Nursing events 2020 | Nursing and Healthcare 2020 | Nursing research 2020

Nursing events 2020 | Nursing and Healthcare 2020 | Nursing Research 2020

In order to provide further insight into the need for, philosophy, and scope of nursing research this appendix presents a position statement issued by the Commission on Nursing Research of the American Nurses' Association. It is quoted here in its entirety:

Recent years have seen a growing awareness among the public that valuable resources are finite and their use must be carefully considered. In this context, increasing attention is being given to the relative cost of various strategies for utilizing health care resources to meet the present and emerging needs of the nation. Concurrently, nurses are assuming increased decision-making responsibility for the delivery of health care, and they can be expected to continue to assume greater responsibility in the future. Therefore, the timeliness and desirability of identifying directions for nursing research that should receive priority in funding and effort in the 1980s is apparent.

The priorities identified below were developed by the Commission on Nursing Research of the American Nurses' Association, a nine-member group of nurses actively engaged in research whose backgrounds represent considerable diversity in preparation and experience. The priorities represent the consensus of the commissioners, developed through a process of thoughtful discussion and careful deliberation with colleagues.

Accountability to the public for the humane use of knowledge in providing effective and high quality services is the hallmark of a profession. Thus, the preeminent goal of scientific inquiry by nurses is the ongoing development of knowledge for use in the practice of nursing; priorities are stated in that context. Other guiding considerations were the present and anticipated health problems of the population; a historic appreciation of the circumstances in which nursing action has been most beneficial; nursing's philosophical orientation, in which emphasis is on a synthesis of psychosocial and biomedical phenomena to the end of promoting health and effective functioning; and projections regarding the types of decisions nurses will be making in the last decades of the twentieth century. New, unanticipated problems will undoubtedly confront the health care resources of the country; yet it is clear that many of the problems of the future are already manifest today. New knowledge is essential to bring about effective solutions. Nursing research directed to clinical needs can contribute in a significant way to development of those solutions.

Definition of Nursing Research

Nursing research develops knowledge about health and the promotion of health over the full lifespan, care of persons with health problems and disabilities, and nursing actions to enhance the ability of individuals to respond effectively to actual or potential health problems.

These foci of nursing research complement those of biomedical research, which is primarily concerned with causes and treatments of disease. Advancements in biomedical research have resulted in increased life expectancies, including life expectancies of those with serious injury and those with chronic or terminal disease. These biomedical advances have thus led to growth in the numbers of those who require nursing care to live with health problems, such as the frail elderly, the chronically ill, and the terminally ill.

Research conducted by nurses includes various types of studies in order to derive clinical interventions to assist those who require nursing care. The complexity of nursing research and its broad scope often require scientific underpinning from several disciplines. Hence, nursing research cuts across traditional research lines, and draws its methods from several fields.

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Nurse managers urged to be active in promoting environmental sustainability

The RCN is lobbying healthcare providers to adopt strategies on environmental sustainability

• The NHS is the largest public-sector contributor to climate change in Europe
• A resolution passed by RCN congress requires the college to lobby healthcare providers
• Healthcare providers are urged to develop sustainable policies and raise awareness of climate change

Nursing managers need to be aware of sustainability and think about what it may mean in their workplaces, the RCN says as it addresses climate change.

Gwen Vardigans speaking at RCN Congress. The RCN wants nurses to lobby healthcare providers for strategies on environmental sustainability and raise awareness of climate change.

The college is taking action following a debate at its annual congress, in May, in which nurses spoke passionately about the need for it to lead on climate change.

Members passed a resolution putting the issue on the organisation’s agenda for future action.

The congress resolution requires the college to lobby healthcare providers to develop environmentally sustainable policies and strategies, and to raise awareness of climate change.

During the debate Gwen Vardigans, from North Yorkshire, cited environmental protests by schoolchildren inspired by Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg, protests in London by the Extinction Rebellion movement and extreme weather events, as well as warnings from scientists and the World Health Organization.

