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, visit:
www.journalofpracticenursing.co.uk/learning-zone/
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.
Welcome to the second issue of GPN. We have had quite a remarkable spring, from new funding opportunities for our programmes of study to recognition of our clinical educators — a great deal has happened in the world of Education for Health.
With summer around the corner we’re really excited to be introducing a new range of modules which focus on the importance of prevention, a small taster of which can be found in this update. In addition, you’ll find information about our popular range of ARTP accredited spirometry courses.
We hope that you are excited about our news and this gives you cause to join us in working towards our vision: Everyone living with a long term condition receives high quality care and is empowered to manage their condition.
Practice matters: In each issue of the Journal of General Practice Nursing we investigate a hot topic currently affecting our readers. Here, Binkie Mais looks at how GPNs are placed in new models of care and asks the question...Can the GPN workforce meet the challenge of increased demand?
Indications Debrisoft® is a rapid, highly effective, safe and easy method of debridement for acute andchronic wounds. Debrisoft® is also very effective in the removal of hyperkeratosis from the skin.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and social care services in England.
It registers, monitors and inspects providers of regulated activities, including GP practices. Registered providers are expected to meet the regulations set out in the Healthand Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 (http:// bit.ly/1FqzH78) and the Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009 (http://bit. ly/1GvIKre).
The number of people living with diabetes is going up and up and shows no sign of slowing down. There are now 3.9 million people living with the condition (Health and Social Care Information Centre [HSCIC], 2014) and, if nothing changes, this number is projected to rise to five million by 2025 (figures based on Association of Health Professions in Ophthalmology [AHPO] diabetes prevalence model — http://bit. ly/aphodiabetes). A growing number of people with diabetes are experiencing devastating complications, leading to premature deaths and unsustainable costs to the NHS.
Nurses in primary care have for many years drawn up insulin syringes in advance so that patients with diabetes who are unable to use an administration device, or who have some other impairment that prevents them doing this for themselves are able to take the pre- prepared insulin and self-administer. This has helped patients maintain their independence and has reduced the need for multiple visits from nursing teams that may not be convenient to the patient, as well as being time consuming for the team.
Currently in the UK there are almost seven million carers — that is one in ten people (Carer’s Trust, http://bit.ly/1QNAWZZ) — who perform a vital role in enabling people to lead independent lives in their own homes. To help nurses in primary care support these carers, the Queen’s Nursing Institute (QNI) has launched two new resources (online educational modules to help nurses support carers). These new resources are one of the main results of the QNI’s ‘Carers project’, which ran throughout 2014 with support from the Department of Health (DH).
Anne Moger gives her views on the current opportunities for general practice nurses.
Never has the spotlight on general practice nursing shone so brightly. Some may see this as an uncomfortable position to be in, and, in some ways, as part of the nursing family that sits outside the wider NHS family employed by independent contractors, it is. However, there is always a flip side, and the spotlight, if focused appropriately, will also be a guiding light, helping the profession to move forwards in line with the Five Year Forward View (5YFV) (NHS England, 2014).
Long-term conditions: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
The use of spirometry as an objective measurement in the diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is widely acknowledged and discussed in guidelines about COPD, as well as those specific to spirometry (British Thoracic Society [BTS]/Association for Respiratory Technology and Physiology [ARTP], 1994; Levy et al, 2009; National Institute for Health and Care Excellence [NICE], 2010; Primary Care Commissioning [PCC], 2013). As a relatively simple test to undertake, it has been performed in primary care for several years now but with varying degrees of expertise and understanding (Strong et al, 2014). The standard of secondary care lung function testing (LFT) has never been questioned. Overall, this inequity of testing has resulted in an estimated 50% of people having an incorrect diagnosis (Tinkelman et al, 2006). This results in people taking medication they do not need, or not receiving treatment they do. This article will enable the reader to identify gaps in their own knowledge about the use of spirometry in COPD diagnosis.
