By continuing to use the site you agree to our Privacy & Cookies policy

Nursing Times
March 2001

View all stories from this issue.

  • A fair share

    The size of district nurses’ workload usually depends on the age profile of the patient population served by the GP practice that employs them. I was involved in a project that aimed to produce a tool that would facilitate a more even and fair distribution of district nurses.

  • Better quality of care for UGI cancer patients

    VOL: 97, ISSUE: 12, PAGE NO: 36Arabella Melville, PhD, is a writer for the National Cancer Guidance Steering Group and was the lead writer of Effective Health Care Management, working with the NHS Centre for Reviews and Dissemination at the University of YorkOutcomes for patients with upper gastrointestinal cancers are very poor - both in absolute terms (three-quarters of patients die within a year of diagnosis, see Table 1) and relative to other developed countries. Survival rates

  • Clinical guidelines: can they be effective?

    VOL: 97, ISSUE: 09, PAGE NO: 3Amanda Tong, BN, RGN, FAETC, is a lecturer in tissue viability, Buckinghamshire Chilterns University CollegeThe promotion of clinical effectiveness in the NHS has been declared a key priority by the present government. This has resulted in increased interest in the potential for clinical guidelines to reduce variations in health care and its cost. Nurses are encouraged to actively foster and utilise an ever-increasing number of clinical guidelines when

  • Clinical nurse specialists: towards a definition

    VOL: 97, ISSUE: 09, PAGE NO: 39Elizabeth Robb, BA, ADM, RM, RN, PGCE, is director of nursing, community services and quality, East Somerset NHS TrustThe number of nurses with titles such as clinical nurse specialist and nurse practitioner is increasing. In the context of chronic nurse shortages it is important that all nursing roles are reviewed to ensure the most efficient and effective use of staff, but there is no clear agreement on the competencies expected of nurses using thes

  • Coaching for health care assistants

    VOL: 97, ISSUE: 12, PAGE NO: 45Angela Artley, BSc, DipN, RGN, is a nursing development sister, South Tees Acute Hospitals NHS TrustJanice Menhennet, SEN, RGN, CertEd, is a practice development nurse, South Tees Acute Hospitals NHS TrustAccording to Thornley (1997), health care assistants (HCAs) now carry out a number of nursing duties, such as taking observations and obtaining specimens, with 'little or no supervision' more than half the time. This article records how a prac

  • Colorectal cancer

    Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the term for a cancer of any part of the large bowel, from the caecum, which lies next to the ileocaecal valve, to the anus. Cancers of the anus are relatively rare, however, and account for only 4% of all new cases of colorectal cancer reported each year in the UK (Jones and James, 1993).

  • Community palliative care: the evolving role of Macmillan nurses

    VOL: 97, ISSUE: 12, PAGE NO: 38Alison Hill, MSc, RGN, DipHV, is service development manager, Macmillan Cancer ReliefThe first Macmillan nurse posts were established in 1975 to enhance the quality of palliative care offered in the community. They reflected the Macmillan Cancer Relief charity's commitment to improving services for cancer patients through specialist practice and the dissemination of skills and knowledge.

  • COPD is not a Cinderella disease

    VOL: 97, ISSUE: 12, PAGE NO: 1Claire Kent, RN, DipNurs, is respiratory sister, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King’s Lynn, NorfolkFor those of us who work in respiratory care the initials COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) are part of the fabric of our daily working lives. Yet in the world beyond health care most people have never heard of COPD. When did you last open a newspaper and read an article about it?

  • Dedicated followers of fashion

    VOL: 97, ISSUE: 09, PAGE NO: 1Madeleine Flanagan, MA, BSc, DipN, Cert Ed (HE), RGN, is principal lecturer, tissue viability, University of Hertfordshire, HatfieldAdvanced wound-healing therapies mean different things to different people. First one needs to consider what is understood by the term advanced therapy. Interactive dressings are still regarded by some to be advanced treatments, while others consider laser therapy and tissue engineering to be passe. The word 'advanced' is

  • Dementia: early diagnosis is vital for best care

    VOL: 97, ISSUE: 09, PAGE NO: 41Lucy Hamilton, RGN, is a community staff nurse, OxfordWhile working as a community staff nurse in a district nursing and primary health care team I visited a woman with pernicious anaemia, whom I'll call Lilly Ashton. She had also been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, but any monitoring of this was merely a consequence of our three-monthly visits to administer cytamen injections.

