AIM A comprehensive review of the literature was performed to describe the substantive clinical areas of clinical nurse specialist (CNS) practice. BACKGROUND There is lack of understanding about the role of CNSs. Debates over blending CNS and nurse practitioner roles are common, as are questions and uncertainties about new models of advanced practice nursing endorsed by the American Associati...

PURPOSE The purpose of this process improvement project was to develop an Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome (AWS) management protocol for acute care. SIGNIFICANCE The prevalence of alcohol abuse in our society presents challenges for health professionals, and few nurses have received formal education on the identification and treatment of AWS, which has frequently resulted in ineffective, nonstanda...

OBJECTIVES International evidence suggests the diabetes nurse specialist (DNS) has a key role in supporting integrated management of diabetes. We examine whether hospital and community DNS currently support the integration of care, examine regional variation in aspects of the service relevant to the delivery of integrated care and identify barriers to service delivery and areas for improvement....

BACKGROUND Exercise has been shown to be beneficial for selected patients with heart failure, but questions remain over its effectiveness, cost-effectiveness and uptake in a real world setting. This paper describes the design, rationale and recruitment for a randomised controlled trial that will explore the effectiveness and uptake of a predominantly home-based exercise rehabilitation programme...

The following article is an interview with Patricia Davis, RN, BS, a technical information specialist at the National Cancer Institute. Davis graduated from Johns Hopkins Hospital as an RN in 1960. In the early 1960s, she worked at Alexandria Hospital in Virginia as a pediatric nurse and was in charge of the recovery room. Later in the 1960s, Davis was a stay-at-home mother and volunteered for ...

Nurse practitioners are frequently called on to provide primary care to children with chronic medical conditions. Some conditions are seen less often than others, and primary care providers may be hesitant or reluctant to administer care without consultation or referral to the attending specialist. However, the attending specialist often is not trained in primary care and is unfamiliar with cur...

BACKGROUND Nurse-led models of comprehensive geriatric assessment and care coordination can improve health management as well as reduce hospitalisations for high risk community dwelling older people. This study investigated the effect on healthcare utilisation of systematic case finding to identify high risk older people in the community with a subsequent comprehensive assessment and care coord...

PURPOSE To compare the outcome after open carpal tunnel decompression by specialists versus a nurse practitioner. METHODS Of 1361 cases of open carpel tunnel decompression under local anaesthesia from 1996 to 2008, 807 were performed by specialists (consultant, specialist registrar, or specialty and associate specialist) and 554 by a nurse practitioner (since May 2006). The 2 groups were comp...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the viability of a professional specialist in intra-hospital committees of organ and tissue donation for transplantation.METHODS Epidemiological, retrospective and cross-sectional study (2003-2011 and 2008-2012), which was performed using organ donation for transplants data in the state of Sao Paulo, Southeastern Brazil. Nine hospitals were evaluated (hospitals 1 to 9). Lo...

AIM To examine in-patient diabetes services in all UK acute hospitals. METHODS We asked the diabetes specialist team in all UK acute hospitals to complete a structured questionnaire on in-patient diabetes management guidelines, in-patient referral patterns, diabetes in-patient specialist nurse (DISN) services and diabetes bed occupancy in their hospital. RESULTS Of the 262 UK acute hospital...