Jenny Smyth, adult nursing student at Queen's University, Belfast, is also a key worker for an adult with a learning disability and a member of the Squad UK for WorldSkills Abu Dhabi 2017.
I completed the BTEC level 3 extended diploma in health and social care at the Southern Regional College in Banbridge, Northern Ireland. We studied a total of 18 units over two years as well as completing 100 hours of work placements, which I undertook in a surgical ward in Craigavon Area Hospital and a children’s ward in the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast. I also volunteered with St John’s Ambulance and in a local nursing home, which involved assisting at mealtimes and shadowing the different clinicians.
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 state of NHS mental health provision in the community, and asks the question...
Community nursing is becoming more stressful and some nurses are at risk of burnout. Angela Hall, a former district nurse and Macmillan clinical nurse specialist, explores what can be done...
Every day, community nurses are faced with a multitude of illnesses and conditions, some of which will be easy recognisable while others will be harder to spot. In this respect, the complex make-up of the human body itself presents a challenge. One condition that may not be easily recognisable and which may rarely be encountered by community nurses is complex regional pain syndrome. Here, I hope to provide some guidance on this condition for nurses, and, in particular, help speed-up any diagnosis and subsequent rehabilitation.
The experience of homelessness raises a person’s risk for a number of communicable diseases, long-term conditions, mental health issues and substance use. The trauma caused by fleeing from war and persecution and leaving the security of your home also has a profound impact on mental and physical health. Health outcomes for people from the Gypsy, Traveller and Roma communities are among the poorest of any group, and sex workers have among the highest rates of drug addiction.
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 the 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.
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 proposed sugar tax in NHS hospitals and health centres, and asks the question...
Getting patients to access the care they need is not always easy. Jason Beckford-Ball spoke to Laura Westwick about one project in east London that is connecting cancer patients with local services...
Working in a so-called caring profession does not always protect us from difficult colleagues. Carol Singleton discusses her own experience of workplace bullying and what you can do about it...