  • Don't quit while you're ahead

    Nursing Times should be applauded for its brilliant ‘No Butts’ campaign, which ended a few weeks ago. It did my heart good to read the stories of nurses who were kicking the habit, and it will do their hearts even more good.

  • Facial shaving

    For a man who is used to being clean-shaven, being unshaven can feel very uncomfortable and even dirty (a good parallel is a woman without her make-up).

  • Guidelines for preventing hospital-acquired infections

    National evidence-based guidelines for preventing hospital-acquired infections were commissioned recently by the Department of Health (Pratt et al, 2001). These guidelines impact on the activities of all health care practitioners working in hospitals.

  • How can conferences and study days benefit practice?

    VOL: 97, ISSUE: 09, PAGE NO: 9Peter Hill, BA, RN, DipN, DipCC, is project nurse, department of tissue viability, North Staffordshire Hospital NHS TrustLorraine Jackson is clinical nurse specialist, tissue viability, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS TrustMark Collier, BA, RGN, ONC, RCNT, RNT, is senior lecturer/nurse consultant, tissue viability, Thames Valley University, LondonWounds 2000 Partnerships in Wound Care Conference, November 2000

  • Hyperbaric oxygen therapy

    VOL: 97, ISSUE: 09, PAGE NO: 7Keith Cutting, MN, RMN, RGN, DipN, Cert Ed (FE), is principal lecturer, Faculty of Health Studies, Buckingham Chilterns University College, Chalfont St GilesHyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO) delivers oxygen at up to three times atmospheric pressure and will raise arterial levels of oxygen 10-15 times higher than that achieved by normal atmospheric pressure (Steenblock, 2000).

  • Hypothermia management

    VOL: 97, ISSUE: 09, PAGE NO: 36Mathew Kelly, BSc, RGN, is practice development nurse, ITU, Manor Hospital, Walsall Hospitals NHS TrustBeverley Ewens, BSc, RGN, is consultant nurse, ITU;Phil Jevon, BSc, RGN, PGCE, is resuscitation training officer, Manor Hospital, Walsall Hospitals NHS TrustHypothermia can be a life-threatening condition. Nurses need to be able to identify those at risk, know how to monitor the condition accurately, be familiar with re-warming procedures and

  • Inappropriate placements in registered nursing homes - fact or fiction?

    VOL: 97, ISSUE: 10, PAGE NO: 37Mandy Lloyd, RMN, RN, is a nursing homes registration and inspection officerAs a nursing homes registration and inspection officer in the south west of England, I have seen a number of smaller homes close or go into receivership. And the owners often say they have been forced to close because of financial difficulties.

  • Judgement on the road to advocacy

    VOL: 97, ISSUE: 12, PAGE NO: 35Phil Barker PhD RNTwenty years ago, some nurses at an English psychiatric hospital were dismissed for their part in an uprising. They harmed only themselves, but the fire from their insubordination lit up the psychiatric sky, albeit briefly. Their senior nursing officer answered their call for support and was also dismissed.

  • Managing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at home

    VOL: 97, ISSUE: 12, PAGE NO: 6Rob Angus, MBChB, MRCP, is consultant physician, University Hospital Aintree, LiverpoolMore than 730,000 people in the UK have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (Pauwels, 2000), but this is almost certainly an underestimate, as patients are often not diagnosed until their condition has reached a fairly advanced stage.

  • Managing exudate

    VOL: 97, ISSUE: 09, PAGE NO: 11Richard White, PhD, BSc, MIBiol, is a clinical research consultant and medical writer, website: www.medicalwriter.co.ukWound-healing results from a complex interaction between cells, fluids and biochemicals, which occurs in four overlapping phases: haemostasis and inflammation, granulation, epithelialisation and tissue remodelling (Davidson, 1992). Immediately on wounding the body responds with vasoconstriction to reduce blood loss, and clotting to se

  • Measuring quality in a paediatric day care unit

    VOL: 97, ISSUE: 10, PAGE NO: 32Jessica Higson, BN, RN, is senior staff nurse at the Royal Berkshire Hospital, ReadingGlenis Hawkins, RN, is clinical audit and effectiveness facilitator at the Royal Berkshire Hospital, ReadingThe present government's clinical governance agenda has a strong emphasis on ensuring quality in the health service (Department of Health, 1998). One way to measure quality is to establish if users are satisfied (Davis, 1999). Thus, at a new mixed day su

  • NERVOUS SYSTEM 7

    VOL: 97, ISSUE: 10, PAGE NO: 41William Blows, RMN, RGN, RNT, PhD, BSc, is lecturer in biological sciences, City University, LondonThe peripheral nervous system consists of the nerves and nerve endings. Nerves are neuronal pathways outside the brain and spinal cord. Cranial nerves come directly from the brain, mostly the brain stem, while spinal nerves come from the spinal 'cord.

