Nurses working in hospitals across the globe are experiencing unprecedented levels of responsibility, stress and burnout with increasing care demands and lowered staffing levels. Organizations and governments typically turn a deaf ear to issues raised by nurses and nursing groups. Nurses are often accused of lack of caring and compassion along with diminished quality of […]
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Conferences: opportunities, challenges and rewards
My last bog on the 27th March, shared with you my experiences of debating the meaning of patient-centred care with a group of undergraduate nursing students. Next month is exciting because I will be undertaking two international conference presentations relating to patient-centred care and collaborating effectively with children, young people and families. Although a fairly […]
EBN Twitter Journal Club –Session 10
Depression in older people is becoming a major mental health concern. It is associated with functional disability, co-morbid medical conditions and social deprivation. Many studies focus on the treatment of depression, however, there is growing evidence about prevention of depressive episodes in older people through exercise. The focus of our study this week is one […]
Podcasts: A Knowledge Exchange Strategy
I recently participated in a podcast and found this to be an exceptional tool for knowledge exchange. I am pleased to share with you some of the key messages that were highlighted during my interview with Dr. Ann Kolanowski, Director, Hartford Centre of Geriatric Nursing Excellence at the Pennsylvania State University. She had written a […]
The Francis Report and nurse staffing: A message to Jeremy Hunt
As editor of Evidence Based Nursing I, perhaps unsurprisingly, believe it is important that nurses use the best available evidence when making health care decisions. I also believe politicians should do the same when deciding on health care policy. When Jeremy Hunt took over from Andrew Lansley as the English Secretary for Health last September […]
EBN Twitter Journal Club–Session 9
One often hears the anecdotes about abuse of nurses from patients, families, co-workers and employers. A recent study sought to determine the experience of nurses and midwives with aggressive behaviour and bullying. Of the 1495 returned questionnaires over half of the participants (52%) experienced some form of workplace aggression. Thirty-six percent experienced violence mostly from […]
Reflections: International Nurses Day
Each year, the International Council of Nurses celebrates International Nurses Day on May 12th, the birth date of Florence Nightingale. I read that there was a lobby to change the date since it was felt that Florence Nightingale no longer represented ‘modern’ nursing. Although she lived in an era that included very few rights for […]
Editors meeting update – changes to the EBN Twitter Journal Club.
A meeting of the Evidence Based Nursing (EBN) Editorial Board took place on the 26th April in London. The meeting was attended by Claire Weinberg, Catherine Lucas, Claire Bower and Allison Lang from BMJ and the Editorial team including myself, Alison Twycross and Joanna Smith from the UK, Roberta Heale and Dorothy Forbes from Canada […]
Sciatica part 3.
In my last blog on the 19th February 13 I described how my diagnosed sciatica led to an MRI and consequently the identification of a substantial prolapsed disc at L5-S1.At the time I was awaiting a surgical appointment with a view to possible lumbar discectomy but I was aware of the controversy surrounding the efficacy […]
Sharing decisions with patients: Small things do matter
I am not a paediatric nurse but as a parent I sometimes have opportunities to admire the skill of paediatric nurses who make a difference in the lives of children and their families, by putting young patients at the centre of decisions about their healthcare. It was during a hospital visit with a family member […]