Evaluation of an independent domestic violence advocate post in a children’s hospital
Findings from having a pilot domestic violence advocate post based in a children’s hospital
20 Nov 2023
Julie Taylor
Child abuse linked to faith or belief: working towards recognition in practice
Nurses need to be aware of the alerting signs of child abuse linked to faith or belief
18 Oct 2022
Writing for Publication in Nursing and Healthcare: Getting It Right
Writing for publication is no longer a task for only the learned few, but getting started can be difficult and even more established writers can still learn new tricks.
18 Jul 2016
Practical guidance on undertaking a service evaluation
This article describes the basic principles of evaluation, focusing on the evaluation of healthcare services. It emphasises the importance of evaluation in the current healthcare environment and the requirement for nurses to understand the essential principles of evaluation. Evaluation is defined in contrast to audit and research, and the main theoretical approaches to evaluation are outlined, providing insights into the different types of evaluation that may be undertaken. The essential features of preparing for an evaluation are considered, and guidance provided on working ethically in the NHS. It is important to involve patients and the public in evaluation activity, offering essential guidance and principles of best practice. The authors discuss the main challenges of undertaking evaluations and offer recommendations to address these, drawing on their experience as evaluators.
06 Jul 2016
Child maltreatment: every nurse’s business
Every nurse has a responsibility for protecting children, even nurses who do not work directly with children. However, nurses may be reluctant to deal with child maltreatment issues because they do not want to get things wrong or make a situation worse. The aim of this article is to assist nurses in their child protection role. It describes the different types of child maltreatment, the risk factors and potential consequences. The nurse’s role in recognising and responding to suspected child maltreatment is discussed.
18 Mar 2015
Applying social impact assessment to nursing research
Many nurses need to construct a research proposal at some stage of their career and there are multiple texts that provide guidance on doing so. However, most texts do not provide explicit guidance on the issue of social impact – the effect of research on the social health and wellbeing of individuals, families and communities and on the improved performance of relevant services. This article proposes that social impact should be considered from the beginning of a research project. It outlines a framework for assessing social impact to help strengthen the quality of research proposals and assist nurses constructing the proposal and also those evaluating it, including academic assessors or funding body reviewers. Nursing research should be useful and should have a positive effect on practice. Focusing on social impact can increase the chances of this desirable outcome.
30 Jul 2014
Establishing a domestic abuse care pathway: guidance for practice
Domestic abuse is an increasing public health concern, and the relationship between such abuse and poor health is now recognised. Guidance produced in 2012 by Co-ordinated Action Against Domestic Abuse, the Identification and Referral to Improve Safety programme, and the Royal College of General Practitioners encourages general practices to establish a domestic abuse care pathway, so that the correct processes for identifying and responding to domestic abuse are followed. A care pathway is necessary because there is evidence that healthcare professionals’ responses to domestic abuse are not always helpful. This guidance has the potential to improve the way that healthcare professionals in primary care respond to domestic abuse. While supporting the guidance, suggestions are made for nurses to develop the care pathway further.
06 Mar 2013
Doing Your Literature Review – Traditional and Systematic Techniques
A PLETHORA of books has appeared over the past few years on writing literature reviews. However this one is definitely worth a second look. Written by a social scientist, a pharmaceutical scientist and a library scientist, the authors between them have a wealth of experience and authority on the subject.
01 Jul 2012
Research in response to local need
In entering the higher education arena, nursing and midwifery has had to contend with a number of challenges. Centre stage is the inherent tension between the maintenance of both academic/professional and practice/service based foci. While few would dispute that research activity with local service partners can act to enhance nursing care, a strong argument can be made that the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) has had a disproportionate effect on the research activity of academic health care departments. In this paper, Julie Taylor and Stewart Cable set out to explore the tension in detail by examining the opportunities and challenges of undertaking small scale, often severely time-constrained but locally grounded, studies. Their article draws on a portfolio of recent projects undertaken by themselves and outlines the benefits and challenges that such activities can generate
01 Apr 2004