'Viewing in slow motion': patients', families', nurses' and doctors' perspectives on end-of-life care in critical care.

Aims And Objectives: To explore the meaning of end-of-life care for critically ill cancer patients, families, oncologists, palliative care specialists, critical care consultants and nurses.

Background: End-of-life care for critically ill patients, of whom nearly 20% will die in critical care, remains somewhat problematic (Truog et al. 2008).

Development and implementation of a noise reduction intervention programme: a pre- and postaudit of three hospital wards.

Aims: By developing, implementing and delivering a noise reduction intervention programme, we aimed to attempt to reduce the high noise levels on inpatient wards.

Background: Sleep is essential for human survival and sleep deprivation is detrimental to health and well being. Exposure to noise has been found to disrupt sleep in hospitalised patients which is to be expected as noise levels have been measured and reported as high.

Development of a critical care nursing research strategy: a tripartite approach.

The building of nursing research capacity is important, as it improves the quality of nurse education, the talent of nurses and the standard of patient care. A local critical care nursing research strategy was developed using a tripartite model applied to practice. This was a collaborative approach to critical care research as a model to direct, deliver, facilitate and support nursing research in practice through planned and protected investment in nursing research time.

Earplugs and eye masks: do they improve critical care patients' sleep?

Disturbed sleep and sleep deprivation is common in patients in critical care settings. Noise and inappropriate use of light/dark cycles are two of the causes of sleep interruptions. The purpose of the study was to evaluate eye masks and earplugs to help control patients' exposure to noise and light within the critical care environment.

Exploring the challenges and successes of the Lecturer Practitioner role using a stakeholder evaluation approach.

Rationale: Plans for NHS reform include strategies to reduce the gap between theory and the realities of clinical practice, with the aim of improving patient care. The role of Lecturer Practitioners (LPs) as educators for nurses who 'bridge' the theory-practice gap forms a central part of this strategy. Given the amount of investment in the role and its potential, this study sought to evaluate the impact of the LP role within the education and practice setting from the perspective of key stakeholders.