Opinion
Letter THE RISING number of people with dementia is making more and more demands on the country’s healthcare budget, with the cost of caring for this patient group to the NHS in England, Wales and Northern Ireland being about £23 billion a year (Alzheimer’s Society 2012). Senior staff often have sophisticated methods of managing and communicating with patients with dementia that are unavailable to newly registered nurses. There are no shortcuts to acquisition of the skills senior staff develop over several years and many nurses who are beginning work in emergency departments (EDs) find managing patients with dementia daunting. One way to help them is to include dementia care in pre-registration training programmes. A great deal of information must be conveyed in these programmes and not all topics can be covered in detail.
Nevertheless, training can make the difference between standardised and excellent care. And just as staff can undertake courses in resuscitation, non-invasive ventilation and triage, they can take courses in the care of people with dementia.
Science Photo Library
Training in dementia care
I qualified as a nurse about six months ago and recently attended a dementia training day. As a result, my practice in caring for this group of patients has improved significantly. I can communicate with patients in different ways and have a better understanding of how to provide excellent care. As the population ages and concerns about the NHS budget increase, the more that emergency nurses know about the complexities of dementia care, the better. They can ensure that people with the condition are managed effectively and spend less time in hospital, and that their families and carers have better experiences of services. Petra Alberto is an emergency department staff nurse at Charing Cross Hospital, part of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London
Reference Alzheimer’s Society (2012) Dementia 2012: A National Challenge. tinyurl.com/py5hqgm (Last accessed: September 12 2014.)
Janet Youd
The bigger picture One day recently, let’s call it wobbly Wednesday, I was reminded of why emergency nurses must nurture their mental wellbeing. I had had no major life event or illness, but after a series of minor domestic mishaps, including taking my children to the wrong holiday club, and with multiple deadlines looming, I felt life was out of control. In summary, I was stressed. Some stress is helpful. There is nothing like a deadline to force an emergency nurse to finish an essay, or a trauma call to make a shift ‘interesting’. But there comes a point when stress becomes distress. If home stress is low, I thrive on more work stress. But if home stress rises, work stress can tip the balance. This is not because of major incidents or significant resuscitations: like most emergency nurses, I appreciate the adrenaline they induce. Rather, it’s the small incidents that accumulate to cause distress: a bedpan EMERGENCY NURSE
brought to a patient one minute too late, delayed analgesia for a child in pain, being late because there are no parking spaces, and an email inbox too full to send or receive. On wobbly Wednesday, I realised that things had to change or my mental health would suffer. So, after sharing how I felt with a trusted colleague, I wrote a to-do list for work and home. Delegation Next, I highlighted all the things I could delegate and prioritised the undelegated tasks into four groups: ■■ Important and urgent. ■■ Important but not urgent. ■■ Urgent but not important. ■■ Neither urgent nor important. I allocated specific times in my diary for tasks in the first two groups and deleted most of the rest. As a result, visitors have just had to accept my children’s playroom is untidy. One month on, I feel much better.
For me, allocating diary time was crucial to feeling back in control. I try to concentrate on the things I can change, rather than the things I can’t. I try to accept being a ‘good enough’ mum and wife, and am mindful during the time I spend with my family. I have also started a weekly dancing class to add some exercise and fun into my life. Yes, I still experience work stress but I enjoy the challenge because I am in control of my life. While I realise my strategy won’t work for everyone, finding a personal way to effectively manage stress is essential for mental wellbeing and vital for all emergency nurses. ■■ To view Five Steps to Mental Wellbeing, on the NHS Choices website, go to: tinyurl.com/bz2dfu2 Janet Youd is chair of the RCN Emergency Care Association, and a nurse consultant in emergency care at Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust
October 2014 | Volume 22 | Number 6 11
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Letter THE RISING number of people with dementia is making more and more demands on the country’s healthcare budget, with the cost of caring for this patient group to the NHS in England, Wales and Northern Ireland being about £23 billion a year (Alzheimer’s Society 2012). Senior staff often have sophisticated methods of managing and communicating with patients with dementia that are unavailable to newly registered nurses. There are no shortcuts to acquisition of the skills senior staff develop over several years and many nurses who are beginning work in emergency departments (EDs) find managing patients with dementia daunting. One way to help them is to include dementia care in pre-registration training programmes. A great deal of information must be conveyed in these programmes and not all topics can be covered in detail.
Nevertheless, training can make the difference between standardised and excellent care. And just as staff can undertake courses in resuscitation, non-invasive ventilation and triage, they can take courses in the care of people with dementia.
Science Photo Library
Training in dementia care
I qualified as a nurse about six months ago and recently attended a dementia training day. As a result, my practice in caring for this group of patients has improved significantly. I can communicate with patients in different ways and have a better understanding of how to provide excellent care. As the population ages and concerns about the NHS budget increase, the more that emergency nurses know about the complexities of dementia care, the better. They can ensure that people with the condition are managed effectively and spend less time in hospital, and that their families and carers have better experiences of services. Petra Alberto is an emergency department staff nurse at Charing Cross Hospital, part of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London
Reference Alzheimer’s Society (2012) Dementia 2012: A National Challenge. tinyurl.com/py5hqgm (Last accessed: September 12 2014.)
Janet Youd
The bigger picture One day recently, let’s call it wobbly Wednesday, I was reminded of why emergency nurses must nurture their mental wellbeing. I had had no major life event or illness, but after a series of minor domestic mishaps, including taking my children to the wrong holiday club, and with multiple deadlines looming, I felt life was out of control. In summary, I was stressed. Some stress is helpful. There is nothing like a deadline to force an emergency nurse to finish an essay, or a trauma call to make a shift ‘interesting’. But there comes a point when stress becomes distress. If home stress is low, I thrive on more work stress. But if home stress rises, work stress can tip the balance. This is not because of major incidents or significant resuscitations: like most emergency nurses, I appreciate the adrenaline they induce. Rather, it’s the small incidents that accumulate to cause distress: a bedpan EMERGENCY NURSE
brought to a patient one minute too late, delayed analgesia for a child in pain, being late because there are no parking spaces, and an email inbox too full to send or receive. On wobbly Wednesday, I realised that things had to change or my mental health would suffer. So, after sharing how I felt with a trusted colleague, I wrote a to-do list for work and home. Delegation Next, I highlighted all the things I could delegate and prioritised the undelegated tasks into four groups: ■■ Important and urgent. ■■ Important but not urgent. ■■ Urgent but not important. ■■ Neither urgent nor important. I allocated specific times in my diary for tasks in the first two groups and deleted most of the rest. As a result, visitors have just had to accept my children’s playroom is untidy. One month on, I feel much better.
For me, allocating diary time was crucial to feeling back in control. I try to concentrate on the things I can change, rather than the things I can’t. I try to accept being a ‘good enough’ mum and wife, and am mindful during the time I spend with my family. I have also started a weekly dancing class to add some exercise and fun into my life. Yes, I still experience work stress but I enjoy the challenge because I am in control of my life. While I realise my strategy won’t work for everyone, finding a personal way to effectively manage stress is essential for mental wellbeing and vital for all emergency nurses. ■■ To view Five Steps to Mental Wellbeing, on the NHS Choices website, go to: tinyurl.com/bz2dfu2 Janet Youd is chair of the RCN Emergency Care Association, and a nurse consultant in emergency care at Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust
October 2014 | Volume 22 | Number 6 11
Downloaded from RCNi.com by ${individualUser.displayName} on Nov 27, 2015. For personal use only. No other uses without permission. Copyright © 2015 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
