Abstract:

The patient´s temperature curve provides basic information about his/her health condition. Generally, it is assumed that its use in medical practice and the acquisition of the required information is the basic skill of all healthcare professionals.

The aim of our research was to determine level of students’ skills to obtain required information from temperature curve.
One hundred and ninety urgent health care students from four Slovak universities solved task: „Determine difference between maximal and minimal value of patient´s body temperature during the second day of hospitalization.” There was temperature curve drawn in the test. This task was included in original test for determination of functional physical literacy. Students wrote anonymous test after completing biophysics. Time for test solving was not limited. The task was possible to solve by two ways. Two tests were excluded from evaluation.

Task was analysed:
1. quantitatively - overall success of students in solving the task
2. qualitatively - ways of solving focused on process student used to solve task
We find out: 1. The total number of correct answer gave 52.6 % students. Incorrect value of temperature were presented by 14.7 % of respondents, incorrect physical unit 16.8 % respondents. Total incorrect results (incorrect value and physical unit) were gave by 9.5% respondents. The task was not solved by 6.3 % of students.
2. The analysis of student solving tasks showed that 46% of respondents correctly addressed the task as expected. Another correct way was used by 33.3 % of students. There were 13.8 % of students, who do not taken into account day of patient hospitalization. Another way of solving was used by 1.2 % of students. There were 5.7 % of responses in which the solution process could not be identified.

The skills of graphical literacy of rescuers is important example for indication cardiopulmonary diseases (ECG curve). Our study showed that more than 47 % of all respondents (students of urgent health care study program) had a problem reading from the graph.
The use of the correct physical units has been analysed because of possible health workers' mobility, or work in an international team during natural disasters.

Acknowledgement:
This work is supported by grant project KEGA 026UK-4/2017

Keywords:

Urgent health care study program, Graphical literacy, Biophysics, Physical literacy of urgent health care students.