Effectiveness of hand hygiene education in a basic nursing school curricula.

Objectives: Although hand hygiene (HH) is the cheapest and simplest tool for the prevention of hospital-acquired infections, poor HH compliance has been reported among health care professionals. A variety of factors influence the compliance with HH guidelines, the most important being the quality of the basic nursing education. The aims of this study were to analyze the effectiveness of the basic nursing education in relation to HH, and to explore the skills and attitudes toward HH among nursing students in praxis.

Increasing trends of tobacco use in medical students in Slovakia--a reason for concern?

Objective: The article analyses changes in tobacco use in medical students in Slovakia in 1995, 1999 and 2004.

Methods: Questionnaire survey in 448 students of the Jessenius Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University in Martin, Slovakia, was carried out in October and November 2004. Data were compared with similar surveys carried out in 1995 and 1999.

Economic rewarding of smoking cessation-facilitating drugs--a comparison of over-the-counter and prescribed nicotine replacement therapy.

Smoking cessation represents a very difficult task for the smoker, often requiring medical assistance. The introduction of smoking cessation drugs has been crucial to this process. Currently, there are two standardly used treatments: nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) and the antidepressant bupropion.