Duty of candour and community nursing

Nurses have been subject to a professional duty of candour under all recent versions of their code (NMC, 2018b), and the wording in the current code is as follows:.

The power of placebo

Interestingly, a UK study conducted in 2013 found that 97% of 783 surveyed GPs have prescribed a placebo to patients at some point in their careers, and that prescription of placebos, such as sugar...

Are you IT savvy?

“It is likely that many district nursing clients do not have high digital literacy levels.” .

Carer support: time for a rethink?

Non-invasive positive pressure ventilation in the home setting

NPPV has multiple functions to support breathing (Table 1). The ventilator provides positive pressure at two different levels that work in time with breathing: the inspiratory positive air pressure...

Assessment and management of eczema in adults in the community setting

Eczema can be classified as endogenous, exogenous or having no known cause (Ashton et al, 2005). Endogenous eczema develops as a result of internal factors that compromise the skin's integrity, for...

Alternative to antibiotics for managing asymptomatic and non-symptomatic bacteriuria in older persons: a review

Around 10–20% of women experience a symptomatic UTI in their lifetime (Foxman, 2002; 2014). However, a comprehensive literature review of seven different medical databases found this value to be even...

Establishing a structured plan to provide high-quality end-of-life care in community settings

The initial blueprint for the care plan was constructed in collaboration with the professional development lead and IT analyst from the East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foudation Trust (Table 1). The...

Alcohol use by people in their seventies is not an exception: a preliminary prospective study

In the decade spanning 2005 to 2015, the number of older adults consuming alcohol, or those with AUD, has increased tenfold in women and fourfold in men, and the alcohol-related burden of disease is...

Causes of and factors that exacerbate faecal incontinence in older people

When older people present with faecal incontinence, their condition is generally managed passively, with the use of pads, rather than a full assessment being completed (Harari, 2009). This may be due...

Dignity in death: implementing the NHS Long Term Plan

Employment cases of note (February 2019)

Since 2013, whistleblower protection has only been available to workers who reasonably believe that their disclosure is in the public interest. Can allegations by a worker that they have been defamed...

Smoking cessation in 2019

Encouragingly, smokers in Great Britain are on the decline, as an increasing number of people are attempting and succeeding at quitting (Office for National Statistics, 2018). Nonetheless, the overall...

Improving service delivery

‘It is not simply the innovation and its implementation but also the context and interaction between these elements which influence success.’ .

Reflections on cold weather and older age