Community and collaboration: a Parkinson's nurse shares her leading lights

This initiative is not new, but it works. It is proactive care, through collaboration with patients, their loved ones, and other specialist teams.

Dispelling the myths around the role of a general practice nurse

A GPN does not have to be a nurse that has completed an adult nursing degree; those that have completed child, mental health or learning disability degrees can also work as GPNs (NHS Health Careers,...

Dietitians: roles in the community and contribution to patient care

It can be easy to overlook the ‘pandemic’ of malnutrition in the UK. With the abundance of shops, restaurants and fast-food outlets in the country, and with the media focusing often on obesity-the...

Setting standards for specialist practice

The future of general practice nursing: ARRS, DES and students

Presented here have been several factors that will impact the GPN role as the nursing workforce in primary care and there are advantages and threats to each consideration. It is important to reflect...

Overcoming OSCE anxiety

OSCE anxiety is transient, unlike an anxiety disorder which is a common mental health presentation that persists for more than 6 months (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Test anxiety can...

Feasibility of adopting Minimum Education Standards for general practice nursing

Our ‘proof of concept’ test found that it was feasible to use Minimum Standards to review GPN courses collaboratively, assisted by a structured template and local facilitation. Stakeholders were in...

Changing mindsets to see the benefits of hosting students

We work very closely with Northumbria University and Health Education England and their Effective Learning Environments Team to ensure that we can offer the maximum number of student placements. We...

Tools, guidance and key events for general practice nurses

The Royal College of Nursing commissioned an independent review to identify and compare international definitions and guidance used to describe standard and transmission-based infection prevention...

The past, present and future of advanced nursing practice

Historically, there has been confusion surrounding the level of academic attainment, skills acquisition, knowledge and role identity that defines advanced nursing practice. However, more recently,...

Practice nurse workforce numbers: are we heading towards a problem?

Despite the need for practice nurses, the number of nurses working in primary care remains significantly lower in comparison to secondary care as shown in Figure 1. It is worth noting that NHS Digital...

The importance of robust education in general practice

Robust education, teaching, supervising and assessing learners are all essential elements to consider in relation to patient safety – but also to the retention of the nursing workforce. If a nurse is...