Skills for Health and the National Skills Academy for Health have launched #OurHealthHeroes to mark the contributions of those who play a vital role in delivering patient care. The campaign celebrates the 798,600 people across the sector who work as healthcare assistants, assistant practitioners, porters, cleaners, caterers, maintenance staff and administrative staff. By encouraging people who have benefitted from support to share their stories and thanks, it is hoped that these staff will feel valued and appreciated as part of the healthcare system.
Anew survey has highlighted concern among multiple sclerosis (MS) specialists — including nurses — that some patients with MS are not engaging with specialist services. The research — Multiple Sclerosis Clinician Survey of 100 Specialist MS Nurses and Neurologists — found that 93% of healthcare professionals with expertise in MS believe that there are people with the condition who are missing out on access to new medicines, symptom control and holistic services, all of which can be offered by the MS team.
Community nursing is becoming more stressful and some nurses are at risk of burnout. Angela Hall, a former district nurse and Macmillan clinical nurse specialist, explores what can be done...
Every day, community nurses are faced with a multitude of illnesses and conditions, some of which will be easy recognisable while others will be harder to spot. In this respect, the complex make-up of the human body itself presents a challenge. One condition that may not be easily recognisable and which may rarely be encountered by community nurses is complex regional pain syndrome. Here, I hope to provide some guidance on this condition for nurses, and, in particular, help speed-up any diagnosis and subsequent rehabilitation.
Getting patients to access the care they need is not always easy. Jason Beckford-Ball spoke to Laura Westwick about one project in east London that is connecting cancer patients with local services...
Working in a so-called caring profession does not always protect us from difficult colleagues. Carol Singleton discusses her own experience of workplace bullying and what you can do about it...
The Colostomy Association has launched a new service to change the lives of thousands of people living with a stoma across the world. Stoma Aid is a new initiative that will collect unused ostomy supplies in the UK and redistribute them to patients living with a stoma in developing countries that cannot afford or access supplies.
An ageing population and increase in people living with long-term conditions have heightened the practical and financial pressures on health services. Preventative public health projects are now viewed as crucial to protecting health, reducing the financial and personal costs of illness, and consequently protecting health services.
Undoubtedly, the challenges faced by community nurses are on the rise due — but not limited to — several factors: the NHS being under severe financial scrutiny; the drive for a seven-day service; policies that mean more care is being delivered in the community setting; and rising patient numbers resulting in less time available to spend with each patient. Coupled with a reduction in recruitment which means that there still aren’t enough nurses in the profession, this is a potent mix of factors that has contributed to a creaking NHS.
The contribution that community nurses make in terms of patient care is immeasurable. Many patients would prefer to be treated at home if they could and there has long been a drive to move care out of hospitals and into the community.
