Resources

Here, Callum Metcalfe-O’Shea, advanced nurse practitioner diabetes specialist and co-chair for the Practice Nurse Diabetes Forum for Norfolk, looks at how general practice nurses (GPN) can discuss nutrition with patients newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes to ensure that they feel motivated and engaged in their healthcare journey. This article, the second part in our diabetes digest series, focuses on the initial consultation when patients are still coming to terms with their diagnosis. While individual diet plans are not discussed, a review of carbohydrates and their role in diabetes management, alongside medication considerations, are explored.

General practice nursing has adapted and evolved many times in the two decades I have been one. I have developed many new skills in this time and I now practice at a level way
beyond what I would have imagined when I started my nurse training in 1986. I probably wouldn’t have believed you then if you had told me I would be diagnosing, investigating,
prescribing, and referring in the same way my medical colleagues do 37 years later. We were not even able to take blood or give paracetamol in 1986. Times have changed and
continue to change.

Despite the medical advances of the past century, modern healthcare services often seem to treat our bodies as a series of unconnected parts, our ailments divided according to arbitrary physical labels. We may see a urologist for our weak bladder, a cardiologist for a malfunctioning heart, and a psychiatrist for any mental health issues. While it makes sense to apportion separate parts of the body to qualified specialists, these divisions can result in an inability among healthcare staff to see the ‘bigger picture’ — or to use modern healthcare terminology, to treat the patient ‘holistically’.

When our son Jack told my husband and I that he was gambling, we had no idea his life was at risk. As parents, we thought we knew all the dangers to warn our children about — drinking, drugs, smoking, road safety, sexual predators.

National charity, RNID, is concerned that many people are risking their hearing by trying to remove problematic ear wax themselves, as they are unable to access wax services
on the NHS. The charity is calling for fully funded ear wax removal services to be brought back into primary and community care settings, in line with National Institute for Health and
Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines, and for the NHS to clarify how people can safely manage ear wax build-up themselves at home.

Veterans and the armed forces community should be high on our agendas as healthcare professionals. In 2021, for the first time, Census data aimed to capture the true number of veterans living in the UK. Data revealed that 1,853,112 people in England and Wales reported that they had previously served in the UK armed forces; to put that into perspective, that is 3.8% of total residents aged 16 years and over, a significant proportion of the population. Despite this, research suggests that many GP surgeries do not know how many veteran patients they have, or indeed how to address their specific health needs, which may differ from those of the general population for various reasons (Simpson et al, 2015).

Last November I was proud and privileged to be joined by over a thousand nurses,  speakers and leaders across the country for the live launch of the new nursing version of our ShinyMind mental health and wellbeing app — available now, free of charge to all NHS nurses, midwives, nursing associates, and healthcare support workers in England. 

Bowel Cancer UK is the UK’s leading bowel cancer charity, determined to save lives and improve the quality of life of everyone affected by bowel cancer. Its vision is a future where nobody dies of the disease.

Bowel cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the UK and the second biggest cancer killer (Bowel Cancer UK, 2022a). Nearly 43,000 people are diagnosed with bowel
cancer every year in the UK (Bowel Cancer, 2022b).

This clinical skills series — Think menopause — looks at menopause-related issues to help general practice nurses (GPNs) identify, assess and manage women whose day-to-day lives may be detrimentally affected by this stage in their life. Here, Sue Thomas, advanced nurse practitioner (ANP) based in Leamington Spa, discusses the complications that can arise with genitourinary syndrome of the menopause (GSM).

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic long-term condition that occurs mostly in intertriginous areas of the skin. Unfortunately, HS is often not recognised and is poorly managed in clinical practice. Early detection and referral to an appropriate service such as dermatology is essential to reduce the long-term impact of the disease. Treatment is
multifactorial and includes management of associated comorbidities and lifestyle factors, such as obesity and smoking, medication, surgical intervention and managing depression and anxiety. This article explores the assessment and management options for general practice nurses (GPNs) to consider when presented with a patient with HS.