Subject(s)
Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples , Health Status , Politics , Humans , AustraliaABSTRACT
The England-wide Care Home Diabetes Audit, published earlier this year, revealed a lack of assessment, monitoring and specialist care for people with diabetes who live in nursing and care homes. Many homes are not systematically screening residents for diabetes nor monitoring the blood glucose levels of those with the condition. Staff education and training is patchy and patients are at risk of hypoglycaemia and diabetic foot complications. The Institute of Diabetes for Older People, which conducted the audit, has called for tighter regulation to improve care.
Subject(s)
Diabetes Mellitus/nursing , Geriatric Nursing/methods , Hypoglycemic Agents/administration & dosage , Nursing Homes , Aged , Diabetes Mellitus/drug therapy , HumansABSTRACT
The Leadership Alliance for the Care of Dying People has drawn up five priorities for the care of dying people. The priorities replace the Liverpool Care Pathway, which was widely criticised for promoting a tick-box approach to the care of the dying. The five priorities focus on: recognising that someone is dying; communicating sensitively with them and their family; involving them in decisions; supporting them and their family; and creating an individual plan of care that includes adequate nutrition and hydration. The alliance has outlined the duties and responsibilities of nurses and other health professionals when caring for people at the end of their lives, with an emphasis on compassionate care.
Subject(s)
Health Priorities , Terminal Care , Empathy , England , Guidelines as Topic , Humans , Nurse's RoleABSTRACT
A multiprofessional consortium led by the Royal College of Nursing has developed guidance on reducing the need for restrictive interventions in hospitals and residential or care homes. The guidance, published by the Department of Health this year, states that nurses and other staff must create therapeutic environments that promote wellness, and must use restrictive interventions only when there is a real possibility of harm to the person, staff or the public. Staff must not restrain people in a way that affects their airway, breathing or circulation, and restrictive intervention must not include the deliberate application of pain. Interventions used must always be the least restrictive option to meet the immediate need.
