Viewpoint Resources

ERIC, The Children’s Bowel & Bladder Charity, helps thousands of families struggling with continence issues, including through their free helpline. But, they could not do it without the generosity of volunteer nurses.

Lymphoedema is a chronic, progressive condition, which can have a significant impact
on patients — both physically and psychologically. While there is no cure, it is vital that the condition is effectively managed to prevent deterioration and its impact on patient quality of life.

The Queen’s Nursing Institute (QNI) has published new Standards of Education and
Practice for community practice teaching. This is the seventh in a series of standards developed and published by the QNI since 2015.

Growing up, my understanding of what a nurse does was limited. In school I learnt about Florence Nightingale, the ‘Lady with the Lamp’, and at home I dressed up in a nurse’s uniform for a fancy dress party.

Nobody within the health and care system needs to be told how dangerous a fall can be.
Hip fractures caused by falls are the number one source of accidentrelated deaths in older people (Department of Health [DH], 2009).

Thirty percent of older people who have a hip fracture from a fall die within a year — 20% within just four months (DH, 2009). These fractures result in a rapid loss of independence and routine that can be devastating for an individual. 

Over the past decade, the author believes that society has begun to awaken to the
transformative power music can have both for those living with dementia, and those who care for them. There have been a number of viral news stories which have really captured the nation’s hearts and brought us all to tears — think of Paul Harvey with his beautiful Four Notes improvisation and Marta C Gonzalez, a forma prima ballerina living with Alzheimer’s who became animated listening to Swan Lake.

Before the pandemic, the UK was spending only 9.8% of gross domestic product (GDP) on health care, which is one of the lowest in the developed world, and only had a bed capacity of 2.5 per 1,000 people (Maizland and Felter, 2020). Thus, when the pandemic hit, NHS frontline services were rapidly overwhelmed. They responded by postponing nonemergency procedures, closing nonemergency services, and redeploying specialists, which released necessary hospital beds. Unfortunately, these actions had negative consequences for older people and their carers.

Early diagnosis of bowel cancer is key to saving lives. It is the UK’s second biggest cancer killer with more than 16,500 deaths from the disease every year — one every 30 minutes (Cancer Research UK, 2022a). Yet, it is treatable and curable if detected early. Almost everyone diagnosed at stage I will survive bowel cancer, but sadly early diagnosis has remained stubbornly low with less than 40% of diagnoses at stages I and II (Cancer Research UK, 2022b).

The growing prevalence of venous leg ulcers in an ageing population presents challenges for wound care and management (McIntyre et al, 2021). Many people with leg ulcers are elderly, poor and alone, and experience reduced quality of life.

Modern day health and social care dementia practice, as with other conditions, is driven by its current evidence base. This is understood not only through a range of means, such as research, best practice, expert consensus about the most effective way to care for a person with dementia, but also through the lived experiences of people with the diagnosis and their families and supporters. Practice and care should also be guided by clinical ethics; often traditionally referred to as medical ethics.