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Advanced practice

Diagnosing acute appendicitis: a case study

Mr Dean appeared well groomed, was alert and oriented. He had a high body mass index at >30 and was obviously in pain when moving to sit on the treatment couch..

Assessment and examination of the respiratory system

A skilled ACP has the potential to make a significant contribution to several fundamental outcomes: patient satisfaction, patient concordance with prescribed therapies/interventions, overall...

Non-medical prescribing in nursing: the history and evolution of independent and supplementary prescribing

Non-medical prescribing was introduced originally to reduce doctors' workloads and to improve patient care (Paterson et al, 2016). This delegates responsibility for full episodes of care to skilled...

Advanced non-medical roles within surgery and their engagement with assistive health technologies

The origins of the SCP role date back to 1989, when a nurse from Oxford travelled to the USA for a 6-month period to observe and undertake training, similar to that of a physician assistant (Holmes,...

Pulsed ventricular tachycardia: a case study

Max, a 65-year-old gentleman with no prior past medical history, had been admitted to the emergency department as a ‘resus pre-alert’ at the beginning of this admission 1 week previously. Ambulance...

The role of advanced clinical practitioners in clinical research

Historically, the pioneers of the nursing profession were clear about their vision of advancing practice and empowering nurses to practise with autonomy, as they progress through their careers...

Developing the Heart Failure Specialist Nurse Competency Framework

In recent years, globally, the profile of the nursing profession has increased and with it the demand for nurses to work at advanced levels of nursing practice, with such roles requiring a range of...

Advanced airway management and drug-assisted intubation skills in an advanced critical care practitioner team

The ACCP team has developed over an 8-year period within a conglomerate of three district general hospitals (Heartlands, Goodhope and Solihull hospitals, HGS) comprising 26 critical care beds. The...

Surgical care practitioners: an audit across the surgical specialties

Surgical care practitioners (SCPs) are permanent members of the surgical team and therefore maintain service provision and provide continuity of care to the patient (Nicholas, 2010). According to the...

Critical thinking and diagnostic reasoning for advanced clinical practitioners in sexual health

As highlighted in the previous article (McPhillips and Wood, 2022) consent is critical when pursuing any sexual health examination and/or investigation. It may be given either orally, in writing or...

Consultation and clinical assessment for advanced clinical practitioners in sexual health

History taking and examination should always be undertaken with the patient's comfort in mind. While all consultation episodes should be undertaken in a sensitive and professional manner, this is...

Exploring the role of the nutrition nurse specialist in an intestinal failure tertiary referral centre

Intestinal failure is described as a reduction in gut function, to the extent that adequate absorption of nutrients and/or water and electrolytes is impeded, leading to the need for intravenous (IV)...

Prescribing practice: an overview of the principles

UK prescribing law is ever changing, so it is important that prescribers consistently update their knowledge of legislation. There are several legal, professional, and regulatory frameworks to support...

An exploratory study into the teaching of clinical examination skills in advanced practice

‘Most errors in the physical examination … [which lead to adverse outcomes] … are related to not performing an examination.’ .

Advanced practice: critical thinking and clinical reasoning

As detailed in the table, multiple themes surrounding the cognitive and meta-cognitive processes that underpin clinical reasoning have been identified. Central to these processes is the practice of...

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