  • Practical aspects of stoma care

    VOL: 97, ISSUE: 12, PAGE NO: 40Elaine Armstrong, RGN, is clinical nurse specialist in stoma care at the Royal Free Hospital NHS Trust, LondonThe word stoma comes from the Greek word meaning 'mouth or opening', and a stoma can be created from any segment of bowel, both large (colon) and small (ileum). Stomas are created for a range of reasons, including cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, trauma and as an elective or emergency procedure.

  • Psychiatric caring

    VOL: 97, ISSUE: 10, PAGE NO: 38Phil Barker, PhD, RN, is professor of psychiatric nursing at the University of Newcastle, and an NT editorial adviser...

  • Sexual health and the respiratory patient

    VOL: 97, ISSUE: 12, PAGE NO: 11Carol Law, MA, RGN, RCNT, RNT, is senior lecturer, University of HertfordshireThe 'sexual revolution' that has taken place during the later part of the 20th century has seen the media become more tolerant towards private sexual behaviour and public sexual speech, although conservative political forces have demonstrated a considerable opposition which has resulted in jumbled social attitudes towards sexual issues (Maurice, 1999). His view is reflected

  • Stoma care - 1(a) Cutting a template

    VOL: 97, ISSUE: 12, PAGE NO: 43CHRIS METCALF, GASTROENTEROLOGY ENDOSCOPY NURSE SPECIALIST, WEST HERTS NHS TRUST, WATFORD GENERAL HOSPITAL.A variety of conditions may necessitate the formation of a colostomy or an ileostomy: carcinoma, ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, diverticular disease, colonic obstruction, bowel ischaemia, anorectal incontinence, trauma and radiation damage.

  • Surgical therapy for inflammatory bowel disease

    VOL: 97, ISSUE: 10, PAGE NO: 34Judy Sercombe, RN, is inflammatory bowel disease specialist nurse, centre of gastroenterology, Royal Free Hospital, LondonCrohn's disease and ulcerative colitis are chronic, relapsing inflammatory bowel disorders that affect the gastrointestinal tract. Their symptoms are similar and may include the passing of uncontrollable bloody diarrhoea, abdominal pain, fever, anaemia, and loss of appetite and weight.

  • The nurse's role in screening for diabetic retinopathy

    Diabetic retinopathy is a common cause of blindness in people of working age in the western world. Early detection and treatment is essential to maintain visual acuity, so annual screening is recommended. But this needs to be carried out more frequently in the presence of abnormalities (British Diabetic Association, 1995; American Diabetes Association, 1988).

  • The use of management plans in patients' control of asthma

    VOL: 97, ISSUE: 12, PAGE NO: 8Teresa Burgoyne, RN, is respiratory nurse, Queen’s Medical Centre, NottinghamTeresa Burgoyne, RN, is respiratory nurse, Queen’s Medical Centre, Nottingham

  • Using a tympanic thermometer

    VOL: 97, ISSUE: 09, PAGE NO: 43PHILIP JEVON, RESEARCH NURSE, MANOR HOSPITAL, WALSALLMELISSA JEVON, SENIOR STAFF NURSE, COMPTON HOSPICE, WOLVERHAMPTON[PHILIP JEVON, RESEARCH NURSE, MANOR HOSPITAL, WALSALL

  • Using hyperbaric oxygen to treat a diabetic foot lesion

    VOL: 97, ISSUE: 09, PAGE NO: 8Mark Neal, PGDip, RN, is nurse manager, Diving Diseases Research Centre, Hyperbaric Medical Centre, PlymouthMark Neal, PGDip, RN, is nurse manager, Diving Diseases Research Centre, Hyperbaric Medical Centre, Plymouth

newsletterpromo

Job of the week

Harmoni

NHS 111 Clinical Advisors

Competitive

Jobs

Lead Physiotherapist - Paediatric Neuro Rehab

£39000 - £44431 per annum

Staff Nurse

Dependent upon experience

Day Care Surgical Sister, RGN

Up to £30k per annum plus competitive benefits package

Start your new career today

Search


Nursing Times CPD

Online learning for nurses

Update your skills and earn CPD hours with convenient online learning units from Nursing Times Learning
Archive

Nursing Times Archive

Search our archive of thousands of practice articles