In the wake of the Francis shock wave.

the Francis into failures of care at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust sent a shock wave through the NHS. A year after the final report was published, patient safety and quality of care are now higher priorities for trusts. But financial realities still hinder full implementation of the recommendations.

A vital part of the team Erin Dean looks ahead at training for healthcare assistants.

Healthcare assistants (HCAs) in England are to receive improved and standardised training. While this will be a major change for the HCA workforce, it will also have a significant impact for the nurses who work with them.

Emergency nurses test NHS response to Ebola outbreak.

URGENT CARE staff should be aware that Ebola must be ruled out in all patients at their first point of contact in emergency departments (EDs), new guidance warns.

The valued workforce.

Students on the pre-registration nursing course at Edinburgh Napier University are taught with a particular emphasis on compassion in care. Compassion is woven through the course, starting with the way students are recruited based on these values.

New senates offer nurses a say in policy.

Clinical advice to commissioners in the new NHS in England will be offered through clinical senates and strategic clinical networks. There are concerns the 12 large senates may be unwieldy and out of touch. The new strategic networks are also controversial, with some fearing that nursing expertise will be lost.

Lessons in survival.

A diploma course at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine prepares nurses and midwives to work in tropical countries. Students learn to recognise and treat tropical diseases and, just as importantly, to adjust their expectations so they can cope with the lack of resources and make a useful contribution.

Time for reflection.

The Department of Health (DH) announced in May that £650,000 will be spent to help 40 NHS trusts implement Schwartz Center Rounds, a scheme developed in the United States to improve compassion in health care.

Nurses at war.

The first world war opened up nursing to a wider range of women and earned new status for the profession. Nursing service records from the conflict, available online for the first time at www.national archives.gov.uk, provide a detailed insight into the lives of nurses who were the first to handle war casualties on an industrial scale.

Keeping the games on track.

At London 2012, nurse volunteers played a more important role in the medical support team than at any previous Olympics. Nursing Standard talked to nurses providing care to elite athletes and spectators. The games drew on their skills, taught them new ones--and put them in thrilling proximity to Team GB's medal successes.

Pay attention.

What has changed for nurses since Labour came to power in 1997?

'Run, hide, tell' applies to nurses too.

Nursing student Rhiannon Owen was at a cash machine in a busy area of London on a Saturday night when a taxi swerved towards her and the driver screamed at her to run. Looking up, she saw a man three metres away holding a knife with a 12-inch blade.

Nurse who claimed he was a surgeon struck off.

A nurse who lied to his doctor wife and friends for seven years about being a leading surgeon has been struck off the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) register.