Social representations of community infection by nurses of the Family Health Strategy

Background: Community infection that is detected or incubating on admission act, since not related to a previous admission in the same hospital. These infections constitute a public health problem by the risk that people are exposed in the community. The evaluation of the risk of infection is a complex process involving clinical, psychosocial, and environmental data. Aim: Apprehend the social representations of community infection by nurses of the Family Health Strategy. Methods: Exploratory qualitative study, conducted from February to March of 2016 in 18 basic health units of the Family Health Strategy (FHS), the Northern Regional Directorate, the city of Teresina, Piaui, Brazil, with 23 nurses. Data were collected through semi-structured interview, processed by software IRAMUTEQ and analyzed by descending hierarchical classification. Results: The results were presented in two axes: Axis 1-The nurse in the prevention of infection in the Community Health Strategy, with the classes: Class 3-Measures to prevent infection Community; Class 4-Health education for the prevention of community infection; Class 5-Nurse Interventions for preventing infection Community; Axis 2 - Extrinsic factors and social determinants related to community infection, with the classes: Class 2-The concept of community infection; Class 1-Types of community-acquired infections; Class 6-Risk factors for community-acquired infection. Conclusion: The knowledge developed and shared by the nurses of the Family Health Strategy on Community infection, rooted in the course of their professional practice, shows that the concept of community infection was not well built by professionals, referring only to unrelated infections to hospital.