Practice Nurse articles from February 2006

Practice Nurse archives from February 2006

FAQs about bone health.(Frequently Asked Question(s))
February 24, 2006... Should every woman have a bone-density scan at the menopause? Osteoporosis is a condition in which bone is fragile. Fragile bones are symptomless; all the pain and other symptoms that are associated with osteoporosis occur if someone...

Ask the experts.(services of Royal College of Nursing )
February 24, 2006... Q Please could you advise me on the latest guidance on chaperoning policy in primary care? The RCN's guidance (July 2002) recommends that a patient's family member or friend can act as a chaperone, but would this hold up legally if an...

Domestic violence.
February 24, 2006... Domestic violence currently claims the lives of around two women a week and impacts on the lives of millions of women, and to a lesser extent men. Many of these abused people are likely to have passed through general practice and have been...

Education, education, education!
February 24, 2006... Many higher education institutes (HEIs) are reviewing their specialist practice qualification (SPQ) programmes. Although the NMC have stated that changes will not be mandatory until 2008, they appear keen for changes to be made sooner. The...

Improving patients' adherence to medical regimens.
February 24, 2006... Richard Griffith is a lecturer in health law at the Centre for Philosophy Law and Healthcare, School of Health Science, University of Wales, Swansea Medicines are a key therapeutic tool in primary care. Last year 686 million...

Part 28d: Management skills in the primary care team.
February 24, 2006... Nursing in general practice in the UK has seen many changes since its inception. At the start of the 20th century, GPs had very little to do with nurses, and district nurses were mistrusted because they worked for the local medical officer...

Prescribing for patients with renal impairment.
February 24, 2006... Dr Dita Engova MPharm, PhD is a senior lecturer in medicines management at London South Bank University The kidneys are one of two main organs of drug elimination from the body (the other being the liver) and they also have an important...

Principles of wound assessment and management.(care and treatment for wound)
February 24, 2006... Ruth Ropper is a tissue viability nurse for NHS Lothian, based at St John's Hospital, Livingston For most practice nurses, the assessment and management of wounds is only one aspect of caring for their patients. However, it is important...

The elderly traveller.
February 24, 2006... Iain McIntosh BS (Hons), MB, ChB, DGMRCP, DRCOG is a former hospital practitioner in geriatrics and is now a GP based in St Ninians Elderly people represent the second-largest group of people visiting long-haul overseas destinations....

Topical fungal infections.
February 24, 2006... Alan Nathan BPharm, BA, FRPharmS is a pharmacy consultant and freelance writer Topical fungal infections are mostly caused by dermatophytes, organisms that invade and proliferate on the outermost, horny layer (stratum corneum) of the...

Update on lipids.
February 24, 2006... Mike Mead MB BS, BSc, FRCGP is a GP in Leicester A large part of the workload in primary care is taking blood tests for lipids, interpreting them, advising and treating the patient accordingly and then following up to ensure the patient's...

book reviews.
February 24, 2006... Vital Asthma Sue Cross and Dave Burns Class Health [pounds sterling]17.99 Spiral-bound/Flexiback 95pp ISBN 1-85959- 107-8 This short, practical manual outlines the pathophysiology, diagnosis and assessment and pharmacological and...

news.(medical news)
February 24, 2006... Pneumococcal jab added to childhood immunisation ROUTINE pneumococcal vaccine is being introduced as part of a series of changes to the childhood immunisation programme. The improved schedule has been designed to also maximise...

Asthma action plans.
February 10, 2006... Dr Sarah Jarvis, MA, BM, BCh, DRCOG, FRCGP is a GP based in London. Many of us may think of asthma action plans as a new concept - and we would be forgiven for doing so. The term has been adopted routinely only with the publication of the...

Getting asthma patients to take their therapy.
February 10, 2006... Susan Mayor is a freelance medical writer Fewer than one in four adults with asthma in the UK complies with their asthma therapy - a much lower figure than in other countries - according to a survey reported at the recent British Thoracic...

Infection control in primary care.
February 10, 2006... Janis Smy is a freelance medical writer Infection control is high on the primary care agenda for 2006, with new legislation, guidelines and educational initiatives underway or on the near horizon. The good news for practice nurses is that...

Information systems in primary care.(computerised prescribing)
February 10, 2006... Simon de Lusignan is a GP and a senior lecturer in primary care informatics, and Judas Robinson is a postgraduate student at the department of community health sciences, St George's Hospital, University of London Primary care in the UK...

Making the team work.
February 10, 2006... I go through periods of overusing 'hip' words - at the moment it's 'teamwork'. Starting a new business poses problems but also brings opportunities such as recruiting a practice team. My GP partner and I knew that we had one chance to get...

Managing long-term health risks in diabetes.
February 10, 2006... Marilyn Gallichan MSc, RGn, MCGI Cert Ed is a diabetes specialist nurse at Bodmin health centre, Bodmin, Cornwall. People whose blood glucose is above the normal range for many years are susceptible to a number of serious long-term...

Part 28c: Leadership skills in the primary care team.(characterisitics)
February 10, 2006... Since the inception of the NHS in 1948, the development of nursing in primary care has been limited, and out of the mainstream of changes in health policy.1 The primary-care nursing workforce has traditionally been uncoordinated and...

Target practice in diabetes.
February 10, 2006... There's a lot of target practice going on in primary care at the moment. Much of it is aimed at lessening the impact of the nation's biggest killer - heart and circulatory disease. In December 2005 the Joint Societies published their...

Treating menopausal women.
February 10, 2006... Gilly Andrews is a menopause nurse specialist based at Lister Hospital in London The term 'menopause' refers specifically to the end of menstruation, occurring on average at 51 years of age. Some women view this stage of their lives with...