UK Stroke Association
Our agenda included discussions about how to disseminate the latest version of the National Clinical Guidelines for Stroke across the nursing profession, and across all nations of the United Kingdom. To start this process, a well attended workshop was held in Lancashire and Cumbria in collaboration with the University of Central Lancashire, where up to 60 nurses had the opportunity to learn about the new evidence-base for stroke care. Further events are planned, so please watch this space.
Concerns were raised about the educational preparation for nursing staff who provide initial assessment input into the stroke patient pathway. The NSNF is considering a survey of all stroke services across the UK to establish what specialist and advanced roles nurses are fulfilling across the stroke pathway.
We're looking forward to an exciting nursing training day as part of this year's UK Stroke Forum in Harrogate in December. A mix of practical and theoretical perspectives will be integrated around:
Urinary Continence
Faecal Continence and Constipation
Motivational Interviewing
Hyperacute Assessment
Swallowing Assessment
Secondary prevention
We have listened to feedback from members attending last year, and so are confident that this will be an interesting and relevant event to kick start the UK Stroke Forum.
New evidence has been published in the Lancet by the CLOTS Trials Collaboration led by Professor Martin Dennis. We discussed this evidence about the effectiveness of Intermittent Pneumatic Compression, in reducing the risk of deep vein thrombosis. Some really interesting implementation issues emerged. We'll be keen to discuss these with the trialists, and actively engage in the dissemination of this important trial.
So, a very productive meeting. We hope to meet with as many of you as possible at the UK Stroke Forum. We know that study leave is often very difficult, so please feel free to email us with your thoughts, suggestions or comments if you can't get there.
