Bedbugs and consultants are bleeding us dry
Nursing Times - this week's issue
Practice, news and opinion from the current issue of Nursing Times print edition
Opinion
Adaptable leaders are crucial to the new NHS
The importance of good leadership is regularly emphasised in policy documents from all four UK countries and investigations of high profile failures regularly cite poor leadership as a contributory factor.
Nursing practice
Ongoing education would boost competency in drug calculations
Medication errors can have fatal results. Higher education institutes and trusts must continually develop students’ and nurses’ skills, say Maxine Pryce-Miller and Vernel Emanuel
Exploring the numeracy skills of nurses and students when performing drug calculations
Clinical effectiveness and patient safety are at risk if inaccurate drug doses are administered. This study revealed gaps in basic mathematical skills
The high impact actions for nursing and midwifery 8: ready to go – no delays
Patients who are waiting to go home can become frustrated by delays. Nurses should develop systems to ensure patients receive a smooth and timely discharge
The effectiveness of drug round tabards in reducing incidence of medication errors
Medication errors can be caused by interruptions during drug rounds. This study reports on the impact of drug round tabards on such interruptions
Developing a nurse led hospice outpatient clinic to improve palliative care services
The Gold Standards Framework recommends advanced care planning. The clinic gave nurses the ideal opportunity to optimise patient choice and reduce anxiety
Mark Radcliffe
Bedbugs and consultants are both bleeding us dry
We have bedbugs. Annoying, blood sucking, pointless little insects. They’re like bankers but less smug.
News
Dramatic decline in nursing posts fuels job fears
The number of nursing vacancies has fallen by nearly 40 per cent in the last year, according to data gathered by Nursing Times.
Private care home nurses linked with NHS
Nurses from private care homes will be able to ask senior NHS nurses for advice and help following the launch of a new website run by a Manchester primary care trust.
Nurses risk registration by breaching rules for Botox
Hundreds of nurses are risking their registration by bending prescribing rules to deliver facelifts on the cheap, Nursing Times has discovered.
Malnourished patients go unnoticed
Almost a third of nurses are not confident that a malnourished relative would be spotted if admitted to hospital, a survey by charity Age UK has found.
Nurses and healthcare assistants forced to retire
Eleven nurses and 21 healthcare assistants have been forced to retire by an East Midlands primary care trust despite the government’s plans to scrap the default age for retirement from October next year.
End of life care is compromised as ‘crucial’ services are denied funds
Primary care trusts spent just a quarter of the funds they were given to pay for end of life care on direct nursing provision to support patients dying at home.
RCN sets out framework for 'community nursing success'
The Royal College of Nursing has unveiled a 27 point policy statement on the future of community nursing services.
