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HOW NURSES and nursing are viewed by the public has changed over the years. In the 1940% nursing was highly regarded--albeit low paid--and nurses were portrayed as professionals, selflessly committed [...]

NEW PARENTS in the UK are to be given information on how to spot the signs of eye cancer in their children, after a campaign by a cancer charity. The [...]

HEAD AND neck cancer patients receive varying levels of support from clinical nurse specialists (CNSs) across England and Wales, the findings of an audit suggest. The National Head and Neck [...]

NURSING STUDENTS should have dignity instilled into the way they think and act from their first day at university, according to a major report. The recommendation is part of the [...]

Our cover story in this issue relates to an article on assessment and management of pain in patients receiving palliative care (page 23). Lloyd Hughes highlights that treatment with strong [...]

Nurses should discuss patients' concerns about being treated with strong opioids for pain relief when they are receiving palliative care, according to a guideline. The National institute for Health and [...]

NURSES WHO work predominantly with older people believe they are still not seen as specialists by peers, according to a study on international nursing opinion. The research replicated a UK [...]

Injuries from falls are among the leading causes of death of people aged over 75 in the UK. Aside from hip fractures, falls can start a chain of adverse psychological [...]

CANCER PATIENTS are not always given the most effective treatments because of poor access to biomarker tests, a survey has found. Three quarters of the 100 UK oncologists who took [...]

OLDER PEOPLE receive substandard hospital care because of a lack of specific training, according to the King's Fund. Although older patients account for 70 per cent of occupied beds and [...]

Older people comprise the majority of hospital inpatients, but as an RCN project (page 6 and page 20) has found, older people's wards are characterised by the lowest staffing levels [...]

FRACTURE LIAISON nurse specialists should be employed in primary and secondary care settings across England to prevent falls in older people, according to a report. Compiled by charities Age UK [...]

NURSE LEADERS and charities have welcomed the health select committee's call for greater integration of health and social care services in England. Rather than the current system of multiple funding [...]

An example of excellent acute care is profiled in this issue with a visit to Leicester Royal Infirmary's emergency frailty unit (EFU) (analysis, page 6). The unit was developed in [...]

HOSPITALS THAT fail to offer patients with bowel cancer a full range of appropriate treatments should be fined, a charity has said. According to Beating Bowel Cancer, 1,800 patients each [...]

SENIOR NURSES and midwives advising the government on genetics and genomics are calling for immediate action to tackle a 'competency deficit' in professional practice. The advisory group of ten clinicians [...]

Assisted suicide made the headlines again in January with publication of the Commission on Assisted Dying's report. The commission said there is a 'strong case' for legalising assisted suicide for [...]

There was more positive news for the specialty last month with the launch of a UK-wide RCN project to increase the number of nurses on older people's wards (page 7). [...]

Two of our clinical features this month reflect news on treatment advances for rare and common cancers. In a continuing professional development article (page 31) Helen Stradling focuses on bone [...]

NEARLY 50 per cent of nurses are not able to spend as much time with pancreatic cancer patients as they would like to because of increased workloads. And 45 per [...]

Patients may be understandably anxious about being discharged from long-term follow up. However, evidence supports discharge at two years after treatment completion for some patients with haematological cancers. In recognition [...]

CARE HOME residents in the UK are routinely being denied access to NHS services, according to the British Geriatrics Society (BGS). Up to 400,000 older people live in care homes [...]

The issue of caring for older people has remained high on the news agenda over the summer. Andrew Dilnot's report on how to pay for adult social care was published [...]

We take a closer look at treatments in this issue of Cancer Nursing Practice. Increased incidence and prevalence of disease mean that people are confronted with decisions about treatment more [...]

A DECISION-MAKING tool that aims to end significant variation in the treatment of bowel cancer patients with liver metastases has been launched. People in some parts of the UK are [...]

A new report on malnutrition makes for depressingly familiar reading. The results of the latest British Association for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition survey highlight that the health of patients and [...]

ONE QUARTER of teenagers with cancer had to visit their GP at least four times before being referred to a specialist, a survey has found. And one fifth were not [...]

Nurses will be demoralised by the health service ombudsman's report on the care of older people in the NHS in England. I was struck by its lack of recommendations at [...]

GUIDES HAVE been published to ensure that care provided by Macmillan clinical nurse specialists (CNSs) is delivered to a consistent standard. Macmillan Cancer Support, in partnership with Skills for Health, [...]

As we approach the end of the year, dementia remains high on the political agenda with 45 organisations, including the RCN and the Department of Health (DH), signing the National [...]

NURSES ARE being urged to screen all older patients at risk of malnutrition on admission to hospital and throughout their stay. The charity Age UK found that increasing numbers of [...]

Specialist nurses will be core members of teams set up to treat patients with advanced cancer that has spread from an unknown primary location, the National Institute for Health and [...]

CANCER NURSES and charities have welcomed the ban on sunbed use by under-18s. The new law forbids salons in England and Wales to sell sunbed services to under-18s and forces [...]

NURSE EDUCATORS have called for better training of care home staff after a report revealed that some do not know a suspected stroke is an emergency. A National Audit Office [...]

GOOD NURSING can overcome many of the problems faced by patients who have oral feeding difficulties, a major report says. The report, produced last month by a working party of [...]

ONE THIRD of patients expected to die after admission to an acute hospital did not receive end of life care, according to a report. The National Confidential Enquiry into Patient [...]

ACCESS TO nurse specialists for patients with lung cancer is 'woefully inadequate', according to the first national review of lung cancer services in the UK. The review, published by the [...]

World Arthritis Day was celebrated on October 12. The aims of the day are to raise awareness about all forms of arthritis, influence public policy and highlight the support available [...]

THE PATIENTS Association has defended its critical report about poor nursing by claiming that its intention was not to attack the profession. The association's Patients ... Not Numbers, People ... [...]

A REPORT on cancer services is calling for the nationwide collection of chemotherapy nursing workforce data. The report, published last month by the National Chemotherapy Advisory Group (NCAG), also encourages [...]

The subject of assisted suicide has been high on the news agenda over the summer. In July the RCN's ruling council voted to adopt a neutral stance on assisted suicide [...]

ONE OF the downsides of a youth-oriented society is that it assumes older people are not sexual beings. But many older people may consider sexual activity and its associated feelings [...]

TWO ARTICLES in this month's journal focus on different aspects of care for people with dementia. On page 34 Jan Dewing explores the effect of noise and light in care [...]

LUNG CANCER and cervical cancer were set to be added to the Department of Health's (DH) available information prescriptions last month, which aim to direct patients to free, reliable sources [...]

How to use this assessment This self-assessment questionnaire (SAQ) will help you to test your knowledge. It comprises ten multiple-choice questions that are broadly linked to the preceding feature. There [...]

MENTAL HEALTH problems are common in older people. In the UK one quarter of admissions to mental health inpatient services are people aged over 65. The number of people aged [...]

The first study to assess the impact of the NHS Cancer Plan for England since its introduction in 2000 was published last month (Rachet et al 2009). In 2000, the [...]

Little research has been undertaken on the role of nurses in caring for older people with learning disabilities. Yet the number of older people with learning disabilities is set to [...]

Advances in cancer treatment mean that the number of people who survive cancer is increasing. However, many of those survivors have physical, emotional and social problems including fatigue, pain, anxiety [...]

Communication is central to quality nursing care. Evidence shows that when healthcare professionals communicate well patients are better able to express their individual needs. But staff may find communicating with [...]