She said action was critical and suggested that RCN representatives could become involved in their organisations, encouraging people to reduce waste, recycle and help reduce their carbon footprint.

‘Climate change is the biggest threat of our lives,’ Ms Vardigans told fellow nurses.

‘Sustainability is going to be with us for many years to come, and nurses are going to be at the centre of managing and supporting it’

RCN sustainability lead Rose Gallagher says that despite the many kinds of healthcare setting and nurses in the UK, there are several things that all nursing managers can do on climate change.

Nurses urged to learn about the sustainable development

She says: ‘The most important thing for managers is to be aware of the increasing priority of sustainability and think about what that might mean in your workplace.’

Ms Gallagher says work on sustainability has been growing for several years and urges nurses to familiarise themselves with the Sustainable Development Unit, which is funded by and accountable to NHS England and Public Health England.

Its job is to ensure that the health and care system fulfils its potential as a leading sustainable and low-carbon service. 

‘Sustainability is going to be with us for many years to come, and nurses are going to be at the centre of managing and supporting it, and bringing the public with us,’ says Ms Gallagher.

To learn more please visit World Nursing Congress 2020

5 Tips to Survive Nursing School

5 Tips to Survive Nursing School

The road to qualifying as a nurse is not an easy one. You could spend as little as one year at nursing school or as long as eight, depending on the qualification you’re aiming for. Either way, nursing school is not for the faint-hearted, and it can seem like a daily battle.

You’ll likely need to put in more study hours than other students, meaning less time for extracurricular activities or work. Budgeting can be tough for student nurses as they often have many extra costs but less funds. These include buying nursing scrubs, , but also have less time to take up paid work than other students. Nursing school can also be an emotional rollercoaster as you’ll no doubt see some upsetting scenes on your clinical experiences. You’ll have to quickly develop a strong stomach and thick skin while remaining empathetic with your patients.

but also have less time to take up paid work than other students. Nursing school can also be an emotional rollercoaster as you’ll no doubt see some upsetting scenes on your clinical experiences. You’ll have to quickly develop a strong stomach and thick skin while remaining empathetic with your patients.

 Whether you’ve just enrolled or you’re part-way through your course and finding it challenging, we’ve put together our five top tips for surviving nursing school. 

1. 5 Tips to survive Nursing School Get Organized

It can be tempting to ditch the books for an evening with friends, but skipping study will just set you back and cause stress. Student nurses have a lot more to juggle than other students, with a high number of study hours and clinical experiences to complete successfully.

Make study part of your daily routine by creating a timetable for the week and scheduling the same time each day to hit the books. Set a clear purpose for your study and check tasks off as you complete them. This will give you a sense of achievement and will motivate you to keep going. Avoid setting huge targets which will take months to achieve as you’re likely to get demoralized and give up. It’s a good idea to set new goals at the start of each semester. Do you want to improve your grades in a particular class? Are you determined to master a specific skill in your clinical placements? Don’t forget to make your goals SMART — Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely.

Keep your notes organized and review them after each class. Whether you use a laptop or a paper and pen, be sure to store your files in a way that makes it easy for you to access the information you need at a later date — your future you will thank the past you at exam prep time! 

2. 5 Tips to survive Nursing School Take Care of Yourself

It can be easy to drown yourself in study, classes, clinical experiences, and research. Nursing school requires a lot of hard work and commitment, but it’s important to make time to care for your health and wellbeing. If you’re functioning on a few hours sleep because you were up late cramming, your performance will be off and ultimately could risk someone’s life. Equally, if you’ve skipped meals, had no exercise and your stress levels are sky high, you’ll be of no use to anyone.

Sign up to the gym or work a daily run into your schedule. Getting out in the fresh air will clear your mind and re-energize you for study. There will be plenty of extracurricular activities to choose from at nursing school, from sports to theatre. Get active — physically, and socially. Taking time away from the books will make you more effective when it is time to study. 

