A few weeks ago I was out shopping, and bumped into Alan. On a very hot day, he was dressed up as ‘Artie Beat’ for a photo shoot outside a supermarket to promote fundraising for the British Heart Foundation. I was being nosey, as you might expect, and went over to see what was happening. When I congratulated Alan, he said: ‘I am only a cashier’. But no one is an ‘only’ when it comes to caring and making a difference. So thank you, Alan, and thank you, ASDA. I then started thinking about compassion on that large social scale and then about compassion from individuals.
Injection technique: Passing on best practice to patients
In the UK, an estimated 1 million people with diabetes use injectable therapies, and these patients are increasingly being managed in primary care. As a result, more primary care nurses are taking responsibility for the initiation and continuing management of injectable therapies, including advising on and reviewing an individual patient’s injection technique.
Back to Basics: Treatments for heart failure
A really useful reference for your practice, this handy Back to Basics tells you all you need to know about heart failure treatments.
Heart failure guidelines: Causing confusion in primary care
Chronic heart failure (CHF) continues to be a leading cause of death and readmission to hospital in the UK. Since the availability of specialist CHF services is variable, many patients rely on practice nurses to review their care. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines have proved very helpful, but are now a cause for confusion as new evidence changes the management of heart failure.
Travel advice for people with heart disease
More people than ever are making trips overseas. Many of us have long-term conditions that we manage with lifestyle choices and medication or medical devices. You may have high blood pressure, angina, a previous heart attack, heart failure or another heart condition. This leaflet will help remind you of some of the advice given to you in a pre-travel consultation with your practice nurse or travel nurse.
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease under the microscope
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is currently the most common cause of abnormal liver function tests. Current advice is simply to monitor patients’ liver function, but is this really correct? And how do we identify and manage people at risk of developing NAFLD?
Is sugar the new villain? Putting the evidence on trial
For years dieters have been trying to avoid fat, and low-fat products have been promoted as the healthier option. But there is now a great deal of publicity around sugar and its toxic effects on our health, including claims that it is the ‘new tobacco’. The sweet white stuff is being blamed for the obesity epidemic and with it diseases such as diabetes and heart disease. So what is the evidence behind the hype, and what should we as health professionals be advising patients?
Obesity: The harsh reality and new solutions
Practice nurses are in the frontline of the fight against obesity, yet they face a moving target. Around 10 years ago, the ‘centre ground’ of the battle comprised patients with around 10 kg to lose; today, it is 20 kg. This has profound implications for weight management and a range of related conditions, but recent research is highlighting new solutions for this group of patients.
JBS3: A ‘heart age’ approach to cardiovascular risk
The long-awaited Joint British Societies’ consensus recommendations for the prevention of cardiovascular disease (JBS3) were issued at the end of March.
Back to Basics: NHS Health Check Programme
Catching the sun: The facts about vitamin D
The last decade has witnessed an explosion of interest in vitamin D. The vitamin has an established role in promoting bone health, but should we be routinely testing vitamin D levels in our patients? And what is the evidence that supplementation improves health beyond the skeleton?
Feeling good? Long-term conditions and psychological health
Compared with the rest of the population, people with long-term conditions—especially cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and musculoskeletal disorders—have two to three times the risk of experiencing a mental health problem. In this article we will consider how these issues affect long-term conditions, how we can assess their impact and how we can improve the psychological wellbeing of these patients.
