Student life - Off to a flying start.

Completing your final year as a nursing student can be exhilarating, but also a time of concern. Some students may feel unprepared to start work as a registered nurse or may feel they cannot measure up to the expert colleagues they worked with and learnt from during their training.

Emergency rectal infusion of fluid in rural or remote settings.

Emergency pre-hospital treatment of haemorrhage includes immediate fluid replacement therapy to restore circulating blood volume, reverse hypotension to perfuse vital organs and reduce the risk of death (National Institute for Clinical Excellence 2004). In remote or rural settings, however, a lack of sterile fluids, intravenous equipment or the knowledge to use them might make this therapy difficult. This article explains why, in such situations, rectal fluid infusion is an easy and effective solution to fluid replacement.

Air ambulances: preparing the way.

Air ambulance helicopters can land almost anywhere but precautions must be taken to ensure that they do so safely. This article describes how safe landing sites are prepared and highlights the precautions that nurses who expect the arrival of air ambulances should take for their own safety, the safety of the aeromedical team members and the patients who require such services.

Proctoclysis: emergency rectal fluid infusion.

This article describes the use and effectiveness of proctoclysis (rectal fluid infusion) in providing fluid resuscitation in the absence of intravenous access in rural and remote environments.

Pistol crossbow injuries.

This article describes the wounding potential of pistol crossbows to prepare nurses who may have to provide immediate care for patients with injuries from these inexpensive and readily available weapons.

The ancient art of leadership.

AT SOME TIME between 750 and 200 BC, a Chinese general called Sun Tzu compiled a text that became generally known in the English speaking world as The Art of War ( Trellis 2004 ).

Flying to the rescue.

he Falkland Islands are probably best known for their unspoilt countryside, abundant wildlife, and the war between Argentina and the UK in 1982.

Pre-hospital trauma training in the Falkland Islands.

This article explores the development of a new model of trauma training for nursing and other emergency staff in the Falkland Islands, an isolated group of islands in the South Atlantic. The training has been successfully implemented and continues to provide staff with tailored training in emergency trauma care.