[Structural elements of critical thinking of nurses in emergency care]. / Elementos estruturais do pensamento crítico de enfermeiros atuantes em emergências.

The objective of this study was to analyze the structural elements of critical thinking (CT) of nurses in the clinical decision-making process. This exploratory, qualitative study was conducted with 20 emergency care nurses in three hospitals in southern Brazil. Data were collected from April to June 2009, and a validated clinical case was applied from which nurses listed health problems, prescribed care and listed the structural elements of CT. Content analysis resulted in categories used to determine priority structural elements of CT, namely theoretical foundations and practical relationship to clinical decision making; technical and scientific knowledge and clinical experience, thought processes and clinical decision making: clinical reasoning and basis for clinical judgments of nurses: patient assessment and ethics. It was concluded that thinking critically is a skill that enables implementation of a secure and effective nursing care process.

[Nursing care for patients undergoing pharmacological stress echocardiography: implications for clinical practice]. / A enfermeira no cuidado aos pacientes submetidos ao eco-stress farmacológico: implicacções para a prática clínica.

The study aim was both to identify signs and symptoms previous to and during the pharmacological stress echocardiography test and to describe the nurse's role and nursing care principles for this exam. This is a descriptive study, carried out in cardiac care unit in a University Hospital in Porto Alegre, RS. Two hundred forty-six records of patients submitted to stress echocardiography were retrospectively reviewed, according to four different pharmacological schedules. The statistical comparison showed that signs and symptoms were related to the type of drug used during the exam, namely: typical angina, precordial ache, tiredness, headache and premature complexes. These results enabled a better understanding of pharmacological stress echocardiography and the instrumentalization of nurses in order to plan individualized and qualified nursing care assistance. Aside from helping develop nursing practices for the pharmacological stress echocardiography test this knowledge could also be used by nurses who carry out their activities in institutions that use this diagnostic method.