Welcome to the first edition of 2008 and my first as Editor in Chief. I want to
thank Jan Procter-King, my predecessor, who has performed an outstanding
role and left the journal in a robust position. I would also like to thank the
members of the Editorial Board – in particular those who have left us or
joined since the last edition. Education for Health (formerly the National
Respiratory Training Centre) has a long reputation in respiratory disease and
we are delighted to be bringing this expertise to the BJPCN Editorial Board.
The Use of Pulse Oximetry in Primary Care
Pulse oximetry is now in common use in all healthcare settings. Until recently regarded as a secondary care device, the pulse oximeter is now routinely used in primary care, both in the general practice surgery and in the community. It can be useful in initial assessment, ongoing monitoring, and in both acute and chronic clinical situations. This article examines the how, when, what and why of pulse oximetry.
What is IMPRESS?
In the current political and social environment, health care is changing at a frenetic pace and
nurses may feel that they are being left behind. The British Thoracic Society (BTS) and
General Practice Airways Group (GPIAG) support and represent practitioners with an interest
in secondary and primary care respectively. They have set up a joint initiative called
IMPRESS to help respiratory clinicians to understand what is going on and how to get involved.
This article gives an update on what the initiative is, how it works and what it’s done so far.
The breathless patient: Is it asthma or COPD?
Breathlessness is a very common problem in the patients we see in general practice, and
there is a range of possible causes. In this article – the first in a series of three looking
at how to diagnose what’s wrong with a breathless patient – we explore how to
distinguish between two of the commonest respiratory causes of breathlessness,
asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
P-values: what are they?
P-values are commonly included in the results sections of randomised controlled trials (RCTs), but what is a p-value and
how should it be interpreted?
How to care for patients with end-stage COPD
Practice nurses often get to know their patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary
disease (COPD) very well. Over the years, they have attended for reviews, flu injections
and when they have exacerbations. Nurses get to know their families as well as the
patient, and it can be hard to observe the inevitable deterioration as the condition
progresses. This article will outline some of the key issues for practice nurses when their patients
start to have frequent hospital admissions or cannot attend the surgery for reviews. Has their
condition become palliative, and what can practice nurses contribute to their care?
Editorial
The year is racing by – autumn is already upon us! It’s a time which fills me
with great expectations, with memories of starting a new academic year at
school or university. Many of you may still be experiencing this through your
children! I love the feeling of opening a clean ‘exercise book’! Some of you
may even be contemplating starting up studies again. The Education for Health
graduation ceremony is being held in October; it is one of the most thrilling
events in our academic calendar – seeing the smiles on the faces of the
mature graduates and their families as they attain awards that they never felt
would be possible! Let them be an inspiration to you all; it is never too late to
start! Our team here at Education for Health would be delighted to discuss any
programmes you might be interested in.
Scoring Top Marks for Asthma QOF Indicators
Asthma is a chronic disease that has, for a long time, been the domain of primary care nurses, and many have qualifications enabling them to run nurse-led asthma clinics. It is, therefore, essential to fully understand the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) and to be able to maximise the points available to the practice, at the same time as providing a comprehensive service to patients. In this article, we review the QOF indicators for asthma, strategies for optimising record keeping and performing asthma reviews.
Improving Organ Donation Registration in Primary Care
Organ transplants can save or dramatically improve lives, yet figures for 11 February 2009 showed there were 7,903 people in the UK still on waiting lists for transplants, with the majority waiting for a kidney transplant. Last year, more than 400 people died while on the transplant waiting list.
Back to Basics: Timetable of tests for chronic kidney disease
Editorial
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) has moved rapidly up the healthcare agenda over the last few years. It has shifted from being considered as a rather nebulous condition of interest mainly to nephrologists to the front line of chronic disease detection and prevention in primary care as part of integrated management of vascular risk. In fact, the links between cardiovascular disease, kidney disease and diabetes are so close that CKD could also stand for ‘cardiovascular, kidney, diabetes.’
Editorial
Feel the fear and do it anyway.’ That could be the message of this special issue of the British Journal of Primary Care Nursing focusing on chronic kidney disease (CKD). Kidneys can be really confusing for practice nurses, with lots of technical sounding tests and numbers. But the good news is that the step-by-step guides and clear articles in this issue will help you get to grips with this important condition and feel empowered to make a real difference to the health and wellbeing of your patients.
