Every 10 seconds someone in the UK has a potentially lifethreatening asthma attack and three people die every day from the condition. Tragically, evidence shows two-thirds of these deaths could be prevented by using some key elements of basic care. Also, many of these deaths occur in people with mild or moderate asthma, the kind that can be managed in primary care and with daily self-management.
Prevarication is a terrible thing. It’s 11.00am and I’ve been sitting at my desk trying to write this piece for two hours. Even though I know what I want to say, I always struggle to start. I’ve completed a number of other (less important) tasks on my ‘to-do list’ as well as some that weren’t on the list but offered a distraction from the blank page in front of me.
Around 2,500 people every year are diagnosed with mesothelioma in the UK, an incurable cancer that affects the mesothelium, the membrane that lines the inner surface of the chest wall (pleura), the abdomen (peritoneum) or testicles. The primary cause is contact with asbestos and symptoms don’t usually appear until 20–50 years after exposure. Men are 4.6 times more likely to develop mesothelioma and with a latency period of approximately 30–40 years, the vast majority of people diagnosed with the condition are over 70 years old.
With many hospitals struggling to meet safe staffing quotas, it is often the support of agency nurses that keep hospital wards and community services open and running. But what of the agencies supplying them? Here the JCN profiles Hallam Medical, one of the UK's premier primary care recruitment agencies.
For the first time, the Queen’s Nursing Institute’s (QNI’s) annual conference in 2016 was a two-day event, with a range of speakers on the twin themes of inspiring quality and success in nursing and on shaping the future of the nursing workforce. The speakers — from England, Wales and Northern Ireland — spoke about the various challenges facing the nursing workforce and some of the new initiatives that are being introduced to address them.
In recent years, major advances in both the knowledge and practice of wound care have coincided with an increase in the incidence of wounds, due in part to the ageing UK population as well as the increased prevalence of chronic disease and comorbidities, and a rise in clinical and surgical interventions (Myers, 2004).
Biatain Silicone, which is available both in normal and lite versions, is a multilayered soft silicone adhesive foam dressing which can be used on a wide range of exuding wounds for moist wound healing and exudate management.
The importance of nutricion for hostpital patients cannot be overestimated; it aids wound healing, helps reduce falls due to loss of strength/muscle mass, reduces incidences of pressure ulcers and helpds to reduce length of stay1. However, achieving adequate nutrition in hospital can be challenging with many different obligations vying for priority on a hospital ward2. In addition, certain medical conditions
Urinary incontinence is a common problem in the UK, and one often seen by community nurses. While it is often associated with ageing, urinary incontinence can in fact have a number of causes and it is important that the community nurse is aware of the full range of aetiologies and presentations. Community nurses should have a good basic understanding of the causes of incontinence, be able to provide a basic first assessment, become adept at asking the right questions and be able to offer some conventional treatment and problem-solving strategies for immediate relief of symptoms. Most importantly, they should be able to identify when a patient will need referring to a specialist practitioner for more extensive assessment and investigation. This article looks at the assessment of urinary continence in the community, and outlines the common presentations that nurses should look out for.
Stroke is a major cause of mortality and lifelong disability, despite advances in diagnosis and treatment. The risk factors of stroke are well-known and many are modifiable through lifestyle adjustments, however, the incidence of first-time stroke is increasing year-on-year. Primary stroke prevention is an important health promotion issue and successful implementation could lead to a reduction in the incidence of stroke and relieve a costly burden to the NHS. Nurses play an important role in providing information and advice to patients in secondary prevention of stroke, and could play an equal role in primary prevention. Providing advice on lifestyle behaviours such as smoking, alcohol consumption, diet and exercise all fall under the remit of the nurse in health promotion and in secondary stroke care. By providing a primary prevention service, community nurses could work as case managers for a larger multidisciplinary team and provide prevention advice and treatment.
