IN BRIEF The Queen’s Nursing Institute (QNI) is urging practice nurses to complete an online survey to help the charity understand more about their roles. Participants will be entered into Participants will be entered into a prize draw to win a shopping voucher. A QNI spokesperson said: ‘We are embarking on a major piece of work to look at how we can support you.’ The survey closes on June 26 and is at tinyurl.com/o6s7lwo Nurses are missing out on training courses because of funding cuts and because there is often no one is available to cover for them, an RCN survey of more than 14,000 nurses reveals. Almost one fi fth of those surveyed said they did not complete essential training last year and, of these, 44% said it was because there were too few staff to cover them. Around 10% have had to use annual leave to complete compulsory training. General children’s services in hospitals should be supported by a 24 hours a day, seven days a week community children’s nursing service, according to a set of standards published by the RCN, the Royal College of GPs and the Royal College of Paediatrics. The 11 standards, designed to improve children’s access to unscheduled care, include having a link community children’s nurse for each local GP practice. tinyurl.com/unscheduledcare A nurse has been appointed to lead an NHS advisory service to help commissioners boost services for patients with neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis. Former RCN policy adviser Sue Thomas is chief executive of the newly formed directorate of NHiS Commissioning Excellence. The service will help clinical commissioning groups interpret admissions data and devise ideas for saving money and improving care for patients with neurological conditions. A company selling surgical products is asking healthcare professionals across Europe to make a video of themselves dancing in pink gloves – with the promise of a donation to a breast cancer charity for the best one. Medline says its third annual pink glove dance competition in Europe is designed to raise awareness of breast cancer. The United States is holding its fi fth competition, with nearly £650,000 being raised. www.pinkglovedance.eu Work has started on erecting a bronze statue of iconic nurse Mary Seacole at St Thomas’ Hospital, ready for its unveiling later this year. The statue, sculpted by Martin Jennings, costs £500,000 and the Mary Seacole Statue appeal has launched a ‘Last Lap’ Just Giving campaign on Facebook and Twitter to raise the remaining £77,690. Donations can be made at tinyurl.com/m7p2y9c The National Osteoporosis Society has produced resources to help health professionals reduce the risk of fractures among vulnerable patient groups. Among the resources are clinical standards for identifying patients at risk and introducing ideas for improving bone health. www.nos.org.uk/health-professionals/fracture-liaison-services
NHS IS FAILING THE NATION’S CHILDREN A health service ‘bedevilled’ by professionals working in ‘bunkers and silos’ for too long has failed the UK’s children. That was the message from the former children’s commissioner for England Professor Sir Al Aynsley-Green at the joint RCN/Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health conference in Birmingham. Professor Aynsley-Green said: ‘While we have much to celebrate overall we have too many outcomes in health, social care, education, youth justice and, above all, poverty – some of the worst of the richest countries in the world.’ Referring to ‘the endangered species’ – the school nurse, he said: ‘Children need to be healthy to learn. Health issues like long-term conditions are almost invisible in education.’ Professor Aynsley-Green, president elect of the British Medical Association, added that practitioners need to recognise the interdependence of health and education, and work locally to nurture children’s resilience. He warned that health professionals need to monitor the impact of austerity on children because politicians would not.
Important point of contact for tackling obesity being missed Nurses working in acute care are missing health promotion opportunities with obese children because it is not a priority. This is despite the NHS make ‘every contact count’ policy, a conference in Birmingham was told last week. Attendees at the joint RCN/Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health event, heard that discharge was considered the best place to offer advice to parents on sensitive issues like obesity, but on admission it was felt to be impractical. Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust staff nurse Nicola Greenwood conducted the research, which was published in RCNi journal Nursing Children and Young People. Presenting her findings, she said: ‘There was little information available on the ward to support health promotion delivery and time was not reported as an issue. Nurses said if it was a priority they would make the time. Therefore it is not on the agenda in acute care. ‘We could be losing an important contact and therefore not making every contact count,’ she added.
10 may 6 :: vol 29 no 36 :: 2015 STANDARD Downloaded from RCNi.com by ${individualUser.displayName} on Nov 21, 2015. For personal use only. NoNURSING other uses without permission. Copyright © 2015 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
NHS IS FAILING THE NATION’S CHILDREN A health service ‘bedevilled’ by professionals working in ‘bunkers and silos’ for too long has failed the UK’s children. That was the message from the former children’s commissioner for England Professor Sir Al Aynsley-Green at the joint RCN/Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health conference in Birmingham. Professor Aynsley-Green said: ‘While we have much to celebrate overall we have too many outcomes in health, social care, education, youth justice and, above all, poverty – some of the worst of the richest countries in the world.’ Referring to ‘the endangered species’ – the school nurse, he said: ‘Children need to be healthy to learn. Health issues like long-term conditions are almost invisible in education.’ Professor Aynsley-Green, president elect of the British Medical Association, added that practitioners need to recognise the interdependence of health and education, and work locally to nurture children’s resilience. He warned that health professionals need to monitor the impact of austerity on children because politicians would not.
Important point of contact for tackling obesity being missed Nurses working in acute care are missing health promotion opportunities with obese children because it is not a priority. This is despite the NHS make ‘every contact count’ policy, a conference in Birmingham was told last week. Attendees at the joint RCN/Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health event, heard that discharge was considered the best place to offer advice to parents on sensitive issues like obesity, but on admission it was felt to be impractical. Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust staff nurse Nicola Greenwood conducted the research, which was published in RCNi journal Nursing Children and Young People. Presenting her findings, she said: ‘There was little information available on the ward to support health promotion delivery and time was not reported as an issue. Nurses said if it was a priority they would make the time. Therefore it is not on the agenda in acute care. ‘We could be losing an important contact and therefore not making every contact count,’ she added.
10 may 6 :: vol 29 no 36 :: 2015 STANDARD Downloaded from RCNi.com by ${individualUser.displayName} on Nov 21, 2015. For personal use only. NoNURSING other uses without permission. Copyright © 2015 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
