British journal of community nursing
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Br J Community Nurs · Mar 2016
Exploring the district nurse role in facilitating individualised advance care planning.
Health-care policy recognises the importance of engaging people in making decisions related to the management of their health. Advance care planning (ACP) offers a framework for decision making on end-of-life care. ⋯ District nurses are in the ideal position to facilitate ACP, as they have the opportunity to build relationships with the people they are caring for--an antecedent to sensitive ACP--and in recognising and fulfilling this role, they could ameliorate the risk of insensitive ACP. Distric nurse leaders also have a role to play in ensuring that organisational and environmental factors support appropriate ACP facilitation including: training, fostering a team culture that empowers district nurses to recognise and meet their ACP role, and advocating for appropriate ACP evaluation outcome measures.
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Br J Community Nurs · Dec 2015
Case ReportsDeveloping a person-centred approach to carer assessment and support.
Community nurses play an important role in providing palliative care and support for patients and carers at home. The Carer Support Needs Assessment Tool (CSNAT) provides practitioners with an evidence-based comprehensive tool to use with carers in palliative home care. ⋯ In this paper, the CSNAT research team provides an overview of the development of the tool and the benefits for both carers and practitioners arising from using the CSNAT as a person-centred approach in practice. The authors outline the five stages of the CSNAT approach to assist practitioners wishing to implement the CSNAT in practice.
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A key recommendation of the Mid Staffordshire Inquiry (Francis, 2013) was to establish a culture of openness in all health services through a duty of candour. A professional duty of candour is a key requirement of the Nursing and Midwifery Council's revised Code (2015). ⋯ District nurses working in England are also subject to a statutory duty of candour imposed on their employer by the Care Quality Commission. In this article, the author considers the organisational and professional duties of candour and their effect on a district nurse's practice.