Oral mucositis is a painful and often under-reported condition, which affects the oral mucosa of individuals undergoing cancer treatment. This article examines the condition, its causes, and how to prevent, manage and treat it. It also explores the condition from the view of a family member, who watched her father undergo cancer therapy and subsequently develop oral mucositis. Looking at oral mucositis from the position of a carer will hopefully highlight the condition from a different angle. The oral cavity is an important part of the human body — sometimes described as the ‘gateway to the body’; a clean and infection-clear mouth is a basic need. The mouth enables us to eat, speak, smile, laugh and sometimes cry, so a painful mouth can impact greatly on an individual’s general health and quality of life. Therefore, understanding and managing oral mucositis can affect a patient’s cancer therapy and subsequent treatment outcomes.
Over 51,000 carers in England are men over the age of 85 — a number which has more than doubled in the last decade (Carers UK and Age UK, 2015). The older male carer story project collaborated with a group of 11 older male carers (all over the age of 85 and living in Dorset) to learn from their experiences.
In each issue we investigate a hot topic currently affecting you and your community practice. Here, we look at the current state of NHS mental health services and ask the question
Stories of GP practices with staff standing around with no patient lists, NHS trusts being unable to access IT systems, blood
records and radiology services, as well as emails and even telephone systems being interrupted, hit the national headlines back in May (‘Global cyber attack is using US spy hacking tools’ — Daily Mail Online, 12 May 2017; ‘Massive ransomware cyber-attack hits nearly 100 countries countries around the world’ — The Guardian 12 May 2017; ‘NHS left reeling cyber-attack: “We are literally unable to do any x-rays”’ — The Guardian, 13 May 2017).
We get our news, shopping and do our banking online, but now we can manage our health online too. I see digital NHS services at the heart of creating a better, more improved, patient-centred NHS where people feel more involved in their health and care.
Working in community nursing can at times feel quite lonely and isolating. It can be hard to keep up to date with the latest developments or catch up with colleagues while struggling with the day-to-day pressure to see more and more patients, many of whom have complex problems.
This article is the second in a two-part series on managing common lower limb problems encountered in primary care. The first article in the series (Brown, 2017) discussed the causes of oedema and its relation to underlying conditions, such as venous disease, lymphoedema and lipoedema. This article investigates skin care, the management of ‘wet legs’ and the different types of compression therapy available to non-specialist community nurses.
Chronic oedema is a soft tissue swelling present for at least three months, most commonly caused by venous and lymphatic impairment. It has a huge impact on quality of life and over time may cause social deprivation. The mainstay of treatment is compression therapy and treatment of the underlying cause. Comfort and acceptability of the compression system is essential. Clinicians need to work with patients to ensure that they are included in treatment decisions and empowered to take charge of their condition.
This article looks at some case reports undertaken during a community initiative, which explored the importance of regularly
reassessing patients’ support surface needs in relation to their general wellbeing, comfort and personal relationships on a long-term basis. The comfort and dignity of patients who are prescribed longterm specialist dynamic mattresses is discussed through real patient stories. The importance of both involving and educating patients and their carers on pressure ulcer identification and preventation is also shown through this community initiative.
