Developing the Heart Failure Specialist Nurse Competency Framework.

The aim of this article is to outline the underpinning conceptual principles of advanced nursing and competency embedded in the launched in January 2021. The authors refer to Benner's novice to expert pedagogy and explore how this provides a robust framework on which to assess the progress of the heart failure specialist nurse. Some key considerations are discussed, for example the importance of constructive feedback and feed-forward in the individual's learning cycle.

Specialist intervention is associated with improved patient outcomes in patients with decompensated heart failure: evaluation of the impact of a multidisciplinary inpatient heart failure team.

Objective: The study aimed to evaluate the impact of a multidisciplinary inpatient heart failure team (HFT) on treatment, hospital readmissions and mortality of patients with decompensated heart failure (HF).

Methods: A retrospective service evaluation was undertaken in a UK tertiary centre university hospital comparing 196 patients admitted with HF in the 6 months prior to the introduction of the HFT (pre-HFT) with all 211 patients seen by the HFT (post-HFT) during its first operational year.

Results: There were no significant differences in patient baseline characteristics between the groups.

EXPERTS 1-experiences of long-term life-limiting conditions among patients and carers: protocol for a qualitative meta-synthesis and conceptual modelling study.

Introduction: Increasing numbers of the population are living with long-term life-limiting conditions with a significant proportion characterised by multimorbidity. Patients with these conditions often experience high volumes of clinical interaction involving them, their caregivers and healthcare providers in complex patterns of organising, coordinating, negotiating and managing care. A better understanding of the sources of experienced complexity and multimorbidity, from the patient perspective is paramount to improve capacity and manage workload to promote improved experience of illness, more effective healthcare utilisation and improved healthcare outcomes.