Practice Nurse articles from December 2007

Practice Nurse archives from December 2007

Is there a nurse lead or facilitator in your area?(Editorial)
December 14, 2007... It seems that many PCTs do not have a practice nurse lead or facilitator, and Sue Cross, national project manager for general practice nursing at the Working in Partnership Programme (WiPP), has asked me to find out exactly what the situation...

Parliamentary group calls for focus on lower Hb[A.sub.1c] levels.(Diabetes)
December 14, 2007... Tough new quality and outcomes framework (QOF) diabetes targets to encourage more aggressive lowering of Hb[A.sub.1c] levels are being called for by an influential group of MPs and clinicians. A report by the All Party Parliamentary Group...

HPA warns of HIV and STI epidemic in gay men.(Sexual health)
December 14, 2007... An estimated 73,000 adults in the UK are now living with HIV, according to the Health Protection Agency's latest report on the UK's sexual health. This figure includes both those who have been diagnosed and also about one-third (21,600)...

Government's 'disappointing' response to allergy report.(Allergy)
December 14, 2007... Asthma and allergy charities have expressed disappointment at the Government's response to the recent House of Lords Science and Technology Committee report on allergy. The DoH says it does not see the need to act on the report's...

Corticosteroids for asthma in children guidance.(Asthma)
December 14, 2007... New guidance on the use of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) for the treatment of chronic asthma in children under 12 years old has been published by NICE. NICE recommends that children who need an ICS should be prescribed the least costly...

Call for improvements to GP sexual health services.(Sexual health)
December 14, 2007... A Government advisory group has highlighted the need to improve the sexual health and contraceptive services offered by general practice and to provide better training for practice nurses. The report, by the Independent Advisory Group on...

New pandemic flu plan from DoH.
December 14, 2007... The DoH plans to buy 350 million surgical masks and 34 million respirators for use by practice nurses and other frontline healthcare staff as part of its new pandemic flu plan. Other pandemic flu countermeasures include plans to double the...

Sexual health advice for all.
December 14, 2007... People of all ages need help and advice with their sexual health, an audit of the helpline run by the family planning charity fpa has revealed. More than one-quarter of callers to the helpline (27%) were over 35 years old and almost 10% were...

Prize draw winners.
December 14, 2007... Hundreds of you kindly took the time to respond to our reader survey recently--thank you! As promised, we drew the names of five respondents from the hat to each win 50 [pounds sterling] of John Lewis gift vouchers. The winners are: Sarah...

NICE guidance on ezetimibe for primary hypercholesterolaemia.(Cholesterol)
December 14, 2007... Patients who are unable to achieve their target cholesterol levels using a statin alone can now be prescribed ezetimibe, NICE has ruled. NICE has recommended that ezetimibe can be taken on its own by people with primary...

Self-care initiative: encouraging patients to take greater responsibility for their own health has been a pillar of Government policy since the launch of the NHS Plan in 2000.(news analysis)
December 14, 2007... Practice nurses are well aware that the need to promote self-care is particularly important in general practice, where a significant proportion of their workload involves patients with self-limiting minor illnesses or long-term conditions....

Cardiovascular risk management category winner Anita Plummer: practice nurse, Marske Medical Practice, Marske, Cleveland.(sharing good practice)
December 14, 2007... Anita won the Sharing Good Practice cardiovascular risk management award for her work in developing a nurse-led weight management programme for patients with chronic disease. The judges praised the way in which she researched the programme...

A self-care guide to winter ills: the colder winter months are when we are more likely to catch colds and flu, and when cold sores, chilblains, dry skin and winter blues make us long for the brighter days of summer. This practical guide to common winter ailments will help you care for yourself and your family.(Cover story)
December 14, 2007... COLDS AND FLU Colds and flu are infections caused by infection with viruses and bacteria. There is no cure for viral infections, and only bacteria are killed by antibiotics. Some bacteria are becoming resistant to these drugs, so it is...

Chasing Daylight: How My Forthcoming Death Transformed My Life.
December 14, 2007... CHASING DAYLIGHT: HOW MY FORTHCOMING DEATH TRANSFORMED MY LIFE Eugene O'Kelly McGraw-Hill, 2007 179 pages; 8.99 [pounds sterling] ISBN 978-0071499934 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The 53-year-old CEO of US firm KPMG was...

