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.

UK Stroke Forum 2012 - NSNF Training Day

The 7th UK Stroke Forum commenced on Tuesday in Harrogate. The National Stroke Nursing Forum took the opportunity to hold an Annual General Meeting, and to host a training session for nurses and those interested in nursing issues.

The training session included a range of issues, prompting lively questionning and debate which continued over a glass of wine (or two).

Professor Robert Teasell provided an inspirational overview of the challenges associated with delivering evidence-based stroke rehabilitation, and specifically the importance of developing and implementing guidelines. Providing a North American perspective, the influence on stroke care of our different policy frameworks for organising and delivering healthcare provided food for thought.

Dr Liz Boaden provided an example of truly inter-professional working through the development of competency frameworks for all health care professionals supporting patients with dysphagia.

Reflecting on her career as a nurse in stroke care, Dr Jane Williams highlighted the importance of the nursing contribution to stroke services. Her presentation highlighted the increasing range of opportunities for nurses to develop clinical and other careers within UK stroke nursing.

As an old hand within stroke nursing, Dr Bernard Gibbon challenged us to reflect on how we support the development of the next generation of nurses. Picking up the recent debates within the UK media about nurse education and training, Bernard provided insights into how we can bring the 'taught' and 'placement' aspects of graduate nurse education closer together. Sometimes it's important to reflect on the considerable breadth and depth of knowledge and skills that nurses need to have in today's NHS, and to challenge the view that you can be too clever to look after people when they are at their most vulnerable!

Dr Louise Connell provided an inspirational overview of opportunities for nurses to develop clinical academic careers. At the heart of the multi-disciplinary team, it's essential that the care that nurses provide for patients and families is evidence-based, and the challenge is for us to participate in actively developing that evidence.

Insights into the challenges for patients and families in 'getting out of the house' were provided by Dr Pip Logan, highlighting the need for us to help those affected by stroke cope with the consiequences of stroke for travel for leisure and work. Continuing this theme, Dr Kate Radford provided an update on legislation around driving after stroke, and the best ways that problems with driving can be identified.

A big thanks to all speakers for an interesting afternoon!

A very warm welcome to our blog

The UK's National Stroke Nursing Forum (NSNF) extends a very warm welcome to all those who have a passion for stroke nursing.  The NSNF was constituted to provide a forum for nurses within the United Kingdom to share knowledge and expertise to advance the nursing contribution to the care of stroke patients and their families. The NSNF is an active contributor to a wide range of initiatives that seek to ensure that patients and families have access to a high-quality and evidence-based stroke service that meets their needs and expectations, including the UK's National Clinical Guidelines, the Department of Health Stroke Service Improvement Programme, the UK Forum for Stroke Training, and the development and implementation of a National Stroke Strategy for England (to name but a few). We actively collaborate with stroke nursing networks across the United Kingdom, and are keen to build links with our international colleagues in stroke nursing.

The blog will be launched at the UK Stroke Forum in Harrogate in December 2012.



Please make sure you drop by our stand at the UK Stroke Forum!

In the meantime, please feel free to leave some comments about what you think we should include on the blog