Welcome to GPN’s learning zone. By reading the article in each issue, you can learn all about the key principles of subjects that are vital to your role as a general practice nurse. Once you have read the article, evaluate your knowledge on this topic by answering the 10 questions in the e-learning unit; all answers can be found in the article. If you answer the questions correctly, you can download your certificate which can be used in your continuing professional development (CPD) portfolio as evidence of your continued learning and contribute to your revalidation portfolio.
This article helps to explain how C-reactive protein point-of-care works, and why using this diagnostic kit can help to reduce antibiotic prescribing.
Education and training updates!
Welcome to this spring edition of the Journal of General Practice Nursing.
We are delighted to share the latest news in the world of Education for Health with you and hope to see you learning with us soon!
We have some great opportunities for you to get involved with us — our new general practice nursing courses are already attracting a lot of interest and it’s not too late to get involved.
As always, we hope that you enjoy this issue and our news update.
In each issue of the Journal of General Practice Nursing we investigate a topic currently affecting our readers. Here, Binkie Mais asks...
How can we stop Britain from being ‘the fat man of Europe’?
Despite numerous public health campaigns encouraging us to drink and smoke less, eat more healthily and take-up some form of exercise, the UK population is still facing an obesity epidemic. Indeed, one in four British adults are said to be obese, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation and, if current trends are not reversed, more than half the population could be obese by 2050.
Whichever newspaper you read or news channel you tune into, there’s a fair chance that it will at some time have featured a forthright word or two from the respected National Obesity Forum [NOF] on the government’s inaction over obesity. Forum members, like you, witness the ravages of excess weight daily in their surgeries and clinics with a growing sense of frustration. But, how does the NOF get its position covered?
The Journal of General Practice Nursing asked Tam Fry, for 12 years the Forum’s spokesman, to explain.
Summer months — a blessing or a curse for people with eczema?
Eczema is a dry, itchy sometimes inflamed skin condition. People who have atopic eczema often find that their condition flares and remits with frustrating randomness. Many individuals (or parents of children with eczema) will spend a lot of energy trying to work out what makes their skin better and/or worse. Because there are multiple factors involved in the way eczema develops, it is often impossible to categorically determine what causes flare ups...
General practice nurses play a key role in identifying MS patients and connecting them with specialist services.
A new survey has highlighted concern among multiple sclerosis (MS) specialists, including nurses, that some patients with MS are not engaging with specialist services. The research — Multiple Sclerosis Clinician Survey of 100 Specialist MS Nurses and Neurologists — found that 93% of healthcare professionals with expertise in MS believe that there are people with the condition who are missing out on access to new medicines, symptom control and holistic services, all of which can be offered by the MS team.
An improved profile for GPNs with appropriate redistribution of resources to support them moving forward.
The NHS is now three years into the most radical set of reforms since it was established in 1948. We have seen changes to commissioning and provision, and following the publication of the Five Year Forward View (NHS England, 2014) will continue to see changes to service delivery at every level.
This feature asks experts in their particular field to take a look at a therapy area and examine some of the challenges that general practice nurses (GPNs) may face. In this issue, we look at how...
Innovative compression therapy systems can improve practice
The problem:
Treating leg ulcers makes up a large part of a nurse’s caseload. While compression therapy with graduated multilayer bandaging has been widely accepted as recommended treatment, patients can find it bulky and uncomfortable and clinicians need to be trained and competent in its application. Thus, it is important that clinicians keep up to date with new methods of compression that can promote concordance, improve healing rates and achieve cost savings — all vital elements in leg ulcer management. Juxtacures™ (medi UK), an adjustable compression system, is one such innovation that helps to alleviate some of the challenges associated with multilayer bandaging.
*This piece was sponsored by an educational grant from medi UK
Recently it has become clear that hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is a safe option for many women. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published a guideline in November 2015 which provides guidance as to when HRT can be used and what risks and benefits are associated with its use. HRT is the best treatment available for management of menopausal vasomotor symptoms. If started before the woman turns 60 and within ten years of the menopause, HRT has a good safety profile. The main risks associated with HRT use are venous thromboembolism (VTE), stroke and breast cancer. VTE and stroke risks are increased when oral HRT is used. The increased risk of breast cancer is linked to combined HRT use. HRT is bone protective and can prevent osteoporosis. It is recommended that HRT is used for the shortest time possible, and if used for five years or less serious side-effects are unlikely to occur.
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