Welcome to JCN’s learning zone. By reading the article in each issue, you can learn all about the key principles of subjects that are vital to your role as a community nurse. Once you have read the article, visit the learning zone to evaluate your knowledge on this topic by answering the 10 questions in the e-learning unit; all answers can be found in the article. If you answer the questions correctly, you can download your certificate, which can be used in your continuing professional development (CPD) portfolio as evidence of your continued learning.
Michelle Falconer, screening and immunisation coordinator, Commissioning Directorate, NHS England.
Vaccines save lives — but the cost procured by the Government is over £300 million a year. Last calendar year, vaccines wasted through incidents in primary care had a value at list price of £3.7 million. This figure represents vaccines that were disposed as a result of both avoidable and nonavoidable incidents, including failureto store them properly. This does not include any flu vaccine wastage (other than vaccines from the children’s programme), or any other centrally procured vaccine which Public Health England (PHE) supply and do not collect data on (e.g. rabies vaccine) (personal communication with Chris Lucas, vaccine supply team, PHE).
Before any members of the general public jet-off for an exotic holiday this summer, there is one person they will have to see first — and it’s not their travel agent. The majority of UK travel health and immunisation advice is provided by practice nurses, and with the growth of foreign travel this is fast becoming an integral part of the service we deliver.
The use of compression hosiery is commonplace in the community. Traditionally, compression hosiery has been used to prevent leg ulceration, including prevention of the recurrence of leg ulcers and skin breakdown after ulcers have healed (Nelson and Bell-Syer, 2012).
