Perfecting your practice

THIS ARTICLE WILL TELL YOU ABOUT

• A general overview of the most common types of skin cancer
• Statistics on the frequency of skin cancer and the types of people who acquire each kind
• Identifying skin cancer type through a series of pictures

YOU WOULD BE LIKELY TO REFERENCE THIS ARTICLE IF YOU WERE RESEARCHING:

• Skin cancer
• Basal cell carcinoma
• Squamous cell carcinoma
• Malignant melanoma

IN WHAT SITUATIONS WILL THIS ARTICLE BE USEFUL FOR ME?

This article addresses one of the most common types of cancer. Knowing how to identify types of skin cancer will aid prevention.

QUESTIONS FOR YOUR MENTOR/TUTOR

• What is the best action to take if I notice a worrying lesion on a patient?
• What is the best prevention advice against skin cancer?
• How do I decide which patients Ishould discuss prevention with?

STUDENT NT DECODER

• Malignant: cancerous; a tendency to invade healthy tissue or to recur after removal
• Benign: not harmful, not malignant
• Skin lesions: any benign or malignant growth on the skin. Benign growths include moles and freckles; malignant growth include skin cancers
• Ulcerated: developed into or become affected by an open sore on an external or internal surface of the body
• Pigmentation: coloration of tissues by pigment
• Cystic: forming membranous sac or cavity of abnormal character containing fluid
• Nodular: having a small swelling or aggregation of cells in the body, especially an abnormal one

OTHER ARTICLES YOU MIGHT FIND USEFUL

• Recognising the signs of skin cancer
• The role of sunscreen preparations in preventing skin cancer
• Preventing skin cancer through sun protection advice
• Malignant melanoma

THIS ARTICLE WILL TELL YOU ABOUT

• How patients learn to cope with their symptoms of COPD
• How self-accommodation of symptoms challenges health professionals
• Tools for assessing a patient’s COPD
• Impact of smoking cessation

YOU WOULD BE LIKELY TO REFERENCE THIS ARTICLE IF YOU WERE RESEARCHING:

• COPD
• Long-term conditions
• Pulmonary rehabilitation

IN WHAT SITUATIONS WILL THIS ARTICLE BE USEFUL FOR ME?

This article will be useful to become aware of the sensitivities that accompany COPD, to understand how patients accommodate to their symptoms. And you will learn about tools to measure breathlessness and the interventions that can support patients with this condition.

QUESTIONS FOR YOUR MENTOR/TUTOR

• How can I encourage patients with COPD to take up care that is offered?
• What are the most important things I should know about working with patients with COPD?
• Where can I refer patients for smoking cessation support?

STUDENT NT DECODER

• Spirometry: measuring the amount of air going in and coming out of the lungs
• Sputum: a mixture of saliva and mucus coughed up from the respiratory tract
• Bronchodilator: drugs used to open up the small airways of the lungs to make breathing easier.
• Dyspnoea: difficulty breathing

OTHER ARTICLES YOU MIGHT FIND USEFUL

• Non-invasive ventilation in COPD 1: Managing exacerbations
• Procedure for the assessment of lung function with spirometry
• Nursing screening in patients with COPD
• Using COPD action plans to manage exacerbations
• Breathlessness in advanced disease 2: patient assessment and management

THIS ARTICLE WILL TELL YOU ABOUT

• The issue of communication between health professionals caring for patients with cancer from different cultures
• Limitations in using professional or family interpreters
• Summary of new NICE guidance

YOU WOULD BE LIKELY TO REFERENCE THIS ARTICLE IF YOU WERE RESEARCHING:

• Cancer care
• Cross-cultural patient care
• Communication
• NICE guidelines
• Black and minority ethnic groups

IN WHAT SITUATIONS WILL THIS ARTICLE BE USEFUL TO ME?

This article will help you become aware of the growing incidence of cancer in minority ethnic groups. Good communication is vital for practitioners to ensure supportive and palliative care.

QUESTIONS FOR YOUR MENTOR/TUTOR

• How often are cancer patients from differing cultures or ethnicities?
• What is our standard protocol to communicate with patients from black and ethnic minority groups to prevent miscommunication?
• What problems have arisen in your experience from miscommunication with those of differing cultures or ethnicities?
• How can our multicultural communication with patients be improved?

STUDENT NT DECODER

• Patient autonomy: a patient’s freedom and right to make decisions about their own care.
• Ethnicity: belonging to a social group that has a common national or cultural beliefs.

OTHER ARTICLES YOU MIGHT FIND USEFUL

• Improving quality of mental health care for BME clients
• Care homes told to improve services to BME patients
• How a link nurse ensured equal treatment for people of Asian origin with dementia
• Good communication helps to build a therapeutic relationship

THIS ARTICLE WILL TELL YOU ABOUT:

• Symptoms of hepatitis C infection
• Common ways of contracting hepatitis C, and ways to prevent it
• Why hepatitis C is a serious concern
• How to diagnose and treat patients with hepatitis C

YOU WOULD BE LIKELY TO REFERENCE THIS ARTICLE IF YOU WERE RESEARCHING:

• Hepatitis C infection
• Liver disease
• Injecting drug users

IN WHAT SITUATIONS WILL THIS ARTICLE BE USEFUL TO ME?

• This article will be useful to help you understand the health problem that hepatitis C infection presents, and treatment and management options. It highlights advice for those with the infection to prevent onward transmission to others and outlines the care that those undergoing treatment need.

QUESTIONS FOR YOUR MENTOR/TUTOR:

• Should I be suggesting that patients go for hepatitis C testing?
• What can we do to educate people on how to avoid contracting hepatitis C?
• Are there any disadvantages in being tested?

STUDENT NT DECODER

• Epidemiology: The study of cause, distribution, and control of diseases.
• Hepatology: Branch of medicine concerned with the liver and its diseases.
• Genotype: The arrangement of the genetic material within the virus which determines its characteristics and reactions to treatments. Hepatitis C has a number of different genotypes - some of which respond to treatment better than others

OTHER ARTICLES YOU MIGHT FIND USEFUL

• Hepatitis C has been accepted as not being a dirty word
• How to prevent infections among injecting drug users
• Hepatitis C: occupational exposure for healthcare workers