Don’t skip meals. If time and dollars are tight, you might think missing out on lunch is a good way to save on both. Your brain won’t function at its best if your body isn’t well nourished. When you’re on clinical experience in a healthcare setting, you’ll likely be on your feet for long periods, and your brain will be working overtime to take in all the new information. It’s crucial to keep yourself well-nourished if you want to perform at your best.

3. 5 Tips to survive Nursing School Plan Ahead for Clinicals

A core element of your program will be clinical experiences. You will spend time in a healthcare setting and will start to learn the practical skills you’ll need as a nurse in supervised learning sessions. Clinical experience is your opportunity to put what you learn in the classroom into practice and to gain real-world experience of nursing. 

Get the most out of your clinical experiences by planning well ahead. Find out where you will be placed and do some research on the organization. What kind of medicine will you be involved in? Will you be in a Trauma 1 center, or have you been placed on an end-of-life ward? Read around the area of medicine that is most relevant. Talk to other nursing students who have completed their clinical experience at the same setting and gain insight into what to expect. The more prepared you are, the more you will learn. Don’t be afraid to take notes and a list of questions with you. The Medical staff you work with will appreciate the preparation you have put in.

Plan for the practical and logistical aspects of attending your clinical experience too. Where is it? How do you get there? Is there parking? What do they require you to wear? Is it necessary to buy scrubs and must they be a certain color? 

4. 5 Tips to survive Nursing School Stock up on the Essentials

A few simple pieces of equipment will make your life as a student nurse much easier and more enjoyable. You will likely need some pieces of medical uniform, such as nursing scrubs and nurses shoes. Find out from your college what the requirements are. Each clinical setting may have their own rules, so don’t forget to check with them too. A pair of comfortable nursing shoes can be a lifesaver when you’re on your feet all day!  

Invest in a good backpack which can take the weight of your books. Backpacks are better than totes as they tend to be stronger, more comfortable to carry, and they have multiple pockets and compartments which are useful for storing all your essentials. Make sure there’s space for your laptop or notebook, stationery, personal items such as tissues and a hairbrush, snacks and a water bottle.

Treat yourself to a new watch. Many of us rely on our cell phones to tell the time, but it may not be appropriate either in class or in a clinical setting to keep whipping out your phone. If you’re going to be a perfectly organized student, you’ll need to keep an eye on the time, and a watch is the most professional way to do so. 

5. 5 Tips to survive Nursing School Ask Questions!

When are learning something new, it can be daunting to risk looking dumb by asking a “stupid” question. The chances are, if you’re prepared and well-organized, your query will not be seen as stupid by your peers, your professors, or the professionals in a clinical setting. Remember, they all had to learn too, and there’s a good chance many other students have asked the same question before. You’re here to learn. Don’t miss out on an opportunity to do so by being too afraid to ask a question.

It can be helpful to write down questions you want to ask ahead of time — especially if you’ve researched the organization you will be attending for your next clinical experience. Of course, this is not always possible. So, if you have a spontaneous question, take a moment to think it through before you ask it. If you still want to ask the question after a brief moment of reflection, it’s probably worth asking! 

Stick with It — 5 Tips to survive Nursing School You Won’t Regret It.

Nursing school is tough. It can be financially difficult, emotionally draining, labor-intensive, and intellectually challenging. But the goals we find hardest to achieve are also the most rewarding. Imagine yourself walking across the stage at graduation, your head filled with all the knowledge you are now learning. As a qualified nurse, you’ll be helping to save lives and supporting people through some of their most difficult experiences. Nursing is an incredibly rewarding career. If you are ambitious and committed to a career in nursing, stick with it — you won’t regret it.

To learn more please visit World Nursing Congress 2020

Helping nurses to ‘defuse’ after difficult situations

Essential information

Making time for nursing teams to reflect on challenging or difficult situations and ‘defuse’ can support their psychological well-being and enhance their self-care and management, according to the RCN.

