School nurses: undervalued, underfunded and overstretched

‘School nurses across the UK … were struggling with heavy workloads and the majority of their time was eaten away by safeguarding and administration’ .

From staff nurse to nurse consultant: Continuing professional development part 9: support and finance

There are compulsory areas of CPD that have been identified by employers as essential; these will be funded by employing organisations and staff will normally be paid to attend study days or undertake...

Support for present and future leaders

‘The conditions in which leaders operate are stressful and difficult, with great responsibility and the highest stakes. Over time, this has led to a negative working culture in which both bullying...

The RCN: an organisation with a memory?

Should I have helped?

Diagnosis and management of a urinary tract infection

The lower urinary tract consists of the ureters, the bladder, the trigone and the urethra (Watson, 2011). The bladder has three distinct layers (Patel and Chapple, 2008):.

Supporting better adherence among patients engaged in intermittent self-catherisation

To conduct the study, we started by identifying an engaged group of doctors and nurses working in urology or rehabilitation wards in five countries, all of whom had extensive experience with:.

Catheter-associated urinary tract infection: signs, diagnosis, prevention

Common signs and symptoms of CAUTI include urinary frequency, urgency, dysuria, pelvic/lower abdominal pain, pyrexia and tachycardia. In elderly people symptoms may be more complicated to detect as...

Paediatric nurses' adoption of aseptic non-touch technique

The following typologies were identified:.

A safety lancet for neonatal blood spot tests: a design that facilitates pain-free, atraumatic samples

Following consent from their parent or guardian, all babies born in the UK undergo newborn screening on day 5 of life. This procedure consists of taking a blood sample from the heel to test for...

National evaluation of safety peripheral intravenous catheters in a clinician-led project

The continuous rise in healthcare complexities of today's patient population as well as the financial climate in the NHS, not to mention the uncertainties of Brexit, make it ever more challenging to...

Procurement of IV products

“As clinicians working in the field of IV therapy, we need to get involved with this work on evaluating products for suitability in the NHS within our trusts” .

Clinical experience of a subcutaneously anchored sutureless system for securing central venous catheters

The first two prospective clinical studies were carried out simultaneously in 2015-2016..

Reducing catheter-associated urinary tract infections through best practice: Sherwood Forest Hospitals' experience

From a financial perspective, the introduction of the Bard Tray has brought a significant benefit by reducing the incidence of CAUTIs. The initial introduction of the tray incurred additional costs of...

Antimicrobial resistance: what can nurses do?

Resistance is a natural process that allows the microorganism to adapt to environmental changes and survive (Michael et al, 2014). On exposure to antimicrobials, organisms may mutate to block the...