Setting up a nurse practitioner service.

In this article the authors argue that nurse practitioners must undergo a formal course of education that teaches them to be politically and professionally aware, clinically competent, develops their interpersonal skills and enables them to attain the confidence to express their views and needs. This, together with their skills of assessment and diagnosis, makes nurse practitioners marketable members of the healthcare team.

It depends on.

Despite an ageing population we live in a culture full of fear about becoming older. Old age is seen as an almost entirely negative phenomenon with decline on all fronts. In a brilliant speech at a recent conference, Rosalie Hudson (2002) joined those pushing back the boundaries of the way we think about ageing.

Nurse Directors' jobs - a European perspective.

Unlabelled: BACKGROUND OF STUDY: The European Nurse Directors Association (ENDA) was founded in 1996. Members agree on an annual action plan based on the three main aims of the Association to strengthen the nursing contribution to policy making within Europe, further nursing leadership and to establish a communication network of experts Nurse Directors across Europe. This study supports the above aims by examining issues relating to the job of Nurse Directors across Europe.

Are mentors ready to make a difference? a survey of mentors' attitudes towards nurse education.

This paper reports on a survey of practitioners who act as mentors to student nurses from a Higher Education Institution in Northern England. The aims of the survey were to gain a profile of mentors, and to seek their views regarding their degree of support in undertaking the mentoring role, and their experience of mentors' update sessions. Respondents were experienced as mentors.

Examining the impact of spirituality on nurses and health-care provision.

The spiritual needs of patients are often neglected by health-care professionals who are already over-stretched by the 'physical' demands of their role. However, there is also ignorance of the spiritual needs of health-care professionals, especially nurses, who may have personal uncertainties about their own spirituality. This lack of understanding can lead to burnout.

Nursing development units: progress and developments.

Nursing development units (NDUs) are centres where groups of nurses, midwives, public health nurses and health visitors use a comprehensive planned strategy to develop themselves and their practice. Some of the early defining work on NDUs is considered and a brief history is outlined in this article. The strategic approach taken by the Eastern Health Shared Services in Dublin has led to the development of many NDUs in the Dublin area over a five-year period.

Learning disabilities: the need for better health care.

There is broad acknowledgement within services for people with learning disabilities that the general health of this client group is poor. There is an impressive body of published research to demonstrate why these problems exist within the population receiving care in the community. Initiatives outlined in the White Paper Valuing People: A New Strategy for Learning Disability for the 21st Century (DoH 2001) to develop individual health action plans and provide health facilitators give an excellent opportunity to remedy this situation and make a difference to the health and quality of life for people with learning disabilities.

Clinical supervision using video-conferencing technology: a reflective account.

This paper discusses three nursing practitioners' experiences of clinical supervision using video-conferencing (VC) technology. The study, based on supportive action research, involved 40 practising community and hospital nurses from a variety of specialties and took place over an 18-month period. The research was collaborative, educational and applied and focused on the effects of remote clinical supervision on the development of professional practice.

Chaos, complexity and nursing.

Chaos and complexity theories have implications for nursing practice. Chaotic systems, potentially including health, the NHS and nursing, are governed by rules which should be understood in order to try to predict future behaviour. Complexity relates to the interconnectedness of things and fits neatly with the concept of holistic care.

Preparation for advanced nursing roles.

Preparing nurses for working across traditional healthcare boundaries and to a higher level of practice requires a radical approach to post-registration education. Here, the authors propose a curriculum for primary health care that will equip nurses to meet the challenges of future healthcare provision.

Farm accidents: their causes and the development of a nurse led accident prevention strategy.

The following key facts emerge which are relevant to an accident prevention strategy. HIGH RISK TIMES: Just before lunch and late afternoon. HIGH RISK PLACES: Those places which are most familiar to the farmer, his/her own farm, especially the yard and farm buildings.

Out of the ashes.

September 11 2001 has been hailed as 'the day that changed the world'. In a series of articles I wrote last year for Nursing Standard I offered evidence that a cultural shift, in the western world at least, is under way. People are turning away from materialistic lifestyles towards global, personal and spiritual wellbeing and concerns.

'Settings' based health promotion: a review.

Over the past 10 years, 'settings' based health promotion has become a central feature of efforts to promote health that recognize the significance of context. Emerging in part from a perception of an over-reliance on individualistic methods, the approach was built on a profound belief in its value and deployed a range of novel theoretical resources, mainly from organizational sociology and psychology. This initial enthusiasm has been maintained within policy directives, in the published literature and, from our own experience, amongst health promotion practitioners.

Urinary hormone levels during the natural menstrual cycle: the effect of age.

A number of studies have identified hormonal changes in women during their reproductive lifespan, many focusing upon changes in women over the age of 40 years. The present study has determined the effect of increasing age on hormone levels over three decades. Daily early morning urine samples were assayed for estrone-3-glucuronide (E3 G), pregnanediol-3-glucuronide (P3 G), testosterone-17-glucuronide (T17 G), FSH and LH.

Completing the audit cycle: the outcomes of audits in mental health services.

Aims: To assess how far those UK National Health Service mental health settings that tested, and prior to publication, used the Newcastle Clinical Audit Toolkit for Mental Health (NCAT) completed the audit cycle.

Data Sources: Twelve clinical audit project reports, each focused on one of the five modules in the NCAT, from four rounds of activity over a 2-year period; clinical and managerial staff in the settings where audit projects had taken place.

Data Extraction: Interviews with audit project team members about the recommendations of the 12 audit project reports and about contextual issues; all projects had reported at least 2 years previously.