It can help to sustain a workforce, improve communication and reinforce teamwork. It allows teams to share successes and positive experiences.

What’s new

Advice on responding after challenging situations and when staff should meet to reflect on them is the subject of new guidance from the RCN.

The leaflet, Time and Space: Enabling Defusing Activities, sets out the benefits of giving nursing staff the chance to react to and reflect on the incident or event and gives advice on how this review should be structured.

It sets out advice on regular catch-ups before, during and after shifts, and a more detailed discussion after particularly busy or difficult shifts.

The leaflet is part of the RCN’s new package of mindfulness tools. These tools are intended to help nurses and other staff in all clinical settings focus on the present, protect themselves, reduce stress and improve patient care.

When it comes to defusing difficult situations, the nurse in charge should assume responsibility and explain the importance of honest and open communication and reflection, encouraging the team to connect regularly.

They should plan an agreed time that the whole team can get together mid-shift and briefly check that original task allocations are working and manageable, re-evaluate this if necessary and raise any concerns. The nurse in charge should bring the team together again at the end of the shift.

Following more challenging shifts, the RCN says that the nurse in charge should acknowledge it has been difficult, thank everyone for their efforts and allow strong views to be expressed.

It is an opportunity to reassure staff that what they are feeling is normal, and to give them a sense of proportion, perspective and control over what has happened. If physical restraint has been used, it is a chance to check the physical well-being of staff.

Implications for nurses

Advice for defusing sessions after difficult situations:

• Keep it fairly brief.
• Ask how everyone has been feeling during the shift and how they are feeling now.
• If any strong feelings or opinions are expressed, just let this happen. Do not feel that you have to rationalise these opinions or come up with an answer. The simple message should be, ‘it’s okay to have feelings and it’s okay to express them’.
• Ask staff if they have any important points or observations they want to make about anything that has happened during the shift or any problems, for instance, racial abuse, threats, issues with procedures or equipment. Do not try and solve these issues at this point. Where necessary, encourage staff to raise these issues at the weekly staff meeting/clinical supervision.
• Try to give staff a sense of proportion, perspective and control over what has been happening during the shift.
• Emphasise areas of good practice and thank staff.

To learn more please visit World Nursing Congress 2020

Applications invited for new children's nursing research awards

Applications invited for new children's nursing research awards

Two awards of £750 are on offer for a children's nurse and a nursing student to present their research at a conference

Two awards of £750 are being offered for a registered children’s nurse and an undergraduate or postgraduate nursing student to present their research at a UK conference.

Nursing Children and Young People, supported by the RCN's Research in Child Health community, is seeking applications for its awards in 2019-20.

Applicants should submit a 350-word abstract describing either a literature review or a research study they have been involved in from clinical practice.

Abstracts will be considered that focus on research design, research methods or studies where results are not yet available.

Brilliant opportunity to disseminate research widely

An award of £750 each will be made to a registered children’s nurse and a nursing student – undergraduate or postgraduate, including those on master’s degree and PhD programmes.

Applicants can seek support from their research or dissertation supervisor in writing the abstract. Winners will be expected to write an article for the journal.

Research in Child Health community chair Kate Oulton said: 'It is important that children's nurses are able to disseminate their research as widely as possible and conferences are an integral part of being able to do this. However, funding is difficult to find, so this is a brilliant opportunity.'

How to apply: Email Gia Aaron, Conference manager, World Nursing Congress 2020, for an application form or phone +3228081170 . The deadline for abstract submission is 15 November 2019.

School nurses develop ‘fun and interactive’ health website for students

Secondary schools in Surrey can access advice on physical and emotional well-being

School nurses have created a health and well-being website for students at secondary schools in Surrey.

The Safe Space Health website provides information on physical and emotional health and well-being ‘in an accessible, fun and interactive way’ to appeal to young people aged 11 to 14.

