Nursing

Background.  Stroke is the third most common cause of death in industrialized countries and a major cause of adult disability. However, the burden of caring for stroke survivors usually rests with family members who have neither chosen nor volunteered for the role of ‘carer’.

Aims.  This paper reports on a study which aimed to describe the experience of caring for a stroke survivor at one year after stroke in Scotland.

Objective: To describe the number and types of problems mentioned by successfully contacted home-dwelling stroke patients and their carers, and nursing interventions applied.

Design: In this multicentre quantitative study in the Netherlands, stroke patients and carers received outreach nurse support consisting of three telephone contacts and one home visit within six months after discharge. Standardized checklists describing a wide range of potential problems were used to record problems and interventions.

In England and Wales alone, more than 5 million informal carers provide support to individuals who wish to remain within their own homes. However, research has identified that there is a limited understanding of the informal carer role among health professionals, and deficits in information sharing and the involvement of informal carers in decision making in relation to care packages. This article considers recent policy relating to this area, placing particular emphasis on the role of the district nurse in working in partnership with informal carers.

Colin Dugdale, BSc, RMN, RGN, dementia trailblazer, NHS Executive North West. As a community mental health nurse team leader I was seconded to the NHS Executive North West for the role of dementia trailblazer to develop the Admiral Nurse Service in the north-west of England.

Purpose – It is generally agreed that carers in mental health care play a vital role in helping people to maintain their place in the community and reducing the time clients spend in hospital or residential settings. The purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual approach to involving carers in higher education by acknowledging their contribution to improving practice and identify the impact upon student learning in mental health and social care professions. 

Aims and objectives: To identify the potential benefits of dementia specialist nursing and to inform the implementation of roles to support people with dementia during hospital admission.

Background: Extended stays and adverse events mean that hospital admissions are costly for people with dementia, and patient experiences and outcomes can be poor. Specialist nurses have been identified as having potential to enhance care quality, reduce excess stays and reduce costs, but the evidence base for dementia specialist nurse roles has not previously been synthesised.

This paper is a report of a study conducted to identify the conditions that favour the relief of the burden of female caregivers of relatives with advanced dementia. Respite services are a response to caregivers' needs for rest. Although they are wanted and needed services, caregivers do not always have access to or use them. The need for a caregiver-centred approach to relieving the burden of care is a conclusion which respite researchers are increasingly reaching. The method was, grounded theory was chosen as the research strategy.

A review of articles published between 2000 and 2013, retrieved from several databases, was conducted to identify research findings regarding nursing interventions intended to meet the needs of the family members of patients in the intensive care unit. The dimensions of need identified were support, comfort, reassurance, information and closeness, with reassurance, information and closeness being the most important. Overall, the needs of patients’ family members were unmet.

PURPOSE: We sought to determine whether participants in the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) with an informal caregiver have a higher or lower risk of nursing home admission than those without caregivers.