Critical thinking and diagnostic reasoning of the heart and cardiovascular system

Chest pain is a common complaint, comprising up to 25% of emergency department attendances (Byrne, 2014). Not all of these will have a cardiac complaint; however, it is crucial to recognise important...

Implementing a surgical first assistant role into that of a clinical nurse specialist at an orthopaedic specialist hospital

The Perioperative Care Collaborative (PCC) (2018) defines an SFA as ‘registered practitioner providing continuous, competent and dedicated surgical assistance under direct supervision of the operating...

Taking advanced clinical practice to the streets: an evaluation of the benefits and challenges in homeless health care

The definition of homelessness includes people sleeping rough, sofa-surfing or living in squats, emergency shelters or hostels (Homeless Link, 2014). Socially excluded people are 10 times more likely...

Promoting community engagement in a pre-registration nursing programme: a qualitative study of student experiences

A literature review used the search terms ‘Nurse students’ ‘Volunteering’ ‘Student volunteering’ and ‘Student nurse volunteering’ in the search engines PubMed, CINAHL and The King's Fund between June...

Using simulation exercises to improve student skills and patient safety

‘A technique to replace or amplify real experiences with guided experiences, often immersive in nature, that evoke or replicate substantial aspects of the real world in a fully safe, instructive and...

Using the transtheoretical model of behaviour change to analyse the impact of stopping exercise: a reflection

Becoming a student nurse meant giving up a full-time job and moving from a rural location with plentiful exercise spaces to an urban setting with limited green space. My new location meant I was away...

Implementing a hospital-at-home service to improve patient outcomes

‘If a patient does not need acute care, being in an acute hospital can be harmful. Acute hospitals expose patients to potential avoidable harm.’ .

The exacerbation of inequality during the COVID-19 pandemic

‘It seems your health, opportunities and income are wholly reliant on the particular rung of the British social ladder on which you are positioned’ .

A novel heart failure care pathway developed during the pandemic

Working to reduce the problem of thromboembolism in pregnant women

From staff nurse to nurse consultant

During my last year at school, I had a part-time job working in a factory. There were a number of jobs that involved workers standing in front of a conveyer belt, along which travelled various...

Keeping afloat in a sea of patient safety information: reform and patient views

‘Staff are struggling to cope with large volumes of safety guidance, they have little time and space to implement guidance effectively, and the systems and processes around them are not always...