Seacole an inspiration for all nurses.

After more than 12 long years of fundraising a memorial statue to Jamaican-Scottish Crimean War nurse and businesswoman Mary Seacole was unveiled on 30 June. The sun shone brightly and it was one of my proudest days.

Thank you for your support.

I would like to give my heartf elt thanks to all your readers who supported the Mary Seacole Memorial Statue Appeal over the past 12 years.

Mary Seacole: global nurse extraordinaire.

Aims: A discussion of recently discovered literature that reveals how after the Crimean War ended in 1856, Jamaican nurse, doctress and entrepreneur Mary Seacole travelled more widely and gained further international recognition than had previously been appreciated.

Background: New findings demonstrate that Seacole's international charitable and business activities were reported more widely than realised. Recently discovered literature uncovers her networking and strategic skills in various social milieus.

Modeling the complex activity of sickle cell and thalassemia specialist nurses in England.

Objective: Specialist advanced practice nursing in hemoglobinopathies has a rich historical and descriptive literature. Subsequent work has shown that the role is valued by patients and families and also by other professionals. However, there is little empirical research on the complexity of activity of these services in terms of interventions offered.

New light on Seacole.

The discovery of a signed letter by Crimean nursing heroine Mary Seacole to a War Office official may give an important clue that she was lobbying to be allowed to nurse British soldiers in India. Together with a letter from another anonymous nurse, and contemporary news reports, it reveals and active and well regarded nurse leader who knew how to network.

Voices - 'Winners of Mary Seacole awards make me so proud,' says Elizabeth Anionwu.

There was a wonderful buzz among those attending the recent Mary Seacole Leadership and Development Awards.

Confidence of primary care physicians in their ability to carry out basic medical genetic tasks-a European survey in five countries-Part 1.

Western health care systems are facing today increasing movement of genetic knowledge from research labs into clinical practice. This paper reports the results of a survey that addressed the confidence of primary care physicians in their ability to carry out basic medical genetic tasks. The survey was conducted in five countries (France, Germany, The Netherlands, Sweden and the UK).

A history that lives on.

The contribution of Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole was immense. Their similarities and differences are described in this article.

A skills framework for sickle cell disease and thalassaemia.

The standard care that people with sickle cell disease or thalassaemia experience varies widely. A specialist nurse was inspired to address this by developing a competency framework for these haemoglobin disorders, which has been accredited by the Royal College of Nursing. This article looks at the rationale for creating competencies for nurses caring for people with these conditions, and outlines the standards required to achieve optimum patient care.

Voices - Sickle cell disease has some little-known complications, says Elizabeth Anionwu.

Recently I attended an event aimed at raising awareness about the increased risk of stroke among people with sickle cell disease.

General practitioner management of genetic aspects of a cardiac disease: a scenario-based study to anticipate providers' practices.

It is increasingly recognised that genetics will have to be integrated into all parts of primary health care. Previous research has demonstrated that involvement and confidence in genetics varies amongst primary care providers. We aimed to analyse perceptions of primary care providers regarding responsibility for genetic tasks and factors affecting those perceptions.

VOICES-Sexually sidelined Elizabeth Anionwu says that fresh air and spring flowers lift her spirits.

I have never understood why my mood seems to lift once January is over. Is it because I have submitted my online tax return by the dreaded deadline? Or maybe it is hope that the weather will start to improve.

Dora opoku's achievements made inspirational reading.

I was shocked to learn of the death of midwife and educationalist Dora Opoku (obituary January 26).

Effectiveness of earlier antenatal screening for sickle cell disease and thalassaemia in primary care: cluster randomised trial.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of offering antenatal screening for sickle cell disease and thalassaemia in primary care as a way of facilitating earlier uptake of screening.

Design: Partial factorial cluster randomised controlled trial.

Setting: 25 UK general practices from deprived inner city areas.

Antenatal screening for haemoglobinopathies in primary care: a cohort study and cluster randomised trial to inform a simulation model. The Screening for Haemoglobinopathies in First Trimester (SHIFT) trial.

Objectives: To assess the effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, acceptability and feasibility of offering universal antenatal sickle cell and thalassaemia (SCT) screening in primary care when pregnancy is first confirmed and to model the cost-effectiveness of early screening in primary care versus standard care.

Design: A population-based cohort study, cluster randomised trial and refinement of a published decision model.

Setting: Twenty-five general practices from two UK primary care trusts (PCTs) in two inner city boroughs with a high proportion of residents from minority ethnic groups.

Babs steele was a fighter who will be sorely missed.

I was sad to read that Barbara (Babs) Steele has died (obituary December 2). She was an active RCN London region board member and worked tirelessly for the college's Work Injured Nursing Group (WING).

Voices - Is Mary Seacole a worthy black role model? Elizabeth Anionwu argues the case.

I gave a fair number of talks about Mary Seacole during Black History Month. Audiences donated more than £1,000 to the campaign to honour her with a statue in the grounds of St Thomas' Hospital, London. However, not everyone was in the mood to celebrate Mrs Seacole's achievements.

Testing the children: do non-genetic health-care providers differ in their decision to advise genetic presymptomatic testing on minors? A cross-sectional study in five countries in the European Union.

Background: Within Europe many guidelines exist regarding the genetic testing of minors. Predictive and presymptomatic genetic testing of minors is recommended for disorders for which medical intervention/preventive measures exist, and for which early detection improves future medical health.

Aim: This study, which is part of the larger 5th EU-framework "genetic education" (GenEd) study, aimed to evaluate the self-reported responses of nongenetic health-care providers in five different EU countries (Germany, France, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands) when confronted with a parent requesting presymptomatic testing on a minor child for a treatable disease.