Bob Price
Ethical challenges in delivering person-centred care
Exploring normative ethics and teleological ethics and how they are applied in everyday care
Optimising professional communication with patients
How practical methods of listening and speaking can improve patients’ outcomes and experience
How to make clear and compelling written arguments: advice for nurses
In healthcare clearly formulated arguments can mean nurses’ efforts are directed effectively
Well-being, physical and mental health: Helping service users cope with schizophrenia
Part 3 of our series explores the causes of schizophrenia and how it can lead to self-neglect
Improving nursing students’ experience of clinical placements
How to provide effective support to enhance their skills, knowledge and self-confidence
Well-being, physical and mental health: part 2. Responding to trauma
Mental and physical health work together to support well-being, and never more importantly than when a patient experiences a sudden and devastating trauma. This article explores the interplay of mental and physical health in the context of acid attack burns to someone’s face. It explains trauma in event terms and how an understanding of types of psychological trauma can be drawn on to advance collaborative nursing practice in a burns unit. While nurses have been educated in separate disciplines, it is argued that working across the traditional divide can be advantageous in trauma situations. This is the second article in a series on ‘well-being, physical and mental health’.
Well-being, physical and mental health: part 1
This article explains how physical health fits into the overall well-being of a person and why people with a mental illness are more likely than the rest of the population to experience poor physical health. It represents the first article in a series on body and mind, well-being and how physical and mental health issues interact as focal points for the work of mental health nurses. Historically, mental health and physical health have been conceived in western healthcare as separate domains and our preparation of registered nurses for practice has often reflected this. However, in this series, case studies are used to show how closely physical and mental health interact and how the two are important to sustain a state of well-being. The series is designed to help registered nurses reflect on their current practice and to help students to anticipate the range of care requirements that may be needed when a service user comes into their care.
How to write a reflective practice case study
As evidence and experience play an important role in underpinning primary healthcare, combining them in a reflective practice case study has significant potential for purposes of publication and revalidation of professional practice. Reflective practice case studies have the potential to help other nurses in the community re-examine care challenges and the opportunities before them. Nurses writing about a clinical case experience can add to the relevant evidence, as can discussion of the insights and issues that emerge. While research and reflective practice are regularly written about more generally in the press, there remains scope for nurses to combine them in a more analytical and pertinent way. This article guides the reader through the process of identifying suitable case studies to write about and structuring the work they produce. Clear distinctions are made between case study as research methodology and case study as reflective practice process.
Improving nurses’ level of reflection
Reflecting on practice is an important aspect of nursing. There is widespread acknowledgement of the value of reflective practice and it has a significant role in coursework assessment and revalidation requirements. However, less attention has been given to the various levels of reflection and what constitutes a higher or lower level of reflection. This article aims to assist nurses to understand how identifying the various levels of reflection can improve their practice. A case study example is used to demonstrate how mentors might support nurses in incorporating reflection into their practice.
Developing patient rapport, trust and therapeutic relationships
Rapport is established at the first meeting between the patient and nurse, and is developed throughout the therapeutic relationship. However, challenges can arise during this process. Initially, nurses can establish trust with the patient through the questions they ask, however, as care progresses, the nurse will be required to demonstrate a commitment to maintaining the patient’s psychological well-being. When the therapeutic relationship ends, the nurse should assist the patient to assess progress and plan the next stage of recovery. This article provides three reflective exercises using case study examples to demonstrate how rapport is developed and sustained. Evidence is provided to identify why challenges arise in the therapeutic relationship and how the nurse can ensure they provide care that the patient regards as genuine.
Managing patients’ anxiety about planned medical interventions
Patients are often anxious about planned medical interventions, and those experiencing anxiety are less likely to have the confidence to collaborate with healthcare professionals on their plan of care, and make decisions about consent. They may also find it challenging to follow rehabilitation guidelines, which can affect their long-term recovery. As part of their professional duty, nurses are required to recognise when people are anxious or in distress and respond compassionately, and while acquiring valid consent for any planned medical intervention requires the nurse to explain any risks, they should also attempt to reassure patients. The anxiety that precedes a planned medical intervention has been described as state anxiety; this refers to feelings of discomfort and uncertainty that accompany a situation such as an operation or a diagnostic procedure. Nurses can attempt to reduce any anxiety that patients experience by explaining the planned medical intervention and providing accurate information at the optimum time. This article outlines some of the coping theories that nurses can use to support patients in managing their anxiety about planned medical interventions.
Guidance for RCNi Reviewers
Read Bob Price's guidelines on how to review clinical articles