Highly exuding wounds can affect people of all ages, often causing distress, anxiety and social isolation. Managing these challenging wounds can also represent a significant cost to the NHS. This article looks at exudate and the difference between normal and excessive exudate and examines the causes of a high volume of exudate and its effect on the patient. Exudate assessment is an important part of holistic assessment, which is also explored in the article. Strategies GPNs can employ to manage exudate, including wound dressings and other devices, are then discussed.
General practice nurses (GPNs) play an important role in prevention and must make every contact count to educate patients and help them be healthier. Based on calculations by the Cancer Intelligence Team at Cancer Research UK, when it comes to weight, people who are obese now outnumber people who smoke two to one in the UK.
In this new regular feature, Jaqui Walker chats about the highs and lows of general practice nursing and invites you to share your thoughts, frustrations and experiences.
Production of wound exudate is a normal part of the wound healing process (Bajjada, 2017). This exudate can be viewed as ‘good’ , since it is essential for:
Malnutrition is common in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), particularly as the disease progresses. This article looks at the nutritional issues facing patients with COPD, including the effects of medication, social and psychological issues. It outlines the role that general practice nurses (GPNs) can play by implementing the newly updated ‘Managing Malnutrition in COPD’ guidance. The guidance encourages incorporation of nutritional screening into COPD care pathways and the optimisation of nutritional intake for those at medium and high risk of malnutrition via dietary advice and oral nutritional supplementation, where appropriate. It also provides practical tips for patients with COPD to help manage common barriers to eating, such as shortness of breath, dry mouth and taste changes.
The cost of treating wounds in the UK is comparable to obesity or cancer, and has a considerable impact on healthcare budgets. However, wound care receives surprisingly little attention, with education on this topic overlooked within the wider healthcare sector. Inadequate training can result in varying levels of care, impacting on patient outcomes, quality of life, and time and money spent on care. This article discusses the importance of accessible and flexible education. It looks at the National Wound Care Strategy Progamme, which aims, among other goals, to improve access to education for practitioners, patients and carers. The importance of continued professional development (CPD) and its impact on patient outcomes and quality of service is also addressed. It then goes on to look at the types of education available, and how we can keep up with the rapid developments in wound care science and available treatments.
Yellow fever is a disease that has existed for centuries and continues to have grave health implications in the countries where it is present, with a current, ongoing outbreak in Brazil. It is one of the few diseases that is still bound by the International Health Regulations (World Health Organization [WHO], 2005), and can require an international certificate of vaccination or prophylaxis for entry to certain countries. It remains a serious disease for those living or visiting areas of risk, so a clear understanding of the risks by healthcare professionals is vital. Mosquito bite prevention is key to minimising the risk of exposure, but there is also an effective vaccine. However, this vaccine does have rare but serious potential side-effects. Due to this risk, the vaccine is contraindicated in some travellers, and extreme caution needs to be taken with other groups. In the UK, the vaccine can only be administered in registered centres by staff who have been trained accordingly. All staff advising and administering this vaccine need to be highly trained and understand the nature of the disease, as well as the risk assessment process to ensure that patients receive optimum healthcare advice.
Healthcare settings, including primary care, have been identified as important for the promotion of physical activity (PA) for a number of reasons (Pringle et al, 2010; National Institute for Health and Care Excellence [NICE], 2013; Kime and Pringle, 2018; Kime et al, 2020). Primarily, they provide the opportunity for general practice nurse (GPN) involvement (Harris et al, 2017), which in turn offers a chance to assess a patient’s health profile, needs and motives (Dutton et al, 2016). Repeated contact with patients also facilitates continuity of care (Harris et al, 2017) and the opportunity to follow up patients, coupling PA information with treatment (Fong et al, 2018). Importantly, the nursing profession are respected sources of advice for lifestyle behaviours and are able to reach a large proportion of the population who may benefit from additional PA (McPhail and Schippers, 2012; Kime et al, 2020). This paper puts forward a range of strategies that GPNs can adopt when promoting being physically active.
