British journal of community nursing
-
Br J Community Nurs · Jan 2008
ReviewDealing sensitively with sexuality in a palliative care context.
Sexuality is integral to a person's identity and is encompassed in holistic palliative care. Current directives emphasize psychosocial support that is sensitive to a variety of issues, including sexuality, and offer community nurses the mandate to facilitate expressing sexuality. Nurses fail to address sexuality for a variety of reasons. ⋯ This guides the 'what', 'how' and 'why' sexuality in palliative care can be addressed. Ethics and safety aspects are briefly discussed and implications for practice suggested. Educating staff and focused education for the patient can positively influence sexuality and individuals' quality of life.
-
Br J Community Nurs · Sep 2007
ReviewCOPD and coping with breathlessness at home: a review of the literature.
Patients with COPD and their partners often feel isolated while trying to cope with the psychological and physical effects of their condition and the change in their quality of life. Research studies support the fact that some patients with COPD cope better with their breathlessness at home with appropriate community support. ⋯ However, there appears to be an imbalance in the provision of community support/palliative care for COPD patients who have a life-limiting illness compared to other patients with a life limiting illness and a cancer diagnosis. Where 'hospital at home' and support in the community for COPD patients occurs it is provided in many different ways and has been shown to reduce the necessity for acute hospital admissions.
-
Overgranulation is a difficult condition to deal with and is thought to be due to possible infection or to use of occlusive dressings. The overgranulating tissue can be soft and oedematous with a shiny appearance. The fastest route to treatment (steroids or silver nitrate) may be aggressive and should be used sparingly (if at all). This article provides an outline of the process or tissue overgranulation in wounds and its appropriate clinical management.
-
Br J Community Nurs · Jun 2007
Review Comparative StudyEuthanasia: is there a case for changing the law?
Calls for a change in the law to allow strictly controlled forms of voluntary euthanasia and assisted dying in the United Kingdom continue following two recent cases. In this article Richard Griffith reviews the current stance of the law on euthanasia and assisted dying and discusses attempts at reform made by Lord Joffe in the Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill 2005 (HL).
-
Pretibial lacerations are a common occurrence in the older patient, however there is no clearly recognized protocol for the management of these wounds. This article aims to look at the published literature and identify what treatments are recommended and what work if any has been undertaken to develop protocols for the management of these wounds.