Practice Nurse articles from January 2004

Practice Nurse archives from January 2004

A country practice or a city surgery?(Brief Article)
January 30, 2004... THE COUNTRY: Sara Moloney, practice nurse based in Balham Park Surgery, spent three days at Fownhope Medical Centre, a rural Herefordshire practice with 4,300 patients The first differences were apparent from the moment we drove into the...

A weighty issue.
January 30, 2004... Everything is bigger in the States, including the natives. I love America - it is the only place on earth where my 9 stone frame is criticised as verging on waifdom. My adopted American family range from chubby to obese, but instead of...

An audit of asthma care.
January 30, 2004... Chronic disease management within primary care is now commonplace. Much of the responsibility for organising, delivering and auditing the care is delegated to practice nurses and the requirements of the new GMS contract will formalise the way...

Call for mental health training.(Brief Article)
January 30, 2004... Practice nurses who administer depot neuroleptics should be properly trained and supported, says a new guide for primary care staff on caring for people with severe mental health problems. The guide, published by the Sainsbury Centre for...

Is fasting necessary for cholesterol tests?(Brief Article)
January 30, 2004... Dear Editor, I read your article on 'Management of Dyslipidaemia in Type 2 Diabetes' with interest. (Practice Nurse, 19 December 2003, pp 37-41). However I found the first paragraph on page 40 somewhat confusing. First, having said total...

Pitfalls could stall GMS contract opportunities.(Brief Article)
January 30, 2004... Practice nurses are being warned to watch out for five potential pitfalls that could lead to them missing out on opportunities offered by the new GMS contract. Nicola Walsh, Department of Health nurse advisor for primary care contracting,...

Practices not ready to meet NSF diabetes standards.(Brief Article)
January 30, 2004... Many general practices are not geared up to meet the standards required by the National Service Framework for diabetes says a new survey. Researchers at the Diabetes Centre at Bolton Hospital sent a questionnaire to 52 practices asking...

Psst - spread the word - gossiping is good for you.(Brief Article)
January 30, 2004... Gossiping with colleagues is good for you and employers should encourage it, according to a new study. Kathryn Waddington of the School of Nursing at City University, London interviewed nearly 100 nurses and found that gossiping helps them...

Two simple rules should improve LRTI treatment.(Brief Article)
January 30, 2004... Researchers have identified two simple rules that could help practice nurses to decide how best to treat respiratory infections and cut unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions. One test differentiates lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs)...

Diary dates.(Brief Article)
January 30, 2004... Conferences Patient Safety 2004 A 2-day conference organised by the National Patient Safety Agency. Topics covered will include leadership and learning, improving systems for safety and creating an open and fair culture. Date: 24-25 February...

In brief.
January 30, 2004... Bowel cancer Services for diagnosing gut disorders, which are already overstretched, would sink beneath the increased demands posed by a national bowel cancer screening programme, suggests a study in the journal Gut. Of 9,223 colonoscopies...

In brief.(Brief Article)
January 30, 2004... Chlamydia screening The chlamydia screening programme has been rolled out to cover 16 new areas of England and 50 Primary Care Trusts. The first phase of the programme, announced in 2002, covered ten areas and a third phase is already being...

Infection control; Keith Hampton MA, BSc (Hons), RGN is a nurse consultant in infection control at Havering Primary Care Trust.
January 30, 2004... Standard precautions of infection control are wide-ranging principles which aim to reduce the risk of disease transmission in healthcare settings, even when the source of infection is not known or obvious. It is essential for anyone new to...

Skill mix; getting it right.
January 30, 2004... With the GMS contract set to change the way staff budgets work, practice nurses need to get involved in decisions about skill mix within their teams. Francesca Robinson is a freelance medical writer. Improving the quality of services...

What's new.(Brief Article)
January 30, 2004... Do-it-yourself Valentine cards The British Heart Foundation is urging everyone to be creative this Valentine's day with their card kit. You'll find confetti hearts, a rosebud and a feather or - if you prefer something slightly more...

Charity fights for access ; to osteoporosis drugs.(Brief Article)
January 16, 2004... The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) is proposing to set tough new criteria for prescribing bisphosphonates and the new teriparatide drugs for osteoporosis. The plans, outlined in a consultation document, could leave women...

Cheshire practice nurses set to pilot AfC pay structure.
January 16, 2004... PRACTICE nurses in Cheshire will be the first in the UK to earn Agenda for Change (AfC) pay rates if their primary care trust can secure funds for a pilot scheme. Central Cheshire PCT, which is one of 12 English 'early implementer' sites, has...

Chickenpox jabs for practice nurses.(Brief Article)
January 16, 2004... PRACTICE nurses are to be immunised against chickenpox following a recommendation by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation. It states that all non-immune healthcare workers, who have direct patient contact, should be vaccinated....

Nurses have higher hygiene standards than GPs.(Brief Article)
January 16, 2004... Practice nurses are more conscientious hand washers than doctors, an audit of soap usage in a GP surgery has revealed. Identical soap dispensers were installed next to the sinks in the consulting room of the practice's three doctors and two...

Odious odours.
January 16, 2004... You have some awful jobs, love," sympathised Mrs Deaf, as I extracted a tonne of debris from her blocked ears. She is right, although impacted cerumen is the least of my worries. We hear plenty about physical and verbal abuse, zero tolerance...

Studies support wider use of pneumococcal vaccine.(Brief Article)
January 16, 2004... Vaccinating children against pneumococcal disease could provide greater benefit than previously thought. A recent study suggests that there has been significant under-reporting of paediatric pneumococcal disease. According to David McIntosh,...

a guide to the.
January 16, 2004... The role of practice nurses is to be significantly increased as the biggest change to the NHS since 1966 comes into effect. Simon Gregory looks at the opportunities and the possible shortfalls created by the contract. Dr Simon Gregory...

in brief.(Brief Article)
January 16, 2004... New patient guide A new booklet to help patients deal with common ailments such as hangovers, stress, coughs and colds, at home and at work, has been published by the Consumer Health Information Centre (CHIC) and the organisation Developing...

researcH.(Brief Article)
January 16, 2004... Children with inflammatory bowel disease Arch Dis Child 2003; 88: 995-1000. Many children with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in the UK and Ireland are diagnosed only after prolonged delays, say researchers. A team from Bristol...

travel vaccinations; Carolyn Driver, MSc, RGN RM, RHV, FPCert is a travel health specialist and chair of the British Travel Health Association.
January 16, 2004... This article follows on from the New Practice Nurse article on travel vaccinations published on 9 May 2003 (pp 34-37). The earlier article should be referred to for information on the importance of risk assessment and use of information...

what's new; useful resouRces for your practice.(Brief Article)
January 16, 2004... new guide to hormonal health The Natural Menopause Advice Service (NMAS) have a new leaflet that charts hormonal health milestones for women. * Copies of The Seven Ages of Eve are available from the NMAS by calling 0800 169 2163. ...