British journal of nursing (Mark Allen Publishing)
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Accident and emergency nursing is an exciting and dynamic career choice. This article reviews the educational and career opportunities available in this specialty.
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The inadequate educational background of nurses fails to prepare them to assess and control postoperative pain effectively. Ineffective pain control occurs because of the confusion over the complex nature of pain, a reluctance to accept patients' verbal reports of pain, ignorance of the relationship of pain to tissue damage, and the lack of a coherent framework for assessing pain. Nurses need improved formal training in methods of pain control at all educational levels. Nurses must recognize their own knowledge limitations and seek to improve their awareness of current research and improvements in pain control so that these can be implemented in clinical practice.
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The courts apply the standard of the reasonable professional exercising a particular skill to determine liability. This is known as the Bolam test. If there is a body of competent professional opinion that supports the defendant's actions, a claim for negligence will fail. ⋯ The courts do not accept a concept of team liability. Lack of resources is not an acceptable defence to a failure to provide the correct standard of care. Standards in NHS agreements are not enforceable by the patient but may be of evidential value in litigation.
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Postoperative pain in the elective surgical patient needs effective management to maximize comfort. This article describes ways to ensure that pain is given priority in patient care by acknowledging that it is subjective and differs between individuals.
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An holistic approach should be taken to cure with due consideration given to the quality of life. Little research has been undertaken into the long-term psychosocial adjustment of adults to cancer and its treatment, far less that of children. ⋯ Others may perceive the quality of their life to be of greater importance than the quantity. Children readily recognize how to establish their best possible quality of life, whether or not they are able to recognize their diminished quantity of life and lack of curability.