Overview of stoma care in the community

There are specific clinical standards that have been developed and reviewed by a group of experienced specialist stoma care nurses, in conjunction with the Royal College of Nursing (Securicare, 2019)....

Advance planning in district nursing practice

As in all other aspects of clinical treatment and care, the genuine consent of the patient is essential, both now and in the future. The reliable prediction of consent at some future time may be...

Winter preparedness: a national framework for the delegation of insulin administration

As we approach the winter months, health and social care continues to experience significant demand. There is a need to effectively plan how we use the skills and knowledge of our workforce, to manage...

Hearing the client voice

In the UK, ‘…there is no direct monetary relationship between the patient and the service provider, with all care being free at the point of delivery…As a consequence, satisfaction surveys of UK...

Emotional awareness and emotional intelligence

I would like to start this editorial with a polemic discussion about ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ skills, which some literature name as technical and non-technical skills, respectively. We know that the ‘hard’...

Minimising a ‘twindemic’

‘Alongside concerns about an autumn spike of COVID-19 infections, is the possibility of a major influenza epidemic arising from the lack of circulating influenza virus over the last 2 years due to...

Medication savings for the NHS and for patients

Over the years, cheaper versions of the same drugs have been acquired by NHS England. An example of this is the drug adalimumab (NHS England, 2022), which is used to treat over 45 000 patients with...

Infection control in the community: recap on policy and procedure

Use a wrap instead: using compression wraps in lymphoedema and venous disease

The lymphatics are a complex system that drain fluid out of the body's tissues and back into the circulatory system. Initial lymphatics are made up of a single layer of endothelial cells—the cells...

Treating head lice: a case study

Head lice (Pediculus humanus capitis) are tiny parasitic insects that infest the hairs of the human head and feed on blood from the scalp. Female head lice lay eggs near the scalp. These eggs are...

Managing fire risk in housebound people who smoke and require air-alternating pressure-relieving equipment

Elderly persons with decreased mobility and dementia are at risk of death in a residential fire (Runyan et al, 1992). Fatal dwelling-house fires account for 10% of all accidental deaths in the UK and...

Charting new territory: medication administration records and transcribing in district nursing services

In Wales, district nursing teams have highlighted concerns about accessing MAR charts in a timely way and are actively seeking solutions, which includes transcribing of medicines. Transcribing is...