As with many conditions, diet has a crucial but often underrated relationship with serious mental health problems. In this article the author examines how diet, nutrients and different food types can have a deleterious or beneficial effect on mental health problems such as dementia, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Understanding the complex reactions between healthy eating and cognitive and emotional development can help community nurses provide holistic care for their patients.
Constipation is a widespread problem although its subjective nature can mean that diagnosis and treatment can be difficult as there is often a mismatch between patients’ and clinicians’ view of the condition. Constipation is widely believed to include unsatisfactory defecation, infrequent stools and/or difficult stool passage. Thorough patient assessment and promotion of continence issues are imperative to improving services for people with constipation. This article highlights how breaking social taboos around bladder and bowel issues, helping people to acknowledge bowel issues, and referring them to the appropriate specialist nurse-led services will all help to provide a more accurate and timely diagnosis of constipation.
This article provides an overview of the common eczematous conditions that patients may present with in the community. With early diagnosis and treatment, including patient education and effective care planning, eczema can be managed succesfully by community nurses, not only releving pain, itch and irritation, but also improving patients’ quality of life. When formulating a comprehensive management plan, community nurses will need to be able to recognise, diagnose and treat the different presentations of eczema as well as understanding the main therapies, including emollient and topical steroid therapy.
Justine Hextall is a consultant dermatologist and fellow of the Royal College of Physicians.
Crystal Oldman is chief executive of the Queen’s Nursing Institute (QNI).
The QNI has just published its latest report into the Fund for Innovation and Leadership programme that it runs with support from the Burdett Trust for Nursing. The fund is one of the most practical and immediate ways in which we help nurses to develop a wide range of skills, and improve patient care in the community.
Diane Cuff, head of family carers and community wellbeing, Shropshire Rural Community Council, Shrewsbury
Preventing pressure ulcers is essential for both the patient and the NHS, as failing to do so results in considerable pain and discomfort to the individual, delayed discharge, higher treatment costs and the threat of legal action. In this article however, I will consider the costs to the family, in particular the carers, and the key role they play in preventing pressure ulcers within the home. To help illustrate these issues, I have focused on the experiences of one family carer and the questions this case raises for community care and carer support.
Alex Munro is a registered nurse with a background in unscheduled care as a nurse practitioner. He is the co-founder and clinical director of Hallam Medical, the primary care recruitment specialist.
Is it me, or is simply being a nurse becoming more difficult than ever before? What with the pressures of the workplace, constant media coverage and ever-present politics, nurses could be forgiven for forgetting why they chose the profession in the first place.
Jayne Hollinshead, regional project lead, Midlands, Institute of Health Visiting.
The Institute of Health Visiting (iHV) was established as a national charity over two years ago, with the aim of supporting excellence in health visiting by strengthening professional leadership and providing high-quality training and education. The hope is that this will lead to improved health for children, families and communities.
Advances in health care mean a longer life expectancy for many patients, however quality of life has not improved proportionately. Sana Zakaria looks at the pressures to provide health care for a rapidly ageing population living with multiple comorbidities.
By 2018, it is predicted that about three million people will be living with multiple long-term conditions, which will cost the NHS and social care an extra £5 billion (Department of Health [DH], 2012a). Cardiovascular disease is a long-term condition affecting around seven million people in the UK, and is often accompanied by a plethora of other conditions in the ageing population. Cardiovascular disease was responsible for nearly 30% of all deaths in the UK in 2013, and is one of the largest causes of disability in the country (DH, 2013).
