health and wellbeing Resources

As we take time to reflect over the past eighteen months, I am sure that many of us find it difficult to process everything that has happened and all the changes that we have been forced to make. Throughout, we have worked to maintain the safety of our patients and teams and have barely had time to consider our own wellbeing. As we now try to return to some kind of normality, remember to take time for yourself — to renew and refresh. Consider a team night out to socialise and support each other and

have some fun in a different environment. Make plans, share thoughts and look after yourselves and each other. Read our community matters feature (pp. 10–17) — you are not alone.

It is always great to hear about inspiring initiatives in the community which are making a real difference to people lives, such as Gemma Hawtin’s wheelchair skills programme for children,‘Making Stuff Better’, to help them develop independence and participation (pp. 18–19). This piece shows how by working as a team and being open to new ideas, creativity and service improvement can flourish. The work of ERIC, the Children’s Bladder and Bowel Service, also demonstrates this, as despite the challenges of the pandemic, it has diversified to enable the charity not only to survive, but also thrive (pp. 30–31).

The journal again has a variety of clinical articles which cover conditions you face during your day-to-day caseloads. Annemarie Brown takes a thoughtful look at skin damage at the end of life and why some injury is perhaps unavoidable (pp. 36–41). There is also a useful article on catheter valves and how they can help to improve the chances of normal bladder function after removing a catheter (pp. 52–56), while the fourth part in our dementia series explores issues relating to dementia and continence and their impact on patients and families (pp. 58–62).

As always, I hope you enjoy reading this issue. If you have any ideas for articles, please get in touch, as it is always great to hear from our readers. And finally, here at JCN, we are delighted to say that our exhibition and study days are now back on the road. So, why not take a look to see when we are next in your area — www.jcn.co.uk/events/series/roadshow-study-day.

Annette Bades, editor-in-chief, JCN

n each issue of the Journal of Community Nursing, we investigate a topic currently affecting our readers. Here, Kate Upton, representative for Nursing Professions on the Crisis, Disaster and Trauma Psychology Section of the British Psychological Society, looks at "Recognising compassion fatigue and protecting wellbeing".

Since the first patient in the UK was diagnosed with Covid-19 on the 31st January 2020, the last 18 months have been unlike any we have experienced in our lifetime. The impact of the pandemic has been dramatic, turning our lives upside down and changing them beyond recognition — and not least for community nurses, like yourselves.

With the presence of Covid-19, community nurses not only had to deal with pre-existing concerns (many of which have been exasperated by the virus), but also with new challenges and pressures. Having to battle a shared enemy that appears to thrive on hiding in plain sight, many of you will have been thrust into having to operate outside of your comfort zone and in environments where you may have felt a loss of control.You will have experienced a huge shift in the way you carry out your work, having been pushed into being more open- minded and creative in managing workloads, as well as having to rapidly adapt to ever evolving new ways of providing patient care. For some, you may also have been redeployed to roles where you have needed to make use of new or rarely used skills. And, of course, underlying all of this, there is the understandable additional concern of contracting the virus and passing it on to others.

In the late ‘80s, Soul II Soul released the song ‘Keep on Movin’. At the time, I thought I was invincible. I was European and Commonwealth 400m champion and it became the anthem for my trackside warm-ups. Back then, I didn’t think about my fragility or the fact that I had a congenital heart condition to consider every time I stepped onto the track. I kept on moving. And fast. It all changed when I broke my foot and was on crutches for several months. I would have given anything to get moving again; to compete for Great Britain and challenge for medals on the track against the world’s best athletes. I slowly recovered, began moving again, and after nearly two years, was once again back on the warmup track listening to Soul II Soul and dreaming of Olympic success. 
Roll forward to today; I’m a 55-year-old with two dogs, three children, a busy family life, juggling a portfolio of businesses and living with a far greater respect for my heart condition. I’m still able to relive the glory days of winning World and Olympic medals by speaking at conferences and dinners, which often reminds me that time stands still for nobody. I am now in my sixth decade and managing my health and fitness in the best way I can, with very different goals.