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Editor’s blog - Star Date two, zero, one, four. It’s a good job, being an editor.

Editor’s blog - Star Date two, zero, one, four

Every day is different and every day is the same. Most days I am editing copy, getting articles sent for review, commissioning authors, proof reading, sorting out the plan for the next issues, checking headlines, pictures, captions and pictures credits. I attend meetings, deal with a mound of emails, make phone calls and browse the web to keep up to date with the profession and the competition. Editor’s blog – Star Date two, zero, one, four: Guardian angels. As a journalist I receive emails from the Nursing and Midwifery Council about its disciplinary hearings.

Editor’s blog – Star Date two, zero, one, four: Guardian angels

They list the names of nurses, the charges against them, and when and where their hearings will take place. It is interesting to see what accusations warrant investigation by the nursing regulator. The range of charges varies from what look like minor misdemeanours, such as failing to record that a particular nursing action has taken place, to acts of negligence, theft, cruelty and even serious assaults against vulnerable patients.

Editor’s Blog- star date two zero one four: Staff-patient rations. There’s a word that I always type incorrectly – somehow ‘ratios’ always comes out as ‘rations’.

Editor’s Blog- star date two zero one four: Staff-patient rations

And when I think about nurse-patient ratios, ‘rations’ becomes a Freudian slip. American nurse academic Linda Aiken has been writing about this stuff for years. She’s proven beyond doubt that increasing the number and qualifications of nurses in general hospitals improves patient outcomes and lowers mortality. Her latest research, repeating the same study in Europe, produced the same results in England and eight other European countries. In a nutshell this is what she found: Patients treated in hospitals where 60 per cent of the nurses were educated to degree level and where nurses cared for an average of six patients, had almost 30 per cent lower mortality than patients in hospitals where only 30 per cent of nurses had degrees and nurses cared for an average of eight patients. Editor’s Blog – Star Date Two Zero One Four: Would you want to know? Would you take a blood test that would enable you to predict with 90% certainty whether you will get dementia?

Editor’s Blog – Star Date Two Zero One Four: Would you want to know?

According to reports in the media (www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-26480756), US researchers have developed such a test, which examines lipids in the bloodstream and is said to be 90 % accurate at predicting Alzheimer’s disease. My dad developed dementia in his late 70s. Progress towards ending female genital mutilation. “You will know you are making a difference when you have to publicly defend the campaign.”

Progress towards ending female genital mutilation

These were the wise words of a friend and seasoned campaigner when 28 Too Many was launched and we began our research into female genital mutilation (FGM) in Africa. Therefore I am not surprised that as campaigns against FGM gain momentum there is a backlash and public opposition. Gender injustice. Sharing patient information: the government’s care.data plans. Polio-free India. A fantastic achievement. Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) declining globally. FGM is declining globally.

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) declining globally

That’s probably not a headline you’ve seen much of recently, but according to a 2013 UNICEF report ‘the dangerous centuries-old tradition is now on a slow but steady decline in key areas around the world’. What great news that is. But it’s not what we heard on International Day of Zero Tolerance, an annual UN sponsored awareness day, when the European Parliament’s Gender Equality Committee proposed that Europe should toughen its stance against FGM and that ‘cutting’ practitioners should be prosecuted. MEP Marina Yannakoudakis, a member of the committee, said: ‘We need to take firm action… to punish those responsible for the mutilation of our little girls, and put a stop to this cruel and barbaric crime for good.’

She is not alone in this call. Evaluating nursing handover: the REED model. This week’s Twitter Journal Club will be discussing an article by Alison Tucker and Peter Gaff describing the REED (record, evidence, enquire, discuss) model of handover.

Evaluating nursing handover: the REED model

The authors reflect on the history of nursing handover, and discuss the different types of handover and the need for standardisation. The article provides a step-by-step approach to the implementation of a new model of nursing handover on an acute ward. You can find the full article from Nursing Standard here, but to whet your taste buds, here’s a short introduction to the piece: Rain, Wind and Self-Management. It’s been a busy couple of weeks with no let up in the weather and as we went from wet and wind to a short cold snap many A&E’s were stretched.

Rain, Wind and Self-Management

Here at the Homerton we found many COPD patients are struggling at this time of the year with an increase in hospital admissions and calls to our hospital-at-home team as they experience flare-ups of their COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease). Nurse interpreters needed to guide patients. David Haslam says that patients should learn to stand up for themselves better.

Nurse interpreters needed to guide patients

But even as a young nurse working on a surgical ward I was always impressed by the stoicism and courage that ordinary people showed in difficult circumstances. It’s worth remembering how tough it is to be a patient. There is the stress of mental and physical deterioration to cope with, never mind the pain and fear not only of the condition but also of the treatment. And there is the effect of the uncertainty that the health system inevitably creates. Abortion: an automatic right? Abortion is rarely out of the news these days.

Abortion: an automatic right?

Although legal in most of the UK (it is not legal in Northern Ireland) since the 1967 Abortion Act, its availability remains contentious. There are frequent discussions about reducing the time limit from the current 24 weeks of pregnancy – the accepted point at which a fetus is considered viable. Some politicians think it should be reduced to 12 weeks. Infant determinism. An ‘enforced caesarean’ and adoption story recently dominated media headlines. But the grounds for allowing the child to be placed for adopted are based on contestable theory – infant determinism.

The precise case details remain unclear but we know from the court transcript of Feb 2013 that a pregnant Italian woman had been detained under section 2 (and subsequently section 3) of the Mental Health Act during a trip to Britain in June 2012. She had a diagnosed bipolar affective disorder (manic depressive) condition but wasn’t taking her prescribed medication.

More power to nursing practitioners. I’ve spent the past 12 months being investigated, referred, treated, referred again and treated again within the NHS. Trekking the Great Wall and my personal 6Cs. In 2014 I plan to walk parts of the Great Wall of China to raise money for the British Lung Foundation (BLF) a charity that works hard to raise the voice of people living with lung diseases. In my day job I lead an integrated respiratory team supporting mainly COPD patients across home and hospital. 2013 was an amazing year for me with the highlight of winning the RCN / Nursing Standard Nurse of the Year Award. This was a very proud moment for me that will echo throughout the rest of my nursing career. As I embarked on my journey as Nurse of the Year I was lucky enough to be able to meet so many inspiring people such as Baroness Aubrey and the CNO Jane Cummings as well as many many nurses all of who remain so positive in such difficult times.

Who Gets Paid What in the NHS? With an army of 1.7 million employees, the NHS is now the fourth biggest employer in the world, behind the Chinese military, Wal-Mart and Indian Railways. NICE and banning smoking on NHS premises. If Brains Were Dynamite…… The economic migration of Nurses from developing countries. Training African nurses in Africa, which is what Do Good Charity supports financially, is generally viewed positively here. It’s deemed a worthwhile cause because we’re investing in poor people’s education and training. Authentic networking. When building a professional network, there is a plethora of tools, websites and apps for creating the “nuts and bolts” of your professional persona, as well as your online (and offline) presence.