Resources

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.

Most people who work in health care would imagine that they have a basic grasp of the menopause and its main symptoms. They’d probably be able to tell you about hot sweats, anxiety and mood swings. Some of them might even impress you with
their knowledge of period cessation or hormone depletion.

For many women, however, including those working in health care, the realities of
living with menopause are still shrouded in misinformation and embarrassment. Not to mention sexism. Often lumped together under the dismissive term ‘women’s problems’, it’s an often-repeated joke that if men experienced the menopause there would have already been years of well-funded research, a host of treatments, or even a ‘cure’.

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 a community nurse, how much information should you know about a patient?
You might say it’s important to know the condition they have and their medical history. It might be reasonable to enquire if they are on any medication, or even ask for some
details about their lifestyle, such as their smoking habits or alcohol consumption, or how many sugars they take in their tea.

IF YOU FEEL CONFIDENT, YOUR PATIENTS FEEL CONFIDENT
In order to instil confidence in your patients, you yourself need to feel confident in the care you’re providing — including the products you use.

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.

As healthcare professionals, our purpose is to deliver treatments and interventions to patients to aid recovery and prevent deterioration in health. But what does that look like when patients do not wish to follow advice, do not want treatment or interventions, even if that means significant consequences such as loss of limbs, sepsis or death — where do we legally stand in these situations and how do we work with patients to achieve the best possible outcomes for them? Over years of clinical experience, the authors have found that working with those who self-neglect can be complex. This is due
to a range of factors, such as risks to the individual and sometimes others. Other issues involved include healthcare professionals’ views and moral conflict between respecting patient autonomy and their duty of care, challenges in trying to engage patients who may not want services involved, attempting to assess and being clear on the patient’s mental capacity, working within task-orientated systems which may not always be conducive to building rapport, and working with the patient’s socio-economic factors which impact upon their health (Research in Practice, 2020).