The Welsh Stroke Nursing Alliance (WSNA)

Was established in Wales to provide authoritative clinical nursing advice on national clinical standards, best practice, and research to the Welsh Stroke Alliance (WSA) and the Welsh Nursing and Midwifery committee (WNMC).

The Welsh Assembly commissioned the Stroke Services Improvement Programme as the result of  comments made by Professor Tony Rudd  following the publication of the 2008            SENTINEL audit results in which Welsh stroke care was shown to be below an acceptable standard. As part of this programme the WSA was set up and allied health groups interested in stroke were initiated the WSNA being one of them.

Membership of the WSNA is open to nurses who work in, and have demonstrated interest and a commitment to, the improvement of  prevention and treatment in stroke for all  citizens of Wales. A core group has been set up in order to lead and facilitate effective  communication for members of the WSNA. This core group comprises of 3 nominated representatives from each Health Board.

 

If you are interested in joining the Welsh Stroke Nursing Alliance then email through NSNF enquiries.

 

 

Using the Stroke-Specific Education Framework (SSEF)

Stroke patients have a better chance of survival, and increased independence, if they are treated in a Stroke Unit by staff with stroke-specific knowledge and skills.   But how do we ensure that staff  working in stroke can access the necessary training?

 

Developed by experts from around the UK, the SSEF details the knowledge and skills required by staff working along the stroke care pathway.  Using the SSEF as a basis, there is now a  downloadable tool that will enable you to see exactly what level of knowledge and skill you need for your role.   Using the forms provided, you can map your own knowledge and skills against the SSEF and then use the personal training needs analysis to identify those that you might need to develop for your current role.

 

Go to www.stroke-education.org.uk and you will be able to:

· View the Role Profiles for Nurses working in stroke

· Map your own role profile

· Download your training needs analysis

· View courses that match your training needs

 

You can use the SSEF tool in your appraisal, for your own development and to find training that is appropriate to your need.

 

For further information, please contact                                   
cpruenquiries@uclan.ac.uk with “SSEF” in the subject line.

 

 

 

 

 



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