The contribution of nurse consultants in England to the public health leadership agenda.

Aims And Objectives: To examine the contribution of nurse consultants in relation to UK public health outcomes by contrasting the health and public health skills frameworks with a study of the role of nurse consultants.

Background: Nurse consultants are the most senior advanced nurse practitioners in the UK. They work clinically, lead, research, develop policy and disseminate knowledge.

Being an effective nurse consultant in the English National Health Service: what does it take? A study of consultants specializing in safeguarding.

Aims: This study established key attributes and perceived strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) of nurse consultants specializing in safeguarding children.

Background: The nurse consultant role in England spans four domains--clinical, leadership, education and research--and was intended to enable senior nurses to remain in clinical practice.

Method: ata identifying the time spent by the nurse consultants in the four domains was collated and a thematic content analysis of the SWOT of the role was ascertained from semi-structured interviews with nurse consultants (n = 4) and stakeholders (n = 6).

Daring to be different: a qualitative study exploring the education needs of the nurse consultant.

Nurse consultants are recognised experts and are one of the most senior nursing 'clinical' grades. How these roles have developed has varied but all require an armoury of expanded and extended skills. However, since their introduction in the UK little has been written about how they should be effectively prepared for the role.

Annotation is a valuable tool to enhance learning and assessment in student essays.

Unlabelled: As a United Kingdom (UK) wide organisation, the Quality Assurance Agencies ensure that best standards in higher education are reached. Following an institutional audit within a UK University, it was recommended that annotation be introduced to promote good practice in the management and implementation of giving feedback to students on assessed work. Annotation is a handwritten comment or mark written directly onto the page of the students' script.

Establishing library 'key skill' confidence levels amongst a cohort of nursing students at an English university.

This article presents the findings of a small-scale preliminary survey of one cohort of students studying towards a Diploma/BSc in Nursing. The survey sought to establish student characteristics and indicate their confidence levels using identified key library facilities. From questionnaires (N=64), the data confirmed the 'typicality' of the student group illuminating a breadth of prior experiences in terms of students' prior learning and perceived confidence in using library resources.

Career paths beyond nursing and the contribution of nursing experience and skills in attaining these positions.

This paper reports on an exploratory study undertaken in New South Wales, Australia which sought to identify the positions nurses go on to when they leave nursing and the skills and experience they gained from nursing which they believe enabled them to obtain employment outside the profession. In addition, the reasons why they left nursing were also ascertained. A network sampling technique was used to recruit 17 participants.

Qualifications and experience: how well prepared are nurse managers compared to health service executives?

The purpose of the paper was to compare the demographic details, educational qualifications, professional support and career guidance experiences of two groups of health managers as reported in previous research. One group comprised nurse managers (Duffield et al 2001) and the other comprised senior health administrators (Harris, Maddern & Pegg 1998). Employment and education data from self-administered questionnaires were compared.

The complexities of documenting clinical information in long-term care settings in Australia.

Clinical nursing documentation, written, verbal or supported by technology, is being affected by both the worldwide "information explosion" and budgetary constraints. In Australia, the necessity of documenting complex care needs and treatment plans in older adult care settings has become more imperative because funding levels and sources are frequently tied to these documents. As a consequence, the statutory requirements for documentation have become a significant driving force in shaping nursing practice.