Regional anaesthesia research priorities: a Regional Anaesthesia UK (RA-UK) priority setting partnership involving patients, carers and healthcare professionals.

Introduction: Regional anaesthesia provides important clinical benefits to patients but is underutilised. A barrier to widespread adoption may be the focus of regional anaesthesia research on novel techniques rather than evaluating and optimising existing approaches. Research priorities in regional anaesthesia identified by anaesthetists have been published, but the views of patients, carers and other healthcare professionals have not been considered previously.

Changing practice for neuraxial applications using NRFit™ small-bore connectors to improve patient safety.

Clinical staff always aim to offer the best care for their patients while striving to minimise the risk of errors. The worldwide adoption of the NRFit™ system for neuraxial and regional block procedures is a major step forward. This article discusses the history of neuraxial needles and the experience of a major teaching hospital in adopting non-luer equipment for neuraxial procedures.

Nurse prescribing for inpatient pain in the United Kingdom: a national questionnaire survey.

Background: Nurses make a valuable contribution to pain services and have the potential to improve the safety and effectiveness of pain management. A recent addition to the role of the specialist pain nurse in the United Kingdom has been the introduction of prescribing rights, however there is a lack of literature about their role in prescribing pain medication.

Objective: The aim of this study was to develop a profile of the experience, role and prescribing practice of these nurses.