Swallowing the truth of antibiotics

Anna Williamson, TV presenter and mental health campaigner, talks about her struggles with anxiety attacks and how she is now campaigning for awareness of mental health. Describing her panic attacks she says: “For me it was a big, cold, drop sensation in my stomach, which would sort of act like a grip over my whole body.”

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) new guidance is also outlined in this issue, which includes: managing and diagnosing menopause; older people with long-term conditions; managing type 2 diabetes in adults; and reducing the number of premature and preterm births.

Nurses can also catch up on all the latest healthcare news, including stories on: nurse bursaries, e-cigarette adverts, antidepressants and cognitive behaviour therapy, primary care funding and more.

Prescription being over prescribed is the topic up for discussion in this issue’s feature. It comes after The Health and Social Care Information Centre released statistics in July 2014 highlighting a staggering increase in prescribing over a 10-year period, stating: “The number of prescription items dispensed in the community has increased by 58.5% since 2003.” Professor Mark Baker, director of the Centre for Clinical Practice at NICE; Dr Nick Francis, a GP practising in South Wales; Dr Tim Ballard, chair of the Royal College of GPs; Niall Dickson, chief executive of the General Medical Council all comment on the increase of prescriptions.

Donna Davenport, senior lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University, explains her experience of moving from nursing into academia, and gives advice on how and why nurses can make a difference to practice by becoming an academic in the field. “As a nurse working in higher education I continue to make a valuable contribution to the future healthcare workforce in supporting their continuing professional development. I wouldn’t hesitate to encourage anyone considering a career in teaching to go for it.”

The January/February 2016 magazine’s nurse profile speaks to charity ship nurse Ali Herbert. The theatre sister has worked with Mercy Ships – an international organisation that provides healthcare across the globe – since 2008. This has seen her working on the African Mercy Ship – known as “the world’s largest charitable floating hospital” – when it has been stationed in many African countries including Liberia, Sierra Leone, Togo and Madagascar. Speaking of some of the surgeries conducted on the ship, she says: “We will do big facial tumours, eye surgery, women’s health and general surgery like hernias and structured plastic surgery.”

The 11 clinical, peer-reviewed articles include the following: caring for patients with essential tremor, hidden signs and symptoms of breast cancer, helping patients through the menopause, cervical cancer screening, managing chronic kidney disease, diabetic retinopathy, diagnosing and treating colorectal cancer and much more.

Nursing in Practice’s Health Visitor Supplement is released alongside this issue. The special kicks off with an introduction from Public Health England and Department of Health’s health visiting advisers Justine Rooke and Theresa Bishop. They look at the six high-impact areas that identify where health visitors make an impact to child health outcomes.

The magazine continues with articles focusing on the transfer of health visitors from NHS England to local authorities, babies and eyesight problems, the meningococcal group Bvaccine’s introduction into the childhood immunisation schedule, supporting families with postnatal depression and promoting early infant development.