Resumen

HERNANDEZ VERGEL, Lázaro Luis  y  MIRANDA GUERRA, Amauri de Jesús. Social image of Nursing in Cuba and in Belize. Rev Cubana Enfermer [online]. 2006, vol.22, n.2. ISSN 0864-0319.

There is little information about the image society has of nursing and its social status. This problem affects the staff of this specialty, since there isn't a real knowledge of its role in society and this, at the same time, may not have a real concept of this profession. In Caibarién, Villa Clara Province, Cuba, and in Belize District , Belize , Central America , a cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted in 2004 and 2005. The universe of study was composed of 32 600 inhabitants from Cuba and 75 000 from Belize . A stratified randomized sampling was performed, where sex and the place of residence were considered as strata. Finally, 1 630 persons in Cuba , and 1 600 in Belize were included in the sample. All of them were interviewed to know their opinions on nursing care, the activities to be carried out by this personnel, the image they deserve and their social status. 46.16 % of the surveyed were men and 53.83 % were women. 93.50 in Cuba , and 64,00 % in Belize answered that nursing staff may be of both sexes. 91.80 % of Cubans and 88,75 % of Belizeans considered to have received a good nursing care. It was concluded that society in the studied communities, grants a high status to nursing and expects significant contributions from these professionals.

Palabras clave : Quality of health care; nursing care; clinical competence; professional practice; primary health care; public opinion; social image; Belize.

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