Self-management programmes for adult patients with bronchiectasis: a systematic review and realist synthesis.

Purpose: Self-management for patients with bronchiectasis has been identified as an important component that could potentially empower patients to manage their condition and improve their quality of life. Evidence was reviewed to investigate what self-management programmes work, why and in what circumstances.

Methods: A systematic review and realist synthesis were conducted.

'It's not one size fits all': a qualitative study of patients' and healthcare professionals' views of self-management for bronchiectasis.

Background: Bronchiectasis is a chronic respiratory condition that impacts significantly on individuals and healthcare services. Self-management is recommended in clinical guidelines for bronchiectasis as an intervention to enable patients to manage their condition, yet there is little evidence to support it.

Methods: Three face to face focus groups (17 adults with bronchiectasis) were conducted at three National Health Service (NHS) sites in North West England.

Dual antibiotics for bronchiectasis.

Background: Bronchiectasis is a chronic respiratory disease characterised by abnormal and irreversible dilatation of the smaller airways and associated with a mortality rate greater than twice that of the general population. Antibiotics serve as front-line therapy for managing bacterial load, but their use is weighed against the development of antibiotic resistance. Dual antibiotic therapy has the potential to suppress infection from multiple strains of bacteria, leading to more successful treatment of exacerbations, reduced symptoms, and improved quality of life.

Self-management for bronchiectasis.

Background: Bronchiectasis is a long term respiratory condition with an increasing rate of diagnosis. It is associated with persistent symptoms, repeated infective exacerbations, and reduced quality of life, imposing a burden on individuals and healthcare systems. The main aims of therapeutic management are to reduce exacerbations and improve quality of life.

A wolf in sheep's clothing? Patients' and healthcare professionals' perceptions of oxygen therapy: An interpretative phenomenological analysis.

Background: Despite emerging evidence and guidelines, poor prescribing and administration of oxygen therapy persists. This study aimed to explore healthcare professionals' (HCPs) and patients' perceptions of oxygen.

Design: Semi-structured interviews with 28 patients and 34 HCPs.

An evaluation of the Open and Honest Care Programme in acute NHS trusts in Northern England.

Aim: To explore the impact of the National Health Service England's Open and Honest Care Programme on patient safety, patient and staff experience and improvement practices within acute National Health Service settings.

Background: The Open and Honest Care Programme forms a key tenet of the Nursing Midwifery and Care Staff Strategy launched by the Department of Health in England and Wales in 2012.

Methods: An electronic survey (n = 387) was administered to National Health Service staff.

Strategies to help adolescents stop smoking.

Since most people who smoke begin doing so during adolescence, there is a need for an effective intervention aimed at this age group. This article looks at the factors that increase the probability of smoking and tobacco addiction during adolescence, and concludes with some useful approaches to smoking cessation.

Domiciliary oxygen therapy: assessment and management.

This article examines assessment and management strategies for all categories of domiciliary oxygen therapy for adult patients. It highlights the evidence underpinning each category, and enables dissemination of good practice to colleagues, patients and carers.

Psychological effects of chronic lung disease.

Carol Kelly and Dave Lynes outline the potential psychological consequences of living with a chronic respiratory disease and how nurses can assess problems and implement strategies to help patients to adjust and cope.

Reversibility testing in patients with asthma and COPD.

This article examines the difference between chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma, the use of reversibility testing and the various guidelines available to help healthcare professionals diagnose and treat patients with these conditions.

The use of domiciliary oxygen therapy.

Carol Kelly and Dave Lynes discuss the evidence and assessment for domiciliary oxygen, as well as considering oxygen therapy in palliative care.

Difficult asthma: people's perspectives on taking corticosteroid therapy.

Aims And Objectives: This study aimed to explore the experiences of patients with difficult asthma, who take corticosteroid therapy, and provide insight into why some patients comply with therapy, whilst others do not.

Background: Asthma is growing in prevalence and affects more than 100 million people worldwide. Corticosteroids are the mainstay treatment but, despite considerable risk to the individual in terms of morbidity and mortality, compliance is low.

The psychological needs of patients with chronic respiratory disease.

Recent developments in medical management have improved symptom control and life expectancy of patients with chronic respiratory disease (CRD). However, this presents new challenges to patients, their relatives and friends, and health professionals.

Managing hypoxia and hypercapnia.

The main objective when treating hypoxia (a deficiency of oxygen in the tissues) and hypercapnia (a high concentration of carbon dioxide in the blood) is to give sufficient oxygen to ensure that the patient is safe and his or her condition does not deteriorate. However, while giving too little oxygen can result in hypoxia, which can result in death, excessive oxygen therapy can also be dangerous for some patients.

An introduction to blood gas analysis.

Blood gas analysis is a procedure that is associated with high dependency, intensive care and respiratory units, but equipment used to carry out blood gas analysis is now commonplace on hospital wards and in some community services. It is, therefore, important for nurses in primary and secondary care to understand the significance of blood gas analysis.