Integrating foot care into the everyday clinical practice of nurses.

Foot care is an integral part of a patient's daily hygiene requirements, yet the authors have found it to be an area often neglected by nurses. Foot and toenail problems present a considerable challenge to nurses in all healthcare settings, especially for patients with diabetes. However, patients without diabetes also suffer from minor foot abnormalities or injuries that might have been preventable.

Does cancer nursing education influence patient care planning?

Specialist post-registration education is available for cancer nurses. But to what extent does it help them improve the care that patients receive? A focus group-based study of nurses, along with an audit of patient notes, found nurses in one trust are reluctant to carry out some aspects of care, even after receiving education, which is reflected in documentation and care plans.

Do nurses know enough about percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy?

An audit of nurses in a district general hospital found that there were gaps in their knowledge about the management of percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy. The author suggests ways in which their knowledge could be updated and patient care improved.

The correct use of pulse oximetry in measuring oxygen status.

Pulse oximetry is a valuable method of monitoring a patient's oxygenation levels and is an increasingly common test. It is important that any health-care professional conducting pulse oximetry is aware of the various factors that may influence the results obtained, ranging from incorrect use of the equipment to the effect of the patient's condition.

Pulse oximetry: an audit of nursing and medical staff understanding.

Pulse oximetry provides continuous, non-invasive monitoring of the oxygen saturation of haemoglobin in arterial blood, which is updated with each pulse wave. The primary advantage is that it detects immediately deviations to a patient's baseline. Care givers can therefore detect changes before the patient becomes hypoxaemic.