The Introduction of "Safety Science" into an Undergraduate Nursing Programme at a Large University in the United Kingdom.

Implementing safety science {a term adopted by the authors which incorporates both patient safety and human factors (Sherwood, G. (2011). Integrating quality and safety science in nursing education and practice.

Teaching patient safety and human factors in undergraduate nursing curricula in England: a pilot survey.

Patient safety is a key priority for all healthcare systems, and there is growing recognition for the need to educate tomorrow's nurses about the role of human factors in reducing avoidable harm to patients. A pilot survey was sent to 20 schools of nursing in England to explore the teaching of patient safety and human factors. All 13 schools that responded (65% response rate) stated that patient safety was covered in their curricula and was allocated more than 4 hours; all the classes included human factors.

Nursing considerations to complement the Surviving Sepsis Campaign guidelines.

Objectives: To provide a series of recommendations based on the best available evidence to guide clinicians providing nursing care to patients with severe sepsis.

Design: Modified Delphi method involving international experts and key individuals in subgroup work and electronic-based discussion among the entire group to achieve consensus.

Methods: We used the Surviving Sepsis Campaign guidelines as a framework to inform the structure and content of these guidelines.

Patient safety is improved by early training.

Making care safer for patients is currently a top priority for the NHS. Nurses, as the biggest group of health-care workers, have countless opportunities each day to contribute to this aim. One of the first challenges that arises is: how do we ensure that all nurses are aware of the size and extent of the problem? We must also ask what is being done locally to reduce avoidable harm and deaths.

The Sepsis Six: helping patients to survive sepsis.

Sepsis kills more people than lung cancer, and more people than bowel and breast cancer put together. The costs to the NHS are significant; it is estimated that in Europe, patients with severe sepsis cost healthcare funders around 7.6 billion euros per year (Daniels et al, 2007).

An audit of ward nurses' knowledge of sepsis.

Many of the patients with sepsis admitted to intensive care and high dependency units develop severe sepsis/septic shock in general hospital wards. If the Surviving Sepsis Campaign's aim of a 25% reduction in mortality from sepsis is to be achieved by 2009, then it is essential that registered nurses are aware of the standard definitions of sepsis, and the recommendations for its initial management. The aim of this study was to audit ward nurses' knowledge of sepsis against standard definitions and evidence-based management guidelines.

Severe sepsis in A&E.

In this article, the author clarifies the definition of sepsis, severe sepsis and septic shock, describes the physiological changes that occur and the initial treatment used to improve patient outcome, and examines the concept of early goal directed therapy (EGDT).

Assessing, treating and managing patients with sepsis.

This article outlines the causes, signs and symptoms of systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), sepsis, severe sepsis and septic shock, the implications and available treatments. The article also highlights a campaign to reduce the incidence of sepsis and reflects on efforts to reduce healthcare-associated infections.

British Association of Critical Care Nurses position statement on the use of restraint in adult critical care units.

Critical care nurses in the United Kingdom have become increasingly concerned about the use, potential abuse and risks associated with physical restraint of patients. Restraint in critical care is not only confined to physical restraint but can also encompass chemical and psychological methods. There are concerns regarding the legal and ethical issues relating to the (ab)use of physical restraint techniques in critical care.

The physiological after-effects of critical care.

After a stay in intensive care, patients may suffer physiological after effects, such as muscle wasting, polyneuropathies, disturbed sleep, itching and poor mobility. The care that patients receive whilst on intensive care may contribute to the severity of some of these physical problems. Raising awareness amongst critical care nurses may help reduce the severity of some of the physiological after effects.

An evaluation of the evidence base related to critical care outreach teams--2 years on from Comprehensive Critical Care.

It is now 2 years since the publication of Department of Health [Comprehensive Critical Care: A Review of Adult Critical Care Services (2000a)] document 'Comprehensive Critical Care'. One of its' main recommendations was the introduction of critical care outreach services. Many hospitals have since established such services and are providing education for ward nurses and house officers, and follow-up for patients discharged from intensive care when they return to a general ward.