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NURSI NG I NTEGRATI ON I N LATI N AMERI CA AND CHALLENGES TO PREPARE
LEADERSHI PS FOR DRUGS RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT
I sabel Am élia Cost a Mendes1
T
he dr ugs phenom enon is essent ially com plex and sur passes nat ional fr ont ier s, becom ing one of t he m ost discussed it em s on t he int er nat ional agenda. This dem onst r at es w ide- r anging effor t s t o r each a com m onagr eem ent am ong differ ent social act or s, St at es, I nt er nat ional Or ganizat ions and ot her gr oups about how t o
incr ease t he effect iv eness of decision m ak ing about t he pr oblem .
Am ong t he adopt ed act ion st r at egies, socio- educat ional pr ev ent ion is consider ed cr ucial, cov er ing t he
developm ent of t r ue leader ships t o m ult iply infor m at ion about dr ugs, based on scient ific know ledge and guided
b y su ccessf u l ex p er ien ces.
I n v iew of t h ese pr em ises, t h e Or gan izat ion of Am er ican St at es, t h r ou gh t h e I n t er - Am er ican Dr u g
Abuse Cont rol Com m ission, has been invest ing in t he part nership w it h Lat in- Am erican nursing t eaching inst it ut ions,
w it h a v iew t o inser t ing cont ent s about dr ugs int o under gr aduat e cur r icula and t r aining facult y for r esear ch in
t his ar ea.
I n t he cont ex t of t his pr oj ect , facult y par t icipat ion for scient ific r esear ch has occur r ed in collabor at ion
w it h Univ er sit ies r enow ned as a cont inent al r efer ence in nur sing r esear ch dev elopm ent . The Univ er sit y of São
Paulo at Ribeir ão Pr et o College of Nur sing/ WHO Collabor at ing Cent r e for Nur sing Resear ch Dev elopm ent has
par t icipat ed in t his effor t by offer ing, for t w o consecut iv e y ear s, t he Resear ch Training Pr ogram applied t o t he
St udy of t he Dr ugs Phenom enon for Nur sing Facult y in Lat in Am er ica.
Th e f ir st Pr ogr am , h eld in 2 0 0 2 , at t en ded 1 8 an d t h e secon d, in 2 0 0 3 , 1 5 n u r ses f r om Ar gen t in a,
Boliv ia, Br azil, Ch ile, Colom b ia, Ecu ad or, Mex ico an d Per u1. Th is ed it ion of t h e Lat in Am er ican Jou r n al of
Nu r sin g pr esen t s t h e r esu lt s of t h e r esear ch dev eloped by t h e pr ofession als w h o par t icipat ed in t h is secon d
co u r se.
Th e or gan izat ion of t h e Train in g Pr ogr am s cov er ed t h e f u n dam en t als of qu alit at iv e an d qu an t it at iv e
nur sing r esear ch, est ablishing a r elat ion w it h t he dr ugs phenom enon and it s im por t ance in t he int er nat ional
cont ex t . How ev er, it s gr eat est challenge was t o t ur n int o a space for r eflect ion about r ealit y, st im ulat ing t he
dev elopm en t of edu cat or s- leader s seek in g t o dev elop t h em selv es, w h o ar e capable of pr oblem at izin g “ daily ”
discour se and, m ainly, of im plem ent ing concr et e act ions.
According t o Alves2, doing science for science’s sake is a m ere exercise, w it hout considering it s use t o
an end, w hose obj ect iv e is t o solv e im por t ant hum an quest ion such as m iser y. The dr ugs phenom enon is one
of t hese r elev ant quest ions and in need of m or e pr ofound st udies t hat st im ulat e cr eat iv e social t r ansfor m at ion
p r o cesses.
The st udies published in t his edit ion dem onst rat e t he first st eps in t his cont inuous search for aw areness
about j oint r esponsibilit y for t he dr ugs phenom enon. Hence, dur ing t he t w o Pr ogr am s, w hich culm inat ed in t he
d ev elop m en t of t h e st u d ies p u b lish ed h er e an d in an ear lier ed it ion , t h e p ar t icip an t s clear ly sh ow ed t h eir
p er son al an d p r of ession al g r ow t h , as a r esu lt of ex p er ien ce ex ch an g es an d t h e con st r u ct ion of p er m an en t
r elat ion s.
1 Chair of t he Lat in Am er ican Jour nal of Nur sing Dir ect ive Council, Dean, Full Pr ofessor of t he Univer sit y of São Paulo at Ribeirão Pr et o College of Nur sing
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Aft er t his int ense w or k, t he r esult s of t hese effort s deser ve t o be shar ed, by m eans of t his publicat ion,
w it h any body w ho is int er est ed in achiev ing a bet t er under st anding of t he dr ugs phenom enon and it s social
im p licat ion s.
Finally, it is im por t ant t o ex pr ess our grat it ude t o all par t icipant s in t his Pr ogram , t he Or ganizat ion of
Am er ican St at es/ I nt er - Am er ican Dr ug Abuse Cont r ol Com m ission, t o t he Univer sit y of São Paulo for t he suppor t
gr ant ed and t o facult y and em ployees at t he Ribeir ão Pr et o College of Nur sing / WHO Collabor at ing Cent r e for
Nur sing Resear ch Dev elopm ent for t heir inv est m ent in t he for m at ion of nur sing leader s in t he field of dr ugs.
REFERENCES
1. Mendes I AC, Luis MAV. Uso de subst âncias psicoat ivas, um novo velho desafio. Rev Lat ino- am Enfer m agem 2004 m ar ço-abr il; 1 2 ( n ú m er o especial) : 2 9 9 - 3 0 0 .
2. Alves R. Con ver sas com quem gost a de ensinar. São Paulo: Cor t ez Edit or a; 1984.
