Opinion
Nurses! Test Yourself in Non-Medical Prescribing Noel Harris and Diane Shearer Open University Press £15.99 | 240pp ISBN: 9780335244997 THIS WELL written and useful book covers all facets of the non‑medical prescribing curriculum, including consultation skills, clinical decision making, pharmacology, drug calculations, legal and ethical issues, safe prescribing, adverse events and concordance. The book asks questions and explains the answers, which allows the reader to cover any gaps in their knowledge. It could help nurses to accumulate evidence for revalidation and ensure their prescribing qualifications are up to date. Karin Cannons is a nurse consultant in pain management at Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust
Cultivating Compassion: How Digital Storytelling is Transforming Healthcare Pip Hardy and Tony Sumner (Eds) Kingsham Press £15.95 | 315pp ISBN: 9781904235354 DIGITAL STORYTELLING encourages practitioners to think about the patients who have told their stories and how to provide them with better care. The authors of this book, who write from personal experience, emphasise the importance of patient involvement, compassion, teamwork and communication. This book will appeal to experienced nurses and nursing students alike. Emma Vincent is a clinical nurse specialist in pulmonary rehabilitation and interstitial lung disease, at University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust EMERGENCY NURSE
Anatomy Quiz Pro
NHS Quit Smoking
Real Bodywork £1.49 | App Store £1.21 | Google Play
NHS Choices Free | App Store
MANY APPS for teaching about anatomy have been issued, but the developers of this one took the novel approach of using multiple‑choice quizzes. The app is proving popular with students and is an excellent study tool for basic anatomy. It includes three‑dimensional illustrations of more than 400 of the body’s anatomical structures, including 167 bones, 111 organs, and 138 muscles and muscle groups. The user taps an illustration to see a quiz or taps elsewhere on the screen to see the next illustration. Users can also create their own quizzes on specific structures, turn on a timer option to answer questions against the clock, or be quizzed on only what they have missed. Bridget Ryan is a bank nurse in Birmingham
NHS QUIT Smoking, issued as part of the NHS’s Smokefree campaign, is designed to be used during the first 28 days of giving up smoking. It provides motivational messages, progress timelines and financial calculations to encourage quitters. On downloading the app, users key in information about their daily cigarette consumption and reasons for quitting. It provides motivational messages and badges, which users can personalise in video or audio form. The app also has useful links to sites and distraction games, and a financial calculator to show how much money users have saved by quitting. For example, it told me that, after ten days of non‑smoking, I have saved a total of £42.12. Roll on day 28! Kelly Smith is an advertising executive at RCNi
Letter Verbal or written advice? ANN WILKINSON’S article (Emergency Nurse, March) was interesting and included good use of evidence‑based tools and a broad literature review about the physical aspects of managing patients attending with a sore throat. It was stated, in the case study, that information was given to the young woman so she could self‑care after her discharge from an emergency department. It would be interesting to know whether the information was given verbally, in written format or both, and what information was provided. Other emergency nurse practitioners (ENPs) can then decide whether the method would be appropriate where they work. Additionally, it would have been useful to know how the ENP checked if the young woman had understood the information. Claire Picton is an associate lecturer in emergency and unscheduled care, at Buckinghamshire New University
Author response THE YOUNG woman in the case study was given a five‑day course of phenoxymethylpenicillin with a follow‑up appointment with her GP at five days for the remainder of the course. She was advised to drink plenty of fluids and to take analgesia if needed. Advice was given verbally with any other concerns to be directed towards the GP before the follow‑up appointment. To ensure the patient understood the plan of care, she was asked to confirm it verbally before discharge. It was also ensured she was aware of how to access the 111 telephone advice line and her GP service in and out of hours. No written advice on this subject was available in the department at time of writing. Ann Wilkinson is an emergency nurse practitioner at the minor injuries unit, Sir Robert Peel Community Hospital, Tamworth, Staffordshire, part of Burton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust May 2015 | Volume 23 | Number 2 13
