Dr Susanne Kean went to a conference and here are some noteworthy papers she’d like to share ….
The European Academy of Nursing Sciences is in their 17th year of running nursing PhD student summer schools. Some time ago a conference was added to the programme to which other EANS members are invited, thus providing and facilitating networking opportunities across European countries as well as academics, researchers and students. This year’s conference was held on the 8th and 9th July in Barcelona, Spain with a focus on improving access to healthcare.
As always there were some very interesting papers, some of which I will highlight.
1. The genetic diabetes nurses: transforming diabetes care
Prof Maggie Shepherd, Exeter University, was one of the keynote speakers. Maggie talked about the ‘genetic diabetes nurse and the transformation of diabetes care.’ She is part of a medical research group investigating monogenic diabetes. It was interesting to hear that approximately 2% of diabetes patients have this form of diabetes which is frequently not recognised and initially misdiagnosed in 80-90% of cases. This leads to inappropriate treatment, poor quality of life and often an overuse of insulin as treatment.
This was an excellent case study in how nursing research lead to access and improvement in care for these patients and their families by translating medical and nursing research findings into clinical care, influencing the education of diabetes nurses and thus enabling the identification of these patients within the diabetes cohort across the United Kingdom. Some of these nurses are located in Scotland and there seems to be one in Edinburgh too.
Check out these resources:
http://www.geneticseducation.nhs.uk/blog/?p=1274
http://www.diabetesgenes.org/content/contact-us
2. Access to healthcare services for people recovering from alcohol excess
This was a talk given by Dr Sarah Rhynas, yes – our Sarah, and was very well received. The paper was based on a qualitative participatory research approach using ‘Photovoice’ as method with people recovering from alcohol abuse. The discussion that followed Sarah’s presentation made clear that this was not just a more unusual approach to research but also one that was of great interest to others in the audience resulting in some good methodological discussions.
Sarah Rhynas Presenting her work
3. Food to go – a feasibility study of post-discharge delivery of protein-and energy enforced meals for older patients by the use of ICT technology
Dr Tove Lindhardt, a Danish researcher from the University of Copenhagen, presented a feasibility study that explored the acceptability and development of IT technology for older and frail patients. The focus of this intervention is the nutritional status of older and often frail patients in the community after a hospital discharge (up to 3 months). The project aims at developing an IT solution to increase participation and empowerment of older people and their families in their self-care management. In this case, iPad applications are developed with patients and the input from other healthcare professionals (e.g. dieticians, nurses, physicians) to ensure that patients have a tailored protein and energy enriched diet following hospital discharge to maximise recovery.
Currently, the application to choose meals is being tested and refined. This enables patients to see, choose and mix meals in whichever way they like but tailored to their own needs. The meals are being delivered to patients’ homes from the hospital kitchen. Tove showed a video-clip in which an almost 100 year old lady and her son spoke about their experiences with the iPad application. It was evident from this clip, and other evidence provided, that age is not a barrier to IT use and that this innovative approach to self-care enabled recovering older and often frail people to eat what they need without spending energy to prepare meals.
This study is resisted on the Clinical Trials website:
https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02268721
And on the Reflection website:
http://www.reflection-network.eu/project/18-food-n-go—empower/overview.php
Webpage for project (in English):
https://www.regionh.dk/english/research-and-innovation/innovation/examples/Pages/Food-‘n’-go.aspx
4. What is the extent, range and nature of evidence available around the impact of 12-hour nursing shift patterns?
Prof Ruth Harris, Kingston University and St George’s University of London, presented a paper based on a scoping review exploring the evidence on 12 hour nursing shifts. The change to 12 hour shifts can be observed in a number of European countries but is by no means the norm across Europe. For the UK, this is emerging as the preferred shift pattern in many areas of nursing despite the lack of evidence for or against its implementation. The scoping review identified five themes: (1) risks to patients, (2) patient experiences, (3) risk to staff, (4) staff experiences and (5) impact on the organisation of work. The debate following this presentation predominantly focused on the lack of economic evidence as well as risk and safety issues in relation to patient care.
The scoping review is published:
International Journal of Nursing Studies, February 2015, Vol 52 (2), Pages 605–634
Susanne Kean, July 2015
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