[The author reviews, interprets and illustrates the main concepts with practical examples that appear in the area of transcultural health care and nursing. ]

[Using an uncustomary approach to nursing history, authors review the intensive development process in the 1990s that resulted in the transition of nursing from an occupation to profession in Hungary. An occupa­tion attains professional status if its practitio­ners have access to education and training of a considerable duration, it has independent professional organisation, an ethical code of its own and is regulated by law. The article addresses these factors discussing at length the history and development of nurs­ing education and training in Hungary, subsequently it describes the process arching from practical nursing to the appearance of nursing science, an intrinsic part of which was the birth of a scientific nursing journal “Nővér”. The relevant and effective legislation on nursing and nursing practice is re­viewed comprehensively and the efforts to establish professional nursing organisations are described. It is maintained that framework conditions had to be established as a necessary precondition for nursing to professionalise itself on its own and become a vocation highly regarded by society. ]

[Aim of the study: The authors aim is to identify differences in the aspects of nursing at rehabilitation, chronic internal medicine and nursing departments, and to assess the characteristics and personality traits regarded as essential by the specialist nurses participating in the survey, as well as to identify the factors and causes named by patients as leading to an improvement in their satisfaction and comfort. Sample and method: The survey was performed in three departments of the Sárvár Municipal Hospital (chronic internal medicine, nursing and rehabilitation), and involved the specialist nurses working in the departments and the patients of the three departments. The questionnaire-based surveys were conducted both among the paramedical workers and the patients. The results and correlations were examined using descriptive statistical methods. Results: It can be concluded from the survey of the patients that a high proportion of them (42%) are admitted to the nursing department on the basis of social considerations. The opinions of patients at the individual departments differ significantly with regard to the skill of the nurses and the necessity of increasing the nurse headcount. The most important conclusions of the survey of the workers include the findings that the self-assessment of their own knowledge by workers at the surveyed departments is relatively low; a significant proportion of the nurses would like to see an increase in the number of paramedical workers; and verbal ward handovers are still overly preferred among nurses, rather than the use of nursing documentation. Conclusions: Nurses working the field of rehabilitation need to be prepared for the new tasks emerging as a result of the increasingly marked demographic changes. For this, a strengthening of the rehabilitation-oriented approach is essential. ]

[Those who are selected for BSc nursing training, have special values and value systems. The values can be approached, if we answer for the question, what is valuable to us. The values are incorporated into the personality during socialization and human interactions. Those who choose a helper occupation, have a special value preference, which predicts the success of the career. The author discuss the social values, the values that are necessary to a helper occupation and the values of those attending nursing training, summarizing the results of the main professional statements and research in connection with the theme.]

[In the past two decades we have witnessed a gradually increasing significance of both prophylactic and therapeutic anticoagulation. The importance of thromboprophylaxis has become widely accepted in the course of surgical interventions and in various other fields of medicine, too. The introduction of low molecular weight heparins was a milestone in this respect. The need for long-term anticoagulation has become a common problem. The various recent aspects and topics of anticoagulation have been described in the current Hungarian medical literature, therefore, I focus on two general problems of medicine of our days from the aspects of our subject. The evaluation of information on the new, direct-acting inhibitors (anti-IIa and anti- Xa),and their high price present great difficulies, especially in the case of long-term anticoagulation therapy. Clinical data and experiences have been collected from patients who are greatly different from the majority of patients in the real world. The lack of antidote may also be a serious problem in case of these new drugs, as urgent neutralization might be necessary, for example in case of serious bleeding, accidents etc. Today, cost-effectiveness of medical interventions and drugs has become a major aspect, therefore, the high price of new anticoagulants might prevent their use in the clinical practice. Despite the optimistic expectations regarding new anticoagulants, at present we have to strive to treat our patients with the currently available, effective but affordable drugs, widening and improving their use.]