Large Trial of Acute Stroke Nursing coming to the UK: Your chance to find out more and participate

         

 What is the Best Position in Which to Nurse an Acute Stroke Patient?

Lying flat is common in developing countries and current stroke guidelines recommendation of 30^◦ head  elevation but this is not evidence based. Currently there is insufficient evidence to recommend a specific head position in patients with acute stroke. HeadPoST has been designed to resolve this uncertainty and provide reliable evidence of different head positions in order to establish policy recommendations as to the ideal position of the patient’s head in the acute phase of ischaemic stroke and intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH). HeadPoST is an international multicentre, cluster randomised trial which aims to establish reliably the balance of potential benefits and risks of lying flat (0° head position) as compared with sitting up (≥30°head position) in patients with acute stroke. This is an opportunity to be involved in contributing to the evidence base for stroke nursing through the evaluation of a simple nursing intervention. HeadPoST has received funding from the MRC in Australia and we are currently exploring further funding to support wide participation in the study by UK Centres.  If you are interested in finding out more about this exciting study that will have a real impact on the nursing care that we deliver then please come along and see us.  We have two information days scheduled and there is no charge for attendance, they are: 

29^th November 2013 (10.00-14.00) – University of Central Lancashire
4^th December 2013 (15.40-16.20) – Queens Suite Harrogate International Centre, North Yorkshire (scheduled as part of the 2013 UK Stroke Forum)



If you would like further information on these days or would like to register an interest in participating in the study the please contact:Clinical Practice Research Unit, School of Health, University of Central LancashireTel: (Office) 01772 895140/5542Email: cpruenquiries@uclan.ac.uk 

Interested in Being a Specialist in Stroke?

Masters Course: Clinical Issues in Stroke Care, University of Glasgow

 

This course aims to prepare the practitioner to gain a deeper understanding of the current clinical issues in stroke care and explore their impact.

 

It is a 25 hour multidisciplinary course taught over 3 days in Nursing & Health Care, University of Glasgow and supported using the Moodle e-learning environment.

Accreditation: 20 credits at level M or as CPD. Cost £550. Closing date 13^th December 2013.

 

Dates for 2014: 24^th- 25^th February & 24^th March

 

Please contact Campbell Chalmers , course leader, on 0789 681 7698 campbell.chalmers@lanarkshire.scot.nhs.uk if you wish to discuss further.

  
Follow link for more information: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4ikpZ0-x04_M1NFaXhOQUU0cVE/edit?usp=sharing

"Myth or Reality"? The Community Stroke Rehabilitation Nurse.

The development of community rehabilitation including Early Supported Discharge (ESD) services for stroke survivors has provided both a challenge over the last six years, but also an opportunity to deliver truly patient centered rehabilitation programmes.

Evidence of how these services should be organised has always been limited. Teams rarely incorporated a nurse, but I believe I now see the role of the community stroke rehabilitation nurse evolving within many teams.  I think services are slowly seeing that joint working with nurses can positively strengthen a community team, but also help with the common problems reported by patients on their return home. Do people believe the nurse role is now emerging within these sorts of teams or is it still not a reality?

Sarah Hudson a Stroke Nurse Practitioner working within a community stroke service in Worcestershire has worked for her service for three years now with her nursing colleagues. She would like to ask for comments and feedback on what nursing assessments people commonly use within their community stroke teams? 

Please leave your comments or email ukstrokenursing@gmail.com.

Visual Problems Post Stroke

A Best Practice Statement on vision problems after stroke can now be assessed by clicking on the link below:

www.glasgow.ac.uk/bpsvision

A quick reference guide is also available on the website.

Useful Links Shared at September's Council Meeting

1. Scottish Stroke Care Audit:

http://www.strokeaudit.scot.nhs.uk/index.html

2. Stroke Competency Toolkit (SCotT) - registered nurses:

http://www.chss.org.uk/education_and_training/stroke_competency_toolkit.php

A Warm Welcome to Wales, Scotland and the Royal College of Nursing

NSNF Council Meeting - September 2013

September's meeting brought a positive atmosphere with a truly national perspective.
We had representation from the Welsh Stroke Nurse's Alliance, Scottish Stroke Nurse's Forum and the Royal College of Nursing.

With a large representation it was a great opportunity discuss stroke care and nursing development within England, Scotland and Wales.

In the coming months the NSNF will be working with the RCN to put together some recommendations on the role of the Advanced Stroke Nurse Practitioner. This is very exciting opportunity and we would love your feedback. Please visit our stand at this years UK Stroke Forum Conference, where we will be launching our Advanced Nurse Practitioner survey. Your feedback and involvement is essential in order to make robust future recommendations.

September's Minutes: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B4ikpZ0-x04_Z3dLa0JYQ2pvUXc/edit?usp=sharing

NSNF Council Meeting July 2013

The NSNF Committee met today in London. Many thanks to the Stroke Association for their hospitality.

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.