Understanding nurses' responsibilities in promoting equality and diversity.

Nurses have a duty to promote the values of equality and diversity during their interactions with patients and their families and carers, as well as peers and colleagues. This article defines the terms equality, diversity and inclusion, and explains the importance of the Equality Act 2010 and the Human Rights Act 1998 in protecting people from various types of discrimination. It also outlines nurses' responsibilities in promoting equality and diversity by treating all patients and colleagues with respect and dignity, providing compassionate leadership, and practising in accordance with the ethical principle of justice. The article encourages and empowers nurses to recognise and challenge discrimination wherever they see it, thereby delivering high-quality care to all patients.

Play Within the Pre-registration Children's Nursing Curriculum Within the United Kingdom: A Content Analysis of Programme Specifications.

PURPOSE: To determine the number of programme specifications which cite play within the curriculum and in what context. Play is an essential part of childhood. Therefore we might expect nurses caring for children to be trained in how to facilitate play within their clinical areas. Programme specifications provide information on course aims, the intended learning outcomes and what the learner is expected to achieve. DESIGN AND METHOD: Inductive qualitative content analysis. RESULTS: Only 13% (seven out of 54) programme specifications published by Higher Education Institutions cite play. Where play is mentioned there is a clear link made to use play as a communication tool. Also distraction figured prominently within the same sentence as play, despite these two terms being quite distinct. The availability of the programme specifications was also noted with 49% (28 out of 57) were easily accessible from the university web sites. A further 16% (9 out of 57) provided web links when access was requested. 35% were not publicly accessible without requesting access. Three Universities declined to be involved. CONCLUSION: It is clear that even if play is embedded within the child field nursing curriculum, it is not clearly stated as a priority within 87% of universities programme specifications which make no mention of it. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: If play is not part of programme specifications its importance could be lost to educators already delivering a full curriculum. Nurses could be qualifying with little or no knowledge around their role in facilitating play for their patients.

Clinical supervision: an important part of every nurse's practice.

Clinical supervision involves a supportive relationship between supervisor and supervisee that facilitates reflective learning and is part of professional socialisation. Clinical supervision can take many different forms and may be adapted to suit local circumstances. A working agreement is required between the parties to the supervision and issues surrounding confidentiality must be understood. High-quality clinical supervision leads to greater job satisfaction and less stress. When it is absent or inadequate, however, the results can be serious and it is particularly important that student nurses are well supported in this way. Further research in this area is necessary.

The discovery of potent nonstructural protein 5A (NS5A) inhibitors with a unique resistance profile-Part†2.

In ongoing studies towards novel hepatitis C virus (HCV) therapeutics, inhibitors of nonstructural protein 5A (NS5A) were evaluated. Specifically, starting from previously reported lead compounds, peripheral substitution patterns of a series of biaryl-linked pyrrolidine NS5A replication complex inhibitors were probed and structure-activity relationships were elucidated. Using molecular modelling and a supercritical fluid chromatographic (SFC) technique, intramolecular H-bonding and peripheral functional group topology were evaluated as key determinants of activity and membrane permeability. The novel compounds exhibited retained potency as compared with the lead compounds, and also showed promising results against a panel of resistance viruses. Together, the results of the study take us a step closer towards understanding the potency of daclatasvir, a clinical candidate upon which the compounds were based, and to designing improved analogues as second-generation antiviral agents targeting NS5A.

Excisional arthroplasty for patellar loosening in total knee arthroplasty.

Four thousand two hundred eighty-seven cases of Anatomic Graduated Components total knee replacements with a cemented, single-peg, all-polyethylene patellar component were performed at our institution over the past 15 years. One hundred eighty cases of patellar component loosening were found. Eleven knees (0.3%) in 11 patients required isolated patellar component reoperation. In all cases, the patellar component was excised and not reimplanted. The average follow-up for the 11 patients was 2.2 years. Five had a complete minimum follow-up of 2 years following reoperation. Pain and function were improved. Complications included infection in 3 knees and extensor lag in 1 knee. Because of the complication rate associated with isolated patellar component excision caused by a loose patellar component, we recommend surgical removal of the patellar component only in cases of severe pain and/or prominence of the component.