British Journal of Community Nursing最新文献

With their wide breadth of expertise and the ability to leverage the therapeutic relationship, community nurses are ideally placed to provide treatment and support to an extensive variety of patients with a diverse range of conditions. However, to date, oral health has remained a neglected domain in the community, especially in older demographics. Francesca Ramadan explores the barriers to community nurse provision of oral healthcare and the solutions proposed to overcome these challenges.

Background: Remote monitoring technologies show potential to help health professionals deliver preventative interventions which can avoid hospital admissions and allow patients to remain in a home setting.

Aims: To assess whether an Internet of Things (IoT) driven remote monitoring technology, used in the care pathway of community dementia patients in North Warwickshire improved access to care for patients and cost effectiveness.

Method: Patient level changes to anonymised retrospective healthcare utilisation data were analysed alongside costs.

Results: Urgent care decreased following use of an IoT driven remote monitoring technology; one preventative intervention avoided an average of three urgent interventions. A Chi-Square test showing this change as significant. Estimates show annualised service activity avoidance of £201,583 for the cohort; £8764 per patient.

Conclusions: IoT driven remote monitoring had a positive impact on health utilisation and cost avoidance. Future expansion of the cohort will allow for validation of the results and consider the impact of the technology on patient health outcomes and staff workflows.

In this month's Policy column, Iwan Dowie discusses the 'deprivation of liberty' - which is used to safeguard patients who may be lacking sufficient mental capacity to manage their own safety. The author, through previous legal cases, shares how the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS)-an amendment to the Mental Capacity Act 2005-came into being, and the importance of community nurses in knowing the DoLS.

More than 4.3 million people in the UK have been diagnosed with diabetes and there are thought to be a further 850 000 people living with diabetes who have not yet been diagnosed (Diabetes UK, 2024). Around half of all adults who have diabetes experience bladder dysfunction. It is one of the most common complications of diabetes, yet there is little in the medical literature and it is often unrecognised and poorly treated (Wittig et al, 2019). This article uses a case history approach to examine how diabetes can affect the bladder.

This paper provides and overview of the community support services that may be available for people with dementia and their family carers. The authors introduce dementia, including the impact of the diagnosis on both the person with dementia and the wider family. Using a case study approach, the authors describe the support available, spanning health and social care and third sector organisations. They discuss how this support can enable people with dementia and their carers to maintain wellbeing and cope with the impact of dementia. This article will be of interest to community nurses, and health and social care professionals more generally, who may encounter families affected by dementia in community settings. Having a good knowledge of the support available and how to access it will allow community nurses to capitalise on the health promotion opportunities presented to them, when they come into contact with families affected by dementia in the course of their day-to-day practice.

In community nursing, the administration of insulin for people with type 2 diabetes can be delegated by registered nurses to healthcare support workers. Although a voluntary framework in England provides national guidance, little is known about its uptake. The project aim was to determine the roll-out, characteristics and support needs in relation to the delegation of insulin administration in community settings. An online survey was disseminated to community nursing services in England via social media and nursing networks. Of the 115 responding organisations, 81% (n=93) had an insulin delegation programme, with most initiated since 2018. From these services, 41% (n=3704) of insulin injections were delegated daily, with benefits for patients, staff and services reported, along with some challenges. Delegation of insulin administration is an established and valued initiative. Awareness of the national voluntary framework is increasing. National guidance is considered important to support governance arrangements and safety.