Resources

In each issue of the Journal of General Practice Nursing, we investigate a topic currently affecting our readers. Here, Kate Upton, representative for Nursing Professions on the Crisis, Disaster and Trauma Psychology Section of the British Psychological Society, looks at - Recognising compassion fatigue and protecting wellbeing.

It seems that the focus for many is now on potential Covid-19 vaccines, with people understandably seeing a potential end in sight to the current pandemic. It is worth celebrating the pivotal role that general practice nurses (GPNs) already play in delivering vaccine programmes to people throughout their lives. The majority of vaccine programmes in the UK are delivered in primary care or wider community settings, and GPNs are crucial to the successful delivery of these. Although most of the vaccines in the routine schedule (Public Health England [PHE], 2020a) are recommended to infants and children to provide protection against infections as soon as possible, vaccines remain necessary for people at all stages of their lives. Indeed, for many vaccines, people are never too old to have them. Thus, it is essential for nurses in general practice to make sure adults at all ages are protected throughout their lives.

Here, Kirsty Armstrong, ANP in OOH, Urgent Care and GPEA looks at why telephone triage is an art, and how its importance and skill is underestimated. Alongside this word search, which contains some red flags that triagers need to consider, there are some reasons listed as to why these are red flags and the speed with which patients need to be referred, or seen face to face, when presenting with these symptoms. Additionally, there is guidance on those symptoms and conditions that have the option of watch/wait or monitor.

The recent Covid-19 pandemic has reinforced the need for health care to be delivered in a different way to enable the NHS to be fit for purpose and continue to provide high levels of health care at an affordable cost. One way of doing this is to utilise the benefits of shared care, a concept that is not new, but has not yet been fully embraced. This encourages sharing the responsibility of delivering care in a variety of ways. Wound care is one area that provides general practice nurses (GPNs) with a significant opportunity for patients to be involved in their own care. This can even include wounds producing a high volume of wound exudate, if an appropriate dressing is selected which gives the patient confidence that it will work, despite the unpredictable nature of chronic wounds. Patients need a package of information to reinforce the verbal education given to ensure that they know how to carry out their care, and what to do in the event of a problem or change in wound status. Virtual clinics, which have been especially useful during the recent pandemic, are also an option to replace some face-to-face contact.