Covid-19 Resources

Covid-19 was a healthcare emergency that affected everyone in the UK to varying degrees. Even leaving out the tragic number of deaths and long-term effects of the infection itself, the restrictions and isolation measures led to huge changes, some of which have continued to echo throughout our lives. Many of us have yet to resume a full social life through anxiety or losing touch with friends, and businesses — particularly those in the hospitality sector — have yet to fully recover, and many workplaces have yet to welcome workers back.

Developing knowledge of Covid-19 has been a very long, steep learning curve. Real-time research and people data, alongside modelling, have helped us keep ahead — for the most part. Knowledge of long Covid is even more scant and, as such, much of the evidence base for management is anecdotal. Many studies are being undertaken to further the progress of diagnosis and management of long covid, and most of these are ongoing within the long Covid treatment clinics. However, what may work for one person may be ineffective for another, and so a great deal of management is around what works best for the patient at the time. Not pushing the boundaries of comfort is a common refrain and developing an awareness of what is possible, listening to the body and acting accordingly form
the basis of management in the majority of cases.

Here, Poppy Brooks, chair of the British Society for Heart Failure’s Nurse Forum, shares some insights from a joint webinar held by the British Society for Heart Failure and the British Association of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation (BACPR).
This webinar, held during National Cardiac Rehabilitation Awareness Week 2022, sought to showcase new thinking on cardiac rehabilitation for those with heart failure. The recording is available to watch at: www.bsh.org.uk/webinar-fit-for-the-future/.

Deconditioning is a term used to describe the physical decline a person might experience following a period of inactivity. It has long been recognised, but has previously been associated with prolonged periods of immobility or hospitalisation resulting from injury or illness. As we come out of the Covid-19 pandemic and the associated periods of lockdown and shielding the more vulnerable, there is evidence that some of the population are suffering the effects of deconditioning. It is apparent that this may be with or without coexisting medical conditions and needs to be considered as an additional or stand-alone diagnosis where symptoms exist, or where worsening of an underlying medical condition could be as a result of deconditioning. This article considers the causes and effects of deconditioning, its impact on physical and mental health, and how we can approach reconditioning programmes through health and society

The devastating impact that Long Covid can have on people’s lives is plain to see, with long waiting times and lack of support potentially making the experience of having Long Covid
even harder.

Making decisions can be tough. Anyone who’s ever been confronted with the choice between a chocolate Hob-nob and custard cream knows that weighing up the pros and cons can involve some pretty serious soulsearching. But, while most people face a host of trivial everyday decisions about the clothes they wear or the food they eat, nurses are in a unique position in that the choices they make about patient care can literally involve life or death. 

However, with the government’s recent announcement of compulsory vaccination for all frontline NHS staff, nurses are about to find out that one decision — whether or not to be vaccinated against Covid-19 — is about to be taken out of their hands. We explore what this means for general practice nurses (GPNs), and discuss the pros and cons of Covid-19 vaccination.

The influenza immunisation programme in the UK started in the 1960s and has since been extended to offer protection to those groups most vulnerable to the infection. The extension of the programme to children aims to directly protect them and reduce transmission of the virus to those around them. General practice nurses (GPNs) are among those most trusted in informing and reassuring parents about the benefits of immunisation. This article will primarily describe arrangements for the flu immunisation programme 2021–22 in England. The programme is, of course, delivered in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales and there may be subtle differences in programme delivery in the devolved nations. Nurses working in countries other than England should ensure that they are following relevant guidance specific to the area in which they practice (Scottish Government, 2021; Public Health Agency Northern Ireland, 2021, and Welsh Government, 2021).

In each issue of the Journal of General Practice Nursing, we investigate a topic currently affecting our readers.