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Nurses! Test Yourself in Non-Medical Prescribing Noel Harris and Diane Shearer Open University Press £15.99 | 240pp ISBN: 9780335244997 THIS WELL written and useful book covers all facets of the non‑medical prescribing curriculum, including consultation skills, clinical decision making, pharmacology, drug calculations, legal and ethical issues, safe prescribing, adverse events and concordance. The book asks questions and explains the answers, which allows the reader to cover any gaps in their knowledge. It could help nurses to accumulate evidence for revalidation and ensure their prescribing qualifications are up to date. Karin Cannons is a nurse consultant in pain management at Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust
Cultivating Compassion: How Digital Storytelling is Transforming Healthcare Pip Hardy and Tony Sumner (Eds) Kingsham Press £15.95 | 315pp ISBN: 9781904235354 DIGITAL STORYTELLING encourages practitioners to think about the patients who have told their stories and how to provide them with better care. The authors of this book, who write from personal experience, emphasise the importance of patient involvement, compassion, teamwork and communication. This book will appeal to experienced nurses and nursing students alike. Emma Vincent is a clinical nurse specialist in pulmonary rehabilitation and interstitial lung disease, at University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust EMERGENCY NURSE
Anatomy Quiz Pro
NHS Quit Smoking
Real Bodywork £1.49 | App Store £1.21 | Google Play
NHS Choices Free | App Store
MANY APPS for teaching about anatomy have been issued, but the developers of this one took the novel approach of using multiple‑choice quizzes. The app is proving popular with students and is an excellent study tool for basic anatomy. It includes three‑dimensional illustrations of more than 400 of the body’s anatomical structures, including 167 bones, 111 organs, and 138 muscles and muscle groups. The user taps an illustration to see a quiz or taps elsewhere on the screen to see the next illustration. Users can also create their own quizzes on specific structures, turn on a timer option to answer questions against the clock, or be quizzed on only what they have missed. Bridget Ryan is a bank nurse in Birmingham
NHS QUIT Smoking, issued as part of the NHS’s Smokefree campaign, is designed to be used during the first 28 days of giving up smoking. It provides motivational messages, progress timelines and financial calculations to encourage quitters. On downloading the app, users key in information about their daily cigarette consumption and reasons for quitting. It provides motivational messages and badges, which users can personalise in video or audio form. The app also has useful links to sites and distraction games, and a financial calculator to show how much money users have saved by quitting. For example, it told me that, after ten days of non‑smoking, I have saved a total of £42.12. Roll on day 28! Kelly Smith is an advertising executive at RCNi
Letter Verbal or written advice? ANN WILKINSON’S article (Emergency Nurse, March) was interesting and included good use of evidence‑based tools and a broad literature review about the physical aspects of managing patients attending with a sore throat. It was stated, in the case study, that information was given to the young woman so she could self‑care after her discharge from an emergency department. It would be interesting to know whether the information was given verbally, in written format or both, and what information was provided. Other emergency nurse practitioners (ENPs) can then decide whether the method would be appropriate where they work. Additionally, it would have been useful to know how the ENP checked if the young woman had understood the information. Claire Picton is an associate lecturer in emergency and unscheduled care, at Buckinghamshire New University
Author response THE YOUNG woman in the case study was given a five‑day course of phenoxymethylpenicillin with a follow‑up appointment with her GP at five days for the remainder of the course. She was advised to drink plenty of fluids and to take analgesia if needed. Advice was given verbally with any other concerns to be directed towards the GP before the follow‑up appointment. To ensure the patient understood the plan of care, she was asked to confirm it verbally before discharge. It was also ensured she was aware of how to access the 111 telephone advice line and her GP service in and out of hours. No written advice on this subject was available in the department at time of writing. Ann Wilkinson is an emergency nurse practitioner at the minor injuries unit, Sir Robert Peel Community Hospital, Tamworth, Staffordshire, part of Burton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust May 2015 | Volume 23 | Number 2 13
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