Managing medication at the end of life: supporting family carers

Healthcare professionals often underestimate the complexities and difficulties experienced in managing medication in the home and the considerable, associated hidden work carried out by family members...

Community nurse lecturers’ experiences of pre-registration nurse education: a phenomenological study

Building upon the author’s personal reflections about teaching community nursing to pre-registration students (Reynolds, 2022), a phenomenological study explored the experiences of other community...

Overview of stoma care in the community

There are specific clinical standards that have been developed and reviewed by a group of experienced specialist stoma care nurses, in conjunction with the Royal College of Nursing (Securicare, 2019)....

Advance planning in district nursing practice

As in all other aspects of clinical treatment and care, the genuine consent of the patient is essential, both now and in the future. The reliable prediction of consent at some future time may be...

Infection control in the community: recap on policy and procedure

Use a wrap instead: using compression wraps in lymphoedema and venous disease

The lymphatics are a complex system that drain fluid out of the body's tissues and back into the circulatory system. Initial lymphatics are made up of a single layer of endothelial cells—the cells...

Treating head lice: a case study

Head lice (Pediculus humanus capitis) are tiny parasitic insects that infest the hairs of the human head and feed on blood from the scalp. Female head lice lay eggs near the scalp. These eggs are...

Managing fire risk in housebound people who smoke and require air-alternating pressure-relieving equipment

Elderly persons with decreased mobility and dementia are at risk of death in a residential fire (Runyan et al, 1992). Fatal dwelling-house fires account for 10% of all accidental deaths in the UK and...

Charting new territory: medication administration records and transcribing in district nursing services

In Wales, district nursing teams have highlighted concerns about accessing MAR charts in a timely way and are actively seeking solutions, which includes transcribing of medicines. Transcribing is...

Faecal incontinence management in dementia patients

Faecal incontinence involves the involuntary and frequent loss of stool, making it a distressing condition that has a significantly negative effect on the quality of life of the person affected (Ahmad...

Uncertainty in multimorbidity: a shared experience we should recognise, acknowledge and communicate

The prevalence of illness increases as people get older, such that over 50% of those over 65 years have multiple chronic conditions or ‘multimorbidity’ (Barnett et al, 2012). Multimorbidity impacts on...

A district nurse's reflection on pre-registration nursing education: a troubling position

When new to the lecturing role, the author was perturbed by feelings of imposter syndrome at the thought of teaching hospital-based care. Referring back to their initial training, they felt unsure as...