Why is it important to use sterile technique during urinary catheter insertion

Joanne Mangnall Research and development fellow;

Linda Watterson Senior research and development fellow,, Royal College of Nursing Institute, Oxford

Most nurses are aware of the importance of aseptic technique but some may be unsure about applying the technique during urinary catheterisation. This article explains the principles of aseptic technique and their application to the procedure of urinary catheterisation.

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Keywords :

Aseptic techniques - Infection control - Urinary catheters

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Lucy Clayson Staff nurse, Medical Centre, Castle Village Retirement Homes, Berkhamsted

After reading a learning zone article, Lucy Clayson became more confident in recognising the signs and symptoms of sepsis

I have cared for patients with sepsis in hospital and the community, but I was uncertain about what constitutes sepsis and what is meant by septic shock. The article clearly discusses the difference between systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), sepsis, severe sepsis and septic shock.

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Kath Sharples Learning community education adviser, Thames Valley University

There is nothing like shift work for ruining your social life. Fact. All those sadly declined party invites, all those weekend breaks that never seem to happen.

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Page 4

Ray Higginson Senior lecturer in critical care, University of Glamorgan

Ray Higginson looks at job options for nurses who are struggling to find their first posts in the NHS

As England’s nursing recruitment drive goes into reverse, newly qualified nurses are struggling to find jobs. What should you do then if you cannot find an NHS job but still want to nurse and maintain your skills? Here are some possibilities.

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Courses, events, grants, and awards to progress your career

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Jean Gray Editor

When governments boast about how well the health service is performing under their stewardship – usually the number of patients treated and how quickly – they are really describing the achievements of staff in hospitals and the community. After all, no minister has ever actually walked into a treatment centre or a patient’s home and delivered care themselves.

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Page 7

Tamsin Snow

Guidance for employers on how to deal with under-performing nurses will be launched by England’s chief nursing officer Christine Beasley this week.

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Page 8

A cake in the shape of a ‘naughty’ nurse has sparked controversy because of its use of a red cross motif.

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Page 9

Colin Parish

Nursing unions have put their faith in the profession’s pay review body (RB) to resist government calls for nurses to receive a below-inflation pay award in April. But they have not ruled out strike action if the government fails to implement the RB’s recommendations.

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Page 10

Nurses’ morale is low because they are fed up with constant changes at work and worries that their roles lack direction, a survey by pollsters Ipsos MORI has found.

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Page 11

The NHS has introduced a new redundancy package for staff in England that will give them one month’s salary for each year they have worked up to a maximum of 24 months.

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Page 12

Health professionals working in the NHS should have their hours cut from 37.5 a week to 35, Amicus says in its evidence to the nurses’ pay review body (RB).

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Page 13

Improvements in the NHS are down to the efforts of staff, who should be rewarded with a substantial pay rise, Unison has told the nurses’ pay review body in its evidence.

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Page 14

The RCN could be forced to hold an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on selling its headquarters in Cavendish Square, London, after more than 1,000 members signed a petition against the sale.

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Page 15

Nurses can carry out endoscopies as safely and effectively as doctors, but their performance may not be as cost-effective in the longer term, according to a study.

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Page 16

A roundup of the latest nursing news

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Colin Parish

NHS Employers has issued guidance for managers on the positive effects of employing a sufficient number of qualified nurses.

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Page 18

Bedside manners are likely to become increasingly important as acute NHS trusts compete for patients, nursing directors were told at their annual conference.

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Page 19

NHS staff contributed almost £19 million to health service coffers in car parking charges during the past year, Nursing Standard can reveal.

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Page 20

Colin Parish

Nurses have called for mandatory training in the management of violence and aggression following the death of a patient who was restrained in a mental health unit.

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Page 21

An orthopaedic ward manager has dropped the traditional staffroom handover and replaced it with a patient-led system.

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Page 22

An appeal has been issued for nurses who have been members of the British Astronomical Association to come forward.

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Page 23

A multilingual online ‘phrasebook’ expected to be of particular use to A&E nurses was published last week in an electronic library.

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Page 24

Colin Parish

Chancellor Gordon Brown is determined to keep inflation down to 2 per cent, and capping NHS pay is central to his plans. Reducing people’s spending power will put a squeeze on price rises, while keeping next year’s pay rise for 1.2 million health service workers to below 2 per cent would also help limit overall government spending.

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Page 25

Practitioners have an opportunity to improve the health of a marginalised group

Researchers in California conducted a review of nursing literature concerning lesbian experiences of childbirth to determine how healthcare practitioners can best support childbearing lesbians.

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Page 26

Providing automated and human email counselling as part of an internet weight loss programme encourages greater weight loss than when no counselling is on offer.

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