Top 15: The most accessed articles from our clinical archive in 2017
Evidence and practice remains an essential part of RCNi’s work, helping readers reflect upon the underpinning knowledge-base behind high-quality nursing practice.
Effective communication, teamwork, research theory, patient assessment – notably the ABCDE approach – the values of care and compassion and delivering good end of life care, were by far the most popular clinical articles accessed in 2017.
This shows our readers' continued desire to remain in touch with the core human skills of nursing care, coupled with a desire to research and improve practice.
Here we look back in more detail at the most popular articles of 2017.
1. Effective communication skills in nursing practice
This article highlights the importance of effective communication skills for nurses. It focuses on core communication skills, their definitions and the positive outcomes that result when applied to practice.
2. Leadership styles and theories
Being adept in recognising leadership styles enables nurses to develop their skills to become better leaders, as well as improving relationships with colleagues and other leaders, who have previously been challenging to work with. This article explores different leadership styles and theories, and explains how they relate to nursing practice.
3. Patient advocacy: the role of the nurse
The role of nurses as patient advocates is well recognised by healthcare professionals, yet the processes and practices involved in patient advocacy are not clearly understood. This article examines the concept of patient advocacy and its relevance to nursing, associated goals and outcomes of advocacy and the processes and practices involved.
4. Effective communication and teamwork promotes patient safety
In industries with a high degree of risk, such as health care, effective teamwork has been shown to achieve team goals successfully and efficiently, with fewer errors. This article introduces behaviours that support communication, co-operation and co-ordination in teams.
5. Care, compassion and communication
This article discusses the core aspects of compassionate care and effective communication and, in doing so, uses examples to demonstrate their use within nursing.
6. Understanding reflective practice
This article provides practical guidance to help practitioners use reflective models to write reflective accounts. It also outlines how the reflective process can be used as a valuable learning tool in preparation for revalidation.
7. Using the ABCDE approach to assess the deteriorating patient
This article outlines the systematic ABCDE (airway, breathing, circulation, disability, exposure) approach to patient assessment, which enables healthcare practitioners to identify and respond to life-threatening conditions in order of priority.
8. Use of theoretical and conceptual frameworks in qualitative research
The aim of this article is to debate the definition and use of theoretical and conceptual frameworks in qualitative research.
9. Promoting the 6Cs of nursing in patient assessment
This article provides an overview of the Patient Assessment and Clinical-reasoning Tool designed to facilitate the development of clinical reasoning skills and effective communication with other healthcare professionals, thereby enhancing patient-centred care.
10. Preparing and conducting interviews to collect data
This article aims to support students who are undertaking research modules as part of their academic studies, writing a research proposal or novice researchers who are about to use interviews as a means of data collection.
11. Using the Gold Standards Framework to deliver good end of life care
This article describes the experience of, and collaboration between, trust staff and members of the Gold Standards Framework team, and how this work has placed end of life care at the heart of patient care and staff recruitment.
12. Understanding and meeting your legal responsibilities as a nurse
Nurses, midwives and nursing students are legally responsible for their actions. This article discusses the legal standard of care required in relation to nursing and midwifery practice and nurses’ professional standards and code of conduct.
13. Tackling hypertension: what’s new?
This article includes latest recommendations on blood pressure targets in different patient groups and gives an overview of the latest evidence on pharmