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The article provides a guide for nursing students on infection prevention and control (IPC). Topics discussed include definition of IPC, importance of IPC, and main principles of IPC including practising good hand hygiene, using personal protective equipment, and safe handling and disposal of sharps.

Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust introduced sharp-safe needles in January 2013; these became a part of general practice by April 2013. A service evaluation was undertaken to investigate whether the introduction of sharp-safe needles had reduced the incidence of needlestick injuries. Results showed that 608 percutaneous injuries were sustained during the use and disposal of sharps between April 2010 and March 2014. A total of 122 injuries occurred following the introduction of the new sharp-safe needles (2013-2014), which was a 26% reduction compared with the previous year (2012-2013, n = 165). These results could mean that the sharp-safe needles reduced the rate of injuries. A definitive evaluation of the effectiveness of the sharp-safe needles was not possible given the limited data available since their introduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The NHS faces enormous efficiency challenges if it is to make the £22 billion in savings by 2020 outlined by NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens last October in his Five Year Forward View. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information to address the confusion over whether to wear gloves for COVID-19 vaccinations. Topics covered include the Public Health England's rules on gloves for COVID-19 vaccination, whether gloves should be worn for non-COVID-19 vaccinations and the drawbacks of wearing gloves. It also cites how to address a situation wherein the patient bleeds after receiving injection.

The author suggests several ways of minimizing the amount of waste being generated by the British National Health Service.

A common sense approach to recycling unused medicines would save the health service millions of pounds. Adele Waters reports [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the hospital cleanliness and the use of pedal bins. Ignorance of trained and untrained nurses on the use of pedal bins; Tips how to use foot pedal bin; Infection control measures on germs.

The article presents several tweets which were submitted to the social networking site Twitter in 2014, including tweets which were concerned with medication waste in Great Britain, the relationship between exercise and mental health and the character of nurses.

A personal narrative is presented which explores the author's experience of obtaining a needlestick injury while working on a clinical placement on a ward for older people and of developing a needlestick prevention initiative as a result.

The article relates the author's experience of being a staff nurse in the intensive care unit. She shared about how small changes to the daily routine can dramatically affect carbon footprint. With this, it is essential to ensure appliances are not left on standby or prefer low energy light bulbs. The author also mentioned the impact of the increasing amount of domestic and clinical waste created by hospitals on environment.