More than 500 articles especially written by colleagues to support your care of patients with the 
Back to Basics: Making sense of acute coronary syndrome (ACS)
Editorial
“It is no use saying ‘We are doing our best.’ You have got to succeed in doing what is necessary.” So said Winston Churchill. His approach helped win the Second World War, and applies just as well to the war we fight every day against cardiovascular disease.
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOSs): Where Metabolic Syndrome Meets Gynaecology
Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a complex and distressing life-long condition. It is the commonest endocrine disorder among women of reproductive age, affecting 5-15% of women. PCOS causes short-term effects due to hormonal imbalance as well as longterm effects relating to underlying insulin resistance and consequent hyperinsulinaemia, a form of metabolic syndrome. How can we achieve effective reduction of risk factors in these women to prevent premature cardiovascular disease?
Stable Angina: Making the Most of Cardiac Function
Stable angina is very common. Just under two million people in the UK – over one million men and 840,000 women – have, or have had, angina. In this article we review how new-onset stable angina is assessed, including an update on new investigations, and the latest treatment options including drugs and interventions, based on the most up-to-date guidelines and current practice.
To Glove or Not to Glove?
With increasing awareness about preventable acquired infections along with ever increasing patient knowledge, it is essential that all healthcare staff understand the principles underpinning infection control. In particular, they need to be clear about hand hygiene and the appropriate use of gloves if they and their patients are to remain safe from the risk of transmission of microorganisms and the infections they cause. We review when gloves are needed and when they are not.
Editorial
Welcome to the summer issue of BJPCN – just what you need to read on the beach! We are delighted to have a guest editorial from Dr Sue Roberts, the National Clinical Director for Diabetes, providing encouragement for the work that we, as practice nurses, do in improving the management of diabetes.
Back To Basics: Making sense of healthy and unhealthy fats
Peripheral Arterial Disease: The Forgotten Aspect Of CVD
Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is emerging as being particularly important in terms of cardiovascular risk but its importance as a clear marker for serious underlying vascular disease goes largely unrecognised, with PAD being the only cardiovascular disease not included in the Quality and Outcomes Framework. PAD is often detected late, because patients tend to think that pain in their legs is simply a part of ageing. In this article, we discuss how to recognise and treat people with, or at risk of, PAD using both pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions. We will also consider when referral to secondary care is appropriate.
Editorial
“A little knowledge that acts is worth infinitely more than much knowledge that is idle,” to quote the Lebanese poet, Kahlil Gibran. Well, that’s what the British Journal of Primary Care Nursing (BJPCN) is all about – putting knowledge into action. And it sums up what primary care nurses do too. We are not people who sit about debating what to do, we get on and do it.
Back to Basics: How drugs work in heart failure
Mending hearts and brains: the clinical case for change
Over my lifetime, treatment for heart disease has improved beyond recognition. For the last six years, I have had the privilege of leading a programme that has accelerated that change, reducing waiting times, bringing in new treatments, training more specialists, and ensuring patients have more and better choices available. I am now working to repeat those strides forward for stroke, the brain’s equivalent of heart attack. There are a similar number of strokes to heart attacks, but this equally devastating condition has been slower to catch the medical and public imagination in this country. With our ageing population, it represents a growing challenge for the future.
Making sense of myocardial perfusion scans (MPS)
More and more of our cardiac patients are having scans to check what is going on in their hearts. There were about 1,200 single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) scans per million population in the UK in 2000, according to the British Nuclear Cardiology Society (BNCS) survey. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has recommended this should increase to about 4,000 scans per million population per year, based on current revascularisation and coronary angiogram rates. This article explains what is involved in a myocardial perfusion scan (MPS), giving you the information to answer your patients’ questions.
