Supporting people to self-manage their allergic rhinitis

Allergic rhinitis symptoms that are not controlled lead to adverse effects that significantly impact quality of life; these include headache, sore throat, hearing problems, sleep disturbance, poor...

Improving outcomes for older people with diabetes

There are increasing numbers of people with diabetes over the age of 65 years. This is principally driven by the rise in prevalence of type 2 diabetes (T2DM) that correlates with greater rates of...

Understanding primary prevention of cardiovascular disease

The NHS Health Check programme was designed to identify people with risk factors for CVD and ensure that they had access to the support and medication they might need to reduce that risk (Waterall,...

Understanding vaccine hesitancy: the evidence

The WHO commissioned a systematic review due to concern related to influenza vaccine hesitancy across the globe, which was particularly evident during the 2009–2010 H1N1 pandemic (WHO, 2016). The...

Make your voice heard on standards of specialist practice

What the practice nurse needs to know about Lyme disease

Infected ticks can be found all over the UK and are found in woodland, heathland and parkland, but have also been found in urban parks and gardens. You can be bitten and infected at any time of the...

Compulsory vaccinations: sensible or coercive?

Failure to support general practice

‘Practice Nursing provides nurses working in general practice with the tools to reach their full potential and deliver the best possible care to their patients. Our monthly journal informs and...

Recurrent venous leg ulcers: management in general practice

Once the VLU has healed, the focus needs to be on the prevention of recurrence. However, despite the high recurrence rate and associated costs of treating open ulceration, current Commissioning for...

Managing the side effects of contraception

Headache is a reported side effect of all hormonal methods of contraception, but is also very common in women of reproductive age, particularly those age >35 years old (Grossman Barr, 2010). Because...

Anaphylaxis: how to recognise and manage in primary care

‘a serious systemic hypersensitivity reaction that is usually rapid in onset and may cause death. Anaphylaxis is characterized by potentially life-threatening compromise in airway, breathing and/or...

The role of the practice nurse in cancer care reviews

An annual survey of cancer patients in England provides data on patients' experience in hospital and their out of hospital care (Picker, 2019). The out of hospital questions include support for...

Cervical Screening Awareness Week: getting the facts out

14–20 June is Cervical Screening Awareness Week. We have a valuable opportunity to highlight the importance of the test but also to communicate what HPV testing is, and what it means to have HPV....

Weight loss and financial incentives: a flawed scheme?

But what does the evidence show? When Korean mathematicians Lee et al (2021) devised an epidemic model to investigate the theoretical role of financial incentives to see how they might usefully...

How will you celebrate International Nurses' Day?

‘Practice Nursing provides nurses working in general practice with the tools to reach their full potential and deliver the best possible care to their patients. Our monthly journal informs and...