A round-up of news from the professional journals
Lung cancer advance
Nurse researchers may have made a breakthrough in the early detection of
lung cancer that could save thousands of lives a year. Researchers, led by
cancer nursing expert Jessica Corner, found that lung cancer patients exhibited
clusters of three or more symptoms and changes in behaviour months before they
were diagnosed. This could lead to early surgical interventions in future, and
significantly higher chances of survival.
Nursing Standard 9/4/03
Patients lose out
Patients on mental health wards are not being told their diagnosis, research
presented to the Mental Health Nurses Association’s annual conference has
revealed. Researchers also found that patients are only aware of receiving drug
treatment. Mike Dudley, director of services at Linkworks, Sheffield, which
trains staff in psychosocial interventions and family work, said such a lack of
understanding probably means patients are not able to give inform-ed consent to
treatment.
Nursing Standard 9/4/03
Under pressure
Medical students think it is acceptable to forge signatures, pass off
previous work as new, and falsify patient information, research reveals. The
increasing pressures on medical students to succeed, and the nature of
undergraduate medical training, may be rather more to blame for these attitudes
than any inherent lack of integrity, suggested a report in the BMJ.
Nursing Times 8/4/03
