Professional nurse (London, England)
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The incidence of sepsis is rising, with many patients now being managed in general wards rather than in intensive care units, both with and without the support of critical care outreach teams. This paper looks at the organisms that can cause sepsis, its early recognition and the treatment and management of patients with this challenging condition.
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Plans are in place to make lifelong learning accessible for all health-care staff, whatever their profession. However, as the second of two articles on continuing professional development reveals, there is still wide variation across trusts in access to education.
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The problems faced by all refugees and asylum seekers arriving in Britain are great but unaccompained children have a particularly difficult time, separated from the people and places they know, and experiencing difficulties with language and a strange environment. This fourth paper in our series on child protection examines how health- and social-care staff can help.
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NHS Direct has proved a great success, providing advice over the phone to the public about a range of health issues. NHS Direct Online does not, however, offer a live symptom-based clinical enquiry service, yet public demand indicates this would be a welcome addition. A pilot project is now in development to meet this demand. This paper looks at the feasibility of such a service.
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Unlike doctors and physiotherapists, nurses do not learn to use stethoscopes as part of their normal training. This is mostly a post-registration skill, often taught in critical care courses. Yet the stethoscope is an invaluable tool in the assessment of heart, lung and abdominal sounds. This paper looks at when and how stethoscopes can contribute to patient care.