District nurses

This paper presents findings from an ethnographic study that examined how qualified district nurses’ conceptualized their role in relation to family carers and how they performed this aspect of their role.

A participant observational study involving fieldwork and in-depth interviews with six district nursing teams was undertaken over a 12-month period. Interview transcripts and fieldnotes were analysed by drawing upon the principles of dimensional analysis.

Background. Despite 30 years of research attention, discharge planning and district nurse (DN) referral remain problematic and few cancer-related publications exist. With shorter hospitalizations, discharged cancer patients and their carers may experience unmet needs for assessment, information and support. Although DN referral might enable patient/carer needs to be met, the DN role lacks clarity.

Aim. To investigate the needs of people with cancer, and their lay carers during discharge from hospital to home, and identify the role of DNs in meeting these needs.

This article explores the role of the district nurse in supporting family and friends who act as informal carers for patients who wish to die at home. The district nurse can support carers by promoting patient comfort, assessing carer needs, using communication and counselling skills, providing timely information, planning for anticipated needs, and co-ordinating and liaising with appropriate services and professionals. This requires the district nurse to develop a trusting carer-nurse relationship.

Six million informal carers provide support for aged and disabled people in the United Kingdom. Government policies suggest that primary care teams are the main support for carers. This postal survey of 300 general practitioners (GPs) and 272 district nurses (DNs) aimed to determine current practice and views on their role in supporting informal carers. In practice, GPs and DNs lack time, resources, and training to provide support, and see themselves in a reactive role only.

Caring for a loved one can take its toll physically and emotionally. Caroline Swinburne discovers how district nurses can ease the load. Supporting unpaid carers is an important but often unseen aspect of community nursing.