Welcome to the third edition of the BJN Nutrition Supplement in association with the National Nurses Nutrition Group (NNNG).
May I start off by wishing you all a very happy and healthy 2022. This is the year we, hopefully, all learn to live with COVID-19. The past few years have been a struggle for all healthcare workers, but they have kept services running, despite having to cope with staff isolating because of COVID. It is very evident that the pandemic has had a big impact on staff and services in both the acute and community settings.
While I write this, even though it is pouring with rain outside, there are signs of the coming of spring. There are daffodils starting to emerge—yet another sign that times are changing.
I must admit that I currently have a daily obsession with five-letter words. Nurse, stoma, bolus, audit, tubes and bowel are all words that seem to start off my daily quest! Is anyone else getting their daily hit with a certain word game? If you are on any type of social media you would be hard pressed to miss it!
It never ceases to amaze me how different nutrition nurses' roles are: some of this is influenced by the size of the trust—and if this is a tertiary centre—and also by each individual team's personal interests, demands within the service and the patient demographic of the geographical area coverd by each team.
“The past few years have been a struggle for all healthcare workers, but they have kept services running despite having to cope with staff isolating because of COVID”
In this edition, the role of the nutrition nurse specialist in an intestinal failure tertiary referral centre is explored. Also in this issue is an article on PEG tubes, looking at complication rates after traction removal in one trust. Another topic covered is how student nurses develop relationships with adolescents who require the placement of a nasogastric tube.
Remember that, if you change any of your personal details, including your email address, please make sure you update these with the NNNG (visit https://nnng.org.uk/), otherwise you'll be missing out on updates and the option to order a hard copy of the BJN Nutrition Supplement. Also, don't forget the benefits of free BAPEN membership—which you will need in order to renew your annual subscription.
Since starting to write this editorial, like all of you, I have been watching the incredibly distressing scenes unfold in Ukraine. The humanitarian crisis is heart-breaking—our thoughts are with our nursing and medical colleagues. At the NNNG we send our support and solidarity #NursesforPeace