Undertaking a successful consultation with a child requires a particular set of skills. Children presenting to general practice vary enormously in age, development, disability, personality and clinical presentation, making each consultation unique. For the majority of cases, a parent or carer will be present, requiring the consultation to broaden out and become a triadic exchange of views, versus the traditional patient and practitioner dyad. This paper discusses techniques to optimise effective communication in a triadic consultation, that allows the child to present their concerns/ perspectives about their illness.
General practice nurses (GPNs) and GPs alike report high levels of stress and burnout, with the relentless demand for 10-minute appointments and reviews leaving both clinicians and patients dissatisfied. We have worked this way for so long, it is hard to imagine an alternative. Yet, there is one — and it is causing a quiet revolution across the country.
What is fascinating since the launch of the Journal of General Practice Nursing in May 2015, is that we have become increasingly aware of the demands that delivering skin and wound care places on community- and practice-based nurses.
The team of Eczema Outreach Scotland (EOS) has been working with families dealing with the day-to-day struggle of childhood eczema for over five years. Magali Redding, a West Lothian mother of three and voluntary sector professional, set up the group when her daughter asked tearfully: ‘why am I the only scratchy girl in the world?’ In between their precious clinic appointments, the family had been feeling increasingly frustrated and isolated in their battle with the impact of eczema on life.
For the first time, the Queen’s Nursing Institute’s (QNI’s) annual conference was a two-day event, with a range of speakers on the twin themes of inspiring quality and success in nursing and on shaping the future of the nursing workforce. The speakers — from England, Wales and Northern Ireland — spoke about the various challenges facing the nursing workforce and some of the new initiatives that are being introduced to address them.
Technology is all around us and while it enables us to do things that were not possible in the past, I still talk to nurses around the country who have very different levels of professional engagement with it.
The UK has one of the highest death rates from asthma in Europe (Global Asthma Network, 2014). Every day three people die from asthma, two-thirds of these deaths are preventable (Asthma UK, n.d.). Why asthma still kills: The National Review of Asthma Deaths. Confidential Enquiry Report (NRAD) was published in 2014 by the Royal College of Physicians (RCP). It is the largest worldwide study looking into why people die from asthma and the first to adopt a UK-wide focus. The NRAD identified that only a fifth of people with asthma are receiving all the basic elements of asthma care which could help them manage their asthma effectively and reduce their risk of experiencing an asthma attack. It provided valuable insights and clear practical recommendations which, if implemented, could improve care and reduce the number of asthma deaths (RCP 2014).
Four million — or one in 16 — adults in the UK have diabetes (whether or not they are aware of it), and this figure is predicted to increase to an estimated five million by 2025 (Diabetes UK, 2015). The majority have type 2 diabetes and the focus of this article will be on the role of general practice nurses (GPNs) in managing type 2 diabetes, although an overview of pre-diabetes, type 1 diabetes, gestational and steroid-induced diabetes will be provided. The author will also discuss the best current dietary advice that GPNs can provide for patients so that they can manage their own diabetes, as well as looking at the support available for GPNs to facilitate self-care in their day-to-day practice.
