the requirements that must be met if nursing research is to be strengthened and practised properly. It is maintained that for there to be nursing research, nurse researchers and nurse scientists are needed. These professionals should hold a doctral degree in nursing and must be trained by professionals who themselves have PhD in nursing. It is finally proposed that a National Institute of Nursing Research should be set up which would be the leading institution in nursing research, securing and providing funds for research, developing the evidence base for nursing, maintaining international relations in nursing research and publishing scientific journals, e.g. Hungarian Nursing Research.

Autistic child in the family
Krausz, M., Mészáros, J.

Health care workers, with the exceptionof specialised staff, tend not to know much about autism. They are especially ignorant of what it means for the family to have an autistic child. Based on an interview, this case report presents a single mother raising an autistic child and discusses the conclusions and lessons learnt. The paper is recommended to all those who might encounter similar families, even if rarely, in order for them to better understand them and to try to find various forms of assistance.