A round-up of news from the professional journals
Nurses resist admin
Nurses could be put in charge of checking patients’ utility bills or
passports to ensure they are entitled to free treatment on the NHS. The
measure, which has been criticised by the Royal College of Nursing and the
Royal College of Midwives, is recommended by the Government as part of a drive
to clamp down on ‘health tourists’.
Nursing Standard, 12 August
Images hit home
Having explicit pictures of the effects of smoking-related diseases printed
on cigarette packets could encourage people to quit, a study by the Cancer Research
UK Centre for Tobacco Control Research has concluded.
Nursing Times, 4 August
Pain complaints
Patients in A&E are often left in pain after arriving in the unit,
according to the latest study of patient satisfaction in England. The
Commission for Health Improvement survey, shows 14 per cent in pain had to wait
more than 30 minutes before receiving pain relief.
Nursing Standard, 12 August
Asthma hope
A breathing technique, pioneered in Russia, may reduce symptoms and inhaler
use in patients with asthma. A report in the journal Thorax studied 90
randomised asthmatics in the use of the Eucapnic Buteyko technique, which
mimicked the breath restriction employed in the pranayama yoga breathing
technique.
Thorax 58:8;674-679.
Nursing Times, 8 August