News Nursing Children and Young People, supported by the RCN’s Research in Child Health Community, has awarded two nurses £750 each to present findings from their child health-related research at an RCN affiliated conference. Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust lead project nurse Naomi Oldreive devised a game called Blood Quest to prepare children for venepuncture. Queen’s University Belfast’s School of Nursing and Midwifery lecturer Patricia McNeilly studied the experience of professionals, parents and patients in decision making about disabled children and young people’s care. Children and young people should routinely be offered the opportunity to participate in and benefit from medical research, according to updated guidance from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. The practical information on ethical issues relating to research involving children reflects changes in EU regulations over the past 14 years. Go to: tinyurl.com/jvwl9jf An action plan to improve the health and development of newborns and reduce child mortality has been launched by a coalition of children’s organisations at the Partners’ Forum in Johannesburg, South Africa. The plan, Every Newborn, has been co-ordinated by UNICEF and the World Health Organization. Go to: www.everynewborn.org/about Health unions have welcomed the Scottish Government’s pledge to create an extra 500 health visitors posts in Scotland over the next four years. Scottish health secretary Alex Neil said it will invest in health visitors’ education and create the new posts by 2017/18.RCN Scotland nursing director Theresa Fyffe said it ‘is a significant step in the right direction’. See analysis, page 8 6
July 2014 | Volume 26 | Number 6
Neil O’Connor
In brief
Suicide patterns in young people to come under scrutiny A UK-WIDE investigation to examine the causes of suicide in children and young people and recommend prevention strategies has been launched by the University of Manchester. The investigation comes after University of Manchester research showed that 700 people aged under 25 die by suicide in the UK every year. It will explore the impact that bullying has on young people and their access to support services. The project will examine the role of social media and the internet in suicides, including
Community placements need to be spread more evenly across country GREATER INVESTMENT is needed to provide a more consistent spread of student practice placements in community children’s nursing across the UK, children’s nursing lecturers and nurses have warned. During a fringe session at RCN congress in Liverpool last month, delegates spoke of the difficulties in getting community placements for nursing students, as well as jobs for newly qualified nurses, in many areas of the UK. RCN children and young people’s continuing and community care forum deputy co-chair Laura Marshall echoed their concerns. She told Nursing Children and Young People: ‘Some areas have a rich volume of community placements and big teams for nursing students to get experience with, but we also know
those appearing to occur in clusters or follow a ‘copy cat’ pattern. The National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness will be led by University of Manchester professor of psychiatry Louis Appleby. Professor Appleby said: ‘Suicide is one of the main causes of death in young people. Despite this, there is no current system nationally for reporting suicide trends or recommending priorities for prevention in this specific age group.’ there are still places in the UK that have poor community placements, if any at all.’ She presented the fringe session with newly published guidance on the future challenges and opportunities in community children’s nursing, including workforce roles and skill mix.
Practice and specialist roles defined in guide THE RCN has published a guide to clarify the distinction between advanced practice and specialist roles in children and young people’s nursing practice. The college’s children and young people’s specialist care forum developed the guide to help nurses and commissioners understand what is meant by advanced practice and how it differs from the roles of nurse specialist, advanced nurse practitioner and nurse consultant. Go to: tinyurl.com/o8wevhk NURSING CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE
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July 2014 | Volume 26 | Number 6
Neil O’Connor
In brief
Suicide patterns in young people to come under scrutiny A UK-WIDE investigation to examine the causes of suicide in children and young people and recommend prevention strategies has been launched by the University of Manchester. The investigation comes after University of Manchester research showed that 700 people aged under 25 die by suicide in the UK every year. It will explore the impact that bullying has on young people and their access to support services. The project will examine the role of social media and the internet in suicides, including
Community placements need to be spread more evenly across country GREATER INVESTMENT is needed to provide a more consistent spread of student practice placements in community children’s nursing across the UK, children’s nursing lecturers and nurses have warned. During a fringe session at RCN congress in Liverpool last month, delegates spoke of the difficulties in getting community placements for nursing students, as well as jobs for newly qualified nurses, in many areas of the UK. RCN children and young people’s continuing and community care forum deputy co-chair Laura Marshall echoed their concerns. She told Nursing Children and Young People: ‘Some areas have a rich volume of community placements and big teams for nursing students to get experience with, but we also know
those appearing to occur in clusters or follow a ‘copy cat’ pattern. The National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness will be led by University of Manchester professor of psychiatry Louis Appleby. Professor Appleby said: ‘Suicide is one of the main causes of death in young people. Despite this, there is no current system nationally for reporting suicide trends or recommending priorities for prevention in this specific age group.’ there are still places in the UK that have poor community placements, if any at all.’ She presented the fringe session with newly published guidance on the future challenges and opportunities in community children’s nursing, including workforce roles and skill mix.
Practice and specialist roles defined in guide THE RCN has published a guide to clarify the distinction between advanced practice and specialist roles in children and young people’s nursing practice. The college’s children and young people’s specialist care forum developed the guide to help nurses and commissioners understand what is meant by advanced practice and how it differs from the roles of nurse specialist, advanced nurse practitioner and nurse consultant. Go to: tinyurl.com/o8wevhk NURSING CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE
Downloaded from rcnpublishing.com by ${individualUser.displayName} on Aug 17, 2014. For personal use only. No other uses without permission. Copyright © 2014 RCN Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.
