RESUMO
To evaluate the practices and attitudes of parents of thalassemia major patients towards chorionic villous sampling [CVS]. A cross-sectional study was conducted at thalassemia centre at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences in the months of]uly and August 2011. Information regarding CVS rvas taken from parents of 100 registered beta thalassemia major patients. Parents with no history of pregnancy after index case, parents of alpha thalassemia patient and those with other haemoglobinopathies were excluded from study. Results were entered and analyzed on SPSS version 17. After the index only 28 families underwent prenatal diagnosis of thalassemia by CVS. There were 72 families in which CVS was not done. Out of these it was not advised in 48 families and there were 24 families in which it was advised but they did not opt for it. Various reasons for this included health, religious and social issues and also the risk of miscarriages, when they were asked for CVS in future pregnancies, majority [67%] said yes but 33% were still not convinced to go for CVS in future. Prenatal diagnosis of beta-thalassemia by CVS is available in Pakistan for over a decade but its use remains limited. The main reasons for the limited use were that either they were not advised, or they did not opt for it for cost, health, social and religious issues. There is a need to impart awareness of the procedure particularly addressing the above mentioned issues.
RESUMO
Nursing is the backbone of health care delivery system. There are various factors which influence the choice of selecting nursing as profession. [1] To find out the socio demographic profile of nurses working at Ghurki Trust Teaching Hospital [GTTH] Lahore. [2] To explore the reasons for selection of this profession. A cross sectional descriptive study. From October 2009 to January 2010. GTTH, Lahore. All the nurses working in Ghurki Trust Teaching Hospital, Lahore are included in this study and their responses are obtained with a self administered questionnaire. A total of 77 nurses participated in our study. The age distribution of these nurses has shown that a large number of nurses, 49 [63.6%] belonged to age group between 20 to 30 years. There were 26 [33.8%] nurses who had done B. Sc nursing. About 72 nurses [93.5%] have monthly income more than Rs.10.000. Majority of them, 48 [62.3%] are unmarried. 41 [53.2%] of the nurses selected this profession due to their own personal interest, 15 nurses [19.5%] selected this profession due to their parental influence. 12 nurses [15.6%] selected this profession for serving humanity. 9[11.7%] selected this profession to support their family. Approximately 25 nurses [32.5%] said that there are other family members working in the same profession. It was noted that out of these 25 nurses, 10 [40%] had their sisters in the same profession. Nursing forms the backbone of health care delivery system of a country. Decision makers in health sector need to understand that human resource development. Particularly nursing requires revolutionary changes. As public health policy makers, it is imperative that we investigate the reasons for selection of nursing profession to attract and retain these important partners in health care provision