From staff nurse to nurse consultant: Academic essays part 5: literature searching

The previous article in this series emphasised the importance of spending about an hour exploring the question and identifying exactly what it is asking. Consider a standard type of question: ‘Discuss...

Reflecting on the state of health and social care in England

The report argues that before COVID-19 care was generally good, but with little overall improvement with some specific areas of concern identified. In terms of NHS acute care, there was some...

Should the RCN re-join the International Council of Nurses?

ICN (https://www.icn.ch) is a federation of more than 130 national nurses' associations representing the more than 27 million nurses worldwide. Its primary mission is to represent nursing worldwide,...

Supporting nurses' wellbeing

‘It is critical that organisations also tackle the underlying causes of stress, ill health and poor wellbeing—such as chronic excessive workload, bullying, inadequate supervision, discrimination and...

Evidence of social value in the Lindsay Leg Club® network: an evaluation

The evaluation lasted between 1 October 2019 and 15 January 2020. The data gathered consisted of 54 hours of observations in six UK Leg Clubs and plentiful conversations with people met in the Leg...

The what, who, why and how of skin tears in the community and care homes

Older people can experience a variety of skin problems including skin tears, leg ulcers, pressure ulcers and oedema. The National Wound Care Strategy Programme (NWCSP) (https://tinyurl.com/rqh5kfw)...

Assessment of wounds in adults

Also known as the integumentary system, the skin is regarded as the largest organ in the body. There are two main divisions of the skin: the outer epidermis and the deeper dermis. The epidermis is...

Patient expectations of pressure ulcer prevention in the NHS, healthcare demands and national policy: a critical commentary

Contemporary Government priorities in healthcare are published in the NHS Five Year Forward View (NHS England, 2014). PU care is not referenced explicitly within the document; however, a planned shift...

The difference a year makes

Development of the middle-range theory of wound itch

Integrity is the phenomenon of interest for the study of wound itch. The Oxford English Dictionary (Oxford University Press (OUP), 2020) defines integrity as ‘the condition of having no part or...

‘Trying to lead a normal life’: why patients may fail to adhere to leg ulcer treatment

It lasted for 8 dreadful years—three large, severe venous leg ulcers crippling both my legs. After unremitting NHS treatments, my carers brought about healing, and since then I have enjoyed 3 years...

MINIMISE Moisture™: a local quality improvement initiative raising awareness of moisture-associated skin damage

MINIMISE Moisture aimed to raise awareness of the key considerations around the prevention and management of MASD. It aimed to ensure that staff have up-to-date evidence-based resources and tools to...

Social care: the legacy

Pressure Damage as an Indicator of the Quality of Care

Nutritional Care in Relation to COVID-19

Research relating to the metabolic function of patients with COVID-19 is scarce. Until more research is published, general nutrition principles involving critical care patients should be the focus of...