Specialist practitioner school nurse Katrina Sealey, who co-led the website’s development, was an RCNi Awards finalist in the child health category this year.

Ms Sealey and her co-lead Natasha Dawe said: ‘This website delivers health promotion in a way that young people want, as well as making the school nurse service more visible to them.’

Students were involved in the creation of the website, which was developed by Children and Family Health Surrey (CFHS) and offers information on:

• Healthy lifestyle choices
• Emotional health
• Growing up
• Keeping safe
• Being different
• Relationships

CFHS director Trudy Mills said the website was a fantastic resource for young people in Surrey.

‘School nurses have such an important role supporting students at school, and this new website will help them provide essential know-how to young people,’ she said.

To learn more please visit World Nursing Congress 2020 conference

Neurorehabilitation: nurse training programme calls for educational partner

The course, launched by Game of Thrones star EmiliaClarke, will enhance specialist skills

A programme to train more nurse specialists in neurorehabilitation, which is backed by Game of Thrones star and RCN ambassador Emilia Clarke, has reached one step further in its development.

When she launched neurorehabilitation charity Same You earlier this year, Ms Clarke revealed she had survived two aneurysms.

The charity, which will lead the implementation of the programme in partnership with the RCNFoundation, is now looking for an educational partner to develop and deliver the advanced practice neurorehabilitation education course.

Funding has already been secured for the master’s-level programme, which will be piloted for one year from September 2020.

The pioneering programme aims to enhance nurses’ skills and knowledge to support the mental, physical and cognitive needs of 18-40 year olds who have experienced an acquired brain injury or stroke.

Emilia Clarke said nurses ‘were there to give me support on every level’

Ms Clarke spoke at the RCNi Nurse Awards ceremony in July about the nursing care she received: ‘The nurses who helped me are the reason I was able to get back to a life I recognised.

‘They were there to give me support on every level, and to answer every question, to hold my hand, and to calm me.’

Predicted rise in stroke-associated disability

Figures from the StrokeAssociation show that around 25% of strokes in the UK occur in adults under 65 years of age, and it is estimated there will be 50% more people living with stroke-associated disability in the UK by 2035.

RCN Foundation director Deepa Korea said: ‘The development of advanced practice nurses within the field of cognitive and intellectual disability will support leadership, innovation, research and clinical development within the care pathway.’

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Curbing childhood obesity: investment in school nurses and health visitors is key – RCN

Public health warning as chief medical officer calls for snacking ban on public transport

The chief medical officer's call for a ban on eating on public transport to combat childhhood obesity has been welcomed by the RCN.

But the college's public health lead said nurses are struggling to meet the needs of families and children because of falling school nurse and health visitor numbers.

Helen Donovan, said nurses have long advocated the approach to childhood obesity outlined by England's outgoing chief medical officer Dame Sally Davies.

Investment in school nurses and health visitors

However, Ms Donovan said: ‘As well as the important and timely suggestions in the report there needs to be long-term investment to overcome widespread staffing shortages in these essential areas.

‘If there isn’t, children will continue to fall through the gaps and their health will suffer.’

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Professor Davies used her final report as chief medical officer to urge ministers to:

• Tighten regulation of how food manufacturers market to children.
• Widen the tax on sugary drinks to include sugar-laden milky drinks, such as milkshakes.
• Consider a plain packaging requirement for certain foods, emulating measures in the tobacco industry.

Professor Davies' stance is at odds with prime minister Boris Johnson, who has made clear his concerns about what he calls ‘sin taxes’ and ‘a continuing creep of the nanny state’.

Abstract submission nursing congress 2020

Obese children’s elevated risk of morbidity

Professor Davies said 1.2 million children in England are clinically obese, so are at increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes, asthma, musculoskeletal pain and depression.She said weight-loss programmes and treatment are frequently undermined.

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