Editorial Resources

Taking a holistic approach and actively listening to patients is crucial in all patient encounters. It can allow you to understand patients’ concerns, values and the impact that certain behaviours or conditions might be having on their lives. Gambling disorder, often referred to as a ‘hidden addiction’ is, as Charles and Liz Ritchie point out (pp. 8–10), an extremely serious issue which can have devastating consequences for indiviuals and their families. As community nurses visiting patients in their own homes, we have a unique opportunity to identify signs of gambling harm and offer support. Clearly, it’s a topic that needs to be approached sensitively and without judgement, but recognising gambling disorder as a public health concern and addressing it within the context of a patient’s overall wellbeing can make a significant difference to their lives and the lives of those
around them.

Due to increased media attention that the menopause continues to receive, awareness has thankfully been raised around its possible effects and potential to have a negative impact on wellbeing. Many trusts are now providing information sessions that staff can attend to
improve their knowledge and how to access support, alongside sessions for managers to ensure awareness and that support is offered. I recently attended one and gained a great
deal from it, but on reflection was alarmed by how little I had known! So please, do take some time to read the ‘Community matters’ piece in this issue (pp. 8–11), as I am sure you will find it full of really useful information.

As we are all aware, the protection and regulation of everyone’s personal data is a legal requirement and a framework within which we must work every day. To support you to embrace the challenges surrounding this, do read this issue’s ‘community matters’
feature (pp. 8–11). It is all about GDPR and manages to simplify the subject and make it easily relatable.

As 2022 comes to an end, thinking back, I was hopeful this time last year that we would soon return to ‘normality’ post Covid. However, lives this year have been different and we have certainly encountered new and unexpected challenges. This issue’s ‘community matters’ piece (pp. 8–11) reflects on the cost-of-living crisis, which has become a serious issue for everyone and seems set to continue well into the new year.

The link between physical and mental wellbeing is widely recognised, especially for those with a long-term condition. Such conditions can have a marked impact on mental health, while poor mental health can exacerbate chronic illness, thus creating a vicious circle due to the connection between the body and mind. Community nurses
are well placed to care for those with long-term conditions, not just in terms of health promotion, putting preventative measures in place, encouraging self-care etc, but also to address more complex mental health issues, and maybe even needing to advocate for patients.

Here at JCN HQ, we are thrilled to be celebrating the journal’s 50th anniversary. Over this half century, the journal has grown, been redesigned, constantly moved to keep up to date with the ever changing face of community nursing, and continued to provide education to help you in your dayto- day clinical practice and personal development. From starting out as a print journal 50 years ago, we now offer online resources, regional study days, Facebook live events and much more.

Our ‘community matters’ feature discusses the real issues that we are facing in relation to the recruitment of community nurses and the retention of existing ones. The last few years have been extremely difficult, resulting in many of us re-evaluating our work/life balance. We have seen many of our colleagues retire, although many have then been encouraged to return and, while working less hours, they continue to sustain our workforce and share their skills and knowledge.

Due to recent energy price increases, fuel cost rises and hikes in the general cost of living, healthy eating may not be at the forefront of everyone’s thoughts — simply eating may be a serious and very real issue for many.

Welcome to our first issue of the Journal of Community Nursing for 2022. Over the coming year we will, as always, strive to support you and your practice and keep you updated on current topics. This issue highlights the vital role that all community-based professionals undertake on a daily basis and the importance of being an advocate for everyone that we make contact with. The support we can offer, both from ourselves and the wide range of services from other health and social care professionals, is invaluable and will always make a difference to the lives of individuals we meet.

With an ageing population and more people living with dementia, inevitably comes an increased need for carers. As community nurses, we are in an ideal position to identify, support and value such unpaid carers, which the sixth part in our dementia series explores (pp. 47–51). Indeed, as Karen Harrison Dening rightly points out in her editorial (pp. 12–13), dementia is ‘everybody’s business’. I urge you to read this piece and think about challenging cases and concerns you have encountered and then take part in the survey mentioned, which seeks to capture and understand real-time issues when working with a person with dementia and/or their families. These will then inform a text providing advice and information from an Admiral Nurse.

This first issue of 2022 is packed full of clinical articles relevant to your dayto- day practice. For example, with more people choosing to die at home, it is vital that clinicians have the training and confidence to help provide a dignified and comfortable death. The article on using syringe drivers at the end of life looks at the conditions they aim to treat, detailing the author’s own experience of caring for a patient at life’s end and developing a rapport with her family at this time (pp. 35–39). Safeguarding is another area that is ‘everyone’s concern’, which community nurses need to know how to recognise and report. Darren Butler, named nurse adult safeguarding, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, provides a detailed account of the different types of abuse and how to document your concerns (pp.60–65).

As always, I hope you enjoy reading the journal. If you have any ideas for articles, please get in touch, as it is always great to hear from our readers. And finally, don’t forget to check when the JCN exhibition and study days are coming to your area — www.jcn.co.uk/events/series/roadshow-study-day.

Annette Bades, editor-in-chief, JCN

Working within the community, we are ideally positioned to offer our patients, and everyone we meet, personalised advice in relation to their health and self-management. We can observe them in their home environment and really understand how our patients live on a day-to-day basis. This supports us to empower them to adopt health promotion strategies and make small lifestyles changes. We can empathise with the difficulties they may encounter and support them to adapt their regular routines to really make a difference. This issue’s ‘Community matters’ piece explores making every contact count (MECC) in more detail (pp. 8–12).

We are all aware of how recent lockdowns have led to an increase in reports of domestic violence. As nurses who visit patients in their own homes, we are in a unique position to make that contact count by asking questions to help victims disclose their situation. Do read how Leeds Community Healthcare (LCH) has equipped its staff not only to address issues of domestic abuse and violence with patients, but also to support employees who themselves are in an abusive relationship (pp. 69–71).

Identifying patients who may be malnourished is again something we all need to be on the look out for during routine clinical care, especially as the majority of those affected by malnutrition are living in the community. In this issue, Anne Holdoway and Hilary Franklin (pp. 30–37) take a detailed look at the development of the ‘Managing Malnutrition in the Community’ resources, which can help you to provide the best nutritional care for your patients. We also discuss dysphagia (pp. 38–42), a very real risk factor for malnutrition, with guidance on how to assess and identify those with a swallowing issue so that you can feel confident to help patients have a safe swallow.

As Christmas approaches, and we head towards 2022, we need to congratulate ourselves on all our hard work and achievements during another difficult year. For whatever reasons, this year has seemed more testing than the previous one, so we should be extremely proud of the difference we have made to our patients and the support we have given colleagues. I hope everyone takes some time to reflect and refresh and prepare for the challenges ahead, and please remember, there is a great deal of support available if you need it.

And finally, here at JCN, we would like to wish all our readers a very happy and relaxing Christmas and New Year.

Annette Bades, editor-in-chief, JCN