The management of nutrition in people with dementia is complex as it involves weight loss due to cognitive and physical problems caused by the condition. There is a range of practical approaches that the community nurse can implement, but these must be adjusted to suit each person. Often, a large proportion of the community nurse’s time is spent supporting carers, family and friends who are looking after a relative who has dementia at home. This can be a demanding role and carers often experience physical and emotional fatigue. For those working with patients with dementia in nursing, residential and care homes, it is particularly important that staff are supported with strong leadership to provide a flexible approach to meal times and that suitable menu options are available.
Heart failure is a common chronic condition and people living with it can have periods of relative stability as well as episodes where their symptoms worsen and they require hospital admission and treatment (Chun et al, 2012), such as intravenous (IV) diuretics. Traditionally, patients who failed to respond to an increase in oral diuretics have been admitted to hospital for IV diuretics. The British Heart Foundation (BHF) funded a two-year project in 10 NHS organisations across the UK to determine if delivering IV diuretics in the patient’s home or in a community by patients and carers (BHF, 2014).The programme was led by heart failure specialist nurses working within existing community heart failure teams and was built on existing evidence that, when compared to other heart failure patients, heart failure patients times less likely to be hospitalised (BHF, 2008). As IV diuretic services become embedded into existing services, community nurses have an important role to play in working in partnership with heart failure specialist nurses to support patients having challenges of delivering IV diuretics in the home.
Urinary incontinence impacts on patients both physically and mentally, restricting employment, educational and leisure opportunities, and leading to social embarrassment and isolation. It is vital that people who are experiencing continence problems are given every opportunity to regain their continence and highquality comprehensive continence services are an essential part identify patients who may be experiencing continence problems, before going on to look at treatments and longer-term care. The author also addresses the issue of when community nurses should look to deal with continence problems themselves, or when they
This article will highlight some common skin lesions present in the older population. Skin lesions of this type may be frequently seen by community nurses and can be categorised as benign lesions, non-melanoma and melanoma skin cancers. The article contains a description of the lesions along with a guide to the correct terminology used to establish an accurate diagnosis. The prevalence and causes of these lesions along with an explanation of varying treatment options is also included.
Welcome to JCN’s learning zone. By reading the article in each issue, you can learn all about the key principles of subjects that are vital to your role as a community nurse. Once you have read the article, visit www.jcn.co.uk/learning-zone/ to evaluate your knowledge on this topic by answering the 10 questions in the e-learning unit; all answers can be found in the article. If you answer the questions correctly, you can download your certificate, which can be used in your continuing professional development (CPD) portfolio as evidence of your continued learning.
Celina Eves is chief nursing officer at King Saud Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Welcome to JCN’s learning zone. By reading the article in each issue, you can learn all about the key principles of subjects that are vital to your role as a community nurse. Once you have read the article, visit www.jcn.co.uk/learning-zone/ to evaluate your knowledge on this topic by answering the 10 questions in the e-learning unit; all answers can be found in the article. If you answer the questions correctly, you can download your certificate, which can be used in your continuing professional development (CPD) portfolio as evidence of your continued learning.
For the person with a stoma such as a colostomy, ileostomy or urostomy, the invasive nature of the procedure means that there can be complications such as poor stomal output, sore skin around the stoma or malodorous urine. An assessment is necessary to establish the cause of the problem, as this will provide information needed to choose the appropriate treatment. This article will discuss a variety of complications that can occur for the person with a stoma, as well as discussing the presentation, assessment, treatment options and how community nurses can ensure that any treatment continues to be effective into the future.
In each issue of the Journal of Community Nursing we investigate a hot topic currently affecting our readers. Here, Jason Beckford-Ball looks at the impact of popular research on lifestyle choices and asks the questions…
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.
It’s been a great summer for many reasons — lovely weather and fun holidays along with sporting triumphs in the worlds of athletics, cricket and tennis. And England and Wales are the proud hosts of the Rugby World Cup with expectations high for the home nations (let’s not mention England!). However, for me personally this summer took a rather dark turn when I became ill and needed hospital treatment.
