In each issue we investigate a hot topic currently affecting you and your community practice. Here, Georgia Craig looks at alternative ways to review patients in the community and asks... Restoring joy to practice: could group consultations help?
The Colostomy Association is a national charity that provides support, reassurance and practical advice to anyone in the UK who has, or is about to have, a colostomy. We are here to help and support patients, their families and carers. Our helpline is manned 24 hours a day by volunteers who all have a stoma. Our wide range of leaflets, quarterly magazine Tidings and closed Facebook group offer information and support to anyone affected by life-changing stoma surgery.
Far from seeking attention for their own work, many nurses actually shy away from the media. Here, Mariama Barrie explains how she used publishing to spread the word — and why you should be doing the same...
The team of Eczema Outreach Scotland (EOS) has been working with families dealing with the day-to-day struggle of childhood eczema for over five years. Magali Redding, a West Lothian mother of three and voluntary sector professional, set up the group when her daughter asked tearfully: ‘why am I the only scratchy girl in the world?’ In between their precious clinic appointments, the family had been feeling increasingly frustrated and isolated in their battle with the impact of eczema on life.
As primary and community care look set to play an even bigger role in the future of the NHS, do we know what changes we can expect, how these changes will be delivered and how they will affect the way we work?
The 2015 NMC Code of Conduct promotes four key themes: prioritising people; practising effectively; preserving safety; and promoting professionalism and trust. Each of these four themes is designed to help nurses embody the Code, but if they are to adhere to it fully, a clear understanding of the duty of candour is essential, particularly when applied to nursing practice.
Research from national charity Contact the Elderly has found that nine out of 10 people feel concerned for a lonely older person within their community or neighbourhood, while four in 10 people do not feel they can offer appropriate help to older people who might be lonely or isolated.
Venous leg ulceration can be a chronic problem that has a negative effect on patients’ quality of life and is very expensive in terms of healthcare resources. The scale of the problem is continually increasing due to the ageing population, however, the standard of care across the UK varies despite a clear relationship between accurate assessment of the patient and the delivery of effective compression therapy. One of the major obstacles to the delivery of effective treatment is the reluctance of some patients to concord with prescribed compression therapy and there are a variety of reasons for this, including a lack of patient understanding of the importance of compression, or clinicians’ lack of knowledge or experience leading to poor patient education. The authors suggest, however, that maintaining patient concordance with compression therapy can result in effective healing. Central to this is the development of an effective therapeutic relationship between the clinicians and the patient and their family/carers and this article provides an overview of how one team of nurses were able to achieve this.
This study explored district nursing teams’ perceptions of the current chronic conditions management model in a specific locality in Wales. Chronic diseases are now the leading cause of illness and disability across the UK, placing an increasing demand on public services as healthcare staff try to meet the needs of those with long-term conditions. The author used action research to conduct the study, encouraging the nurse participants to critically review their practice. The findings indicated that a major overhaul of the current model of care was not required; the foundations were there and just some small steps and a shared vision led to sustainable changes for an efficient and effective chronic conditions service.
I started my career as a student in 1996. After qualifying I took a staff nurse position in a large nursing home, before joining Caritas Services in 2007, where I continue to work to this day. I initially took a staff nurse position at one of the Caritas homes where we support adults with learning disabilities and dual diagnosis, later taking up a deputy home manager role.