How to Approach Death.
December 14, 2007... HOW TO APPROACH DEATH Julia Tugendhat London Sheldon Press, 2007 95 pages; 7.99 [pounds sterling] ISBN 978-0859699907 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Our own death is frightening to contemplate and many of us are in...

Food Allergies--Enjoying Life With a Severe Food Allergy (2nd Edn).
December 14, 2007... FOOD ALLERGIES--ENJOYING LIFE WITH A SEVERE FOOD ALLERGY (2ND EDN) Tanya Wright Class Publishing, 2007 212 pages; 20.99 [pounds sterling] ISBN 978-1859591468 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] 'Enjoy your life and your food'...

Mental Health.
December 14, 2007... MENTAL HEALTH Tony Kendrick, Jon Birtwhistle Oxford General Practice Library, 2006 20 pages; 5.99 [pounds sterling] ISBN 978-0198570578 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] This excellent pocket book condenses and enlivens...

RCGP Guide to the Management of Substance Abuse in Primary Care.
December 14, 2007... RCGP GUIDE TO THE MANAGEMENT OF SUBSTANCE ABUSE IN PRIMARY CARE Clare Gerada RCGP, 2005 408 pages; 24.95 [pounds sterling] ISBN 0850842972 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A patient who is addicted to injectable drugs...

Advances in treating type 2 diabetes: an introduction to the incretins, a new group of oral glucose-lowering agents.(prescribing nurse)
December 14, 2007... The main therapies used to lower blood glucose, metformin and the sulphonylureas, have been around for a long time. The other option, the glitazones, were launched about 8 years ago. However, in the past 6 months two new glucose-lowering...

Handwashing makes a difference.
December 14, 2007... Why? Good hand decontamination is one of the most effective measures for preventing the spread of infection. Hands move micro-organisms from one place to another. By decontaminating our hands, we remove transient micro-organisms acquired...

Infection control in primary care: part 1: this article outlines standard infection control procedures and how these can be applied in primary care.(new practice nurse)
December 14, 2007... New Practice Nurse articles are particularly for nurses new to general practice, to help them get to grips with their job, but are updates for any reader on important basics in general practice nursing A major risk to patients using the...

Eye complications in systemic disease: the last in a series of four articles on identifying and managing eye conditions encountered in primary care will consider how some systemic conditions affect the eyes.(eye care)
December 14, 2007... There is no doubt that the eyes can give us information about a patient's health. Many systemic conditions affect the structure of the eye, and through the clear window of the cornea we can observe these changes directly. The back of the...

Chickenpox and shingles explained: this article answers some of the questions that are commonly asked about chickenpox and shingles.(infectious disease)
December 14, 2007... Parents who present in surgery with a spotty child may know that chickenpox is doing its annual rounds, but wish to have the infection confirmed by a professional and documented in the child's record. The nurse may also be asked about...

Diabetes and polycystic ovary syndrome: this article highlights PCOS as a risk factor for diabetes, an often-neglected aspect of the syndrome, and reviews management options.(women's health)
December 14, 2007... Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a complex endocrine disorder, affects 6-10% of women of reproductive age. (1) Its prevalence increases with a rise in bodyweight; a prevalence of 28.3% was reported in overweight and obese women compared with...

Christmas cheer.(reflections of a practice nurse)
December 14, 2007... Another Christmas is almost upon us--where has this year gone? It seems like only 2 minutes since we were last dusting off ancient baubles to hang on the tree in reception, and choosing our outfits for the staff 'do'. Every year I vow to be a...

Red meat in the diet: a balanced approach.(Introduction)
December 14, 2007... Red meat is one of the most popular and well loved foods in the UK--with 96% of all households saying they eat it. (1) Red meat helped us evolve into the human beings we are today, providing the brain with vital nutrients to help it develop....

Healthy reasons to eat red meat.(Nutritional content of meat)
December 14, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Red meat contains a wide range of important vitamins and minerals that are essential for good health throughout life. A good source of iron Red meat is one of the best ways to boost our iron intake, with...

How much meat should we eat?(RED MEAT)
December 14, 2007... The importance of meat in the diet is reflected in healthy eating advice around the world, as well as in national food guides, which support the view that red meat can be eaten in moderation as part of a healthy, balanced diet. In the UK, the...

Red meat: facts not fiction.
December 14, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A comprehensive review by the British Nutrition Foundation of all the available scientific evidence on red meat and health found no evidence to suggest any adverse effects from including a moderate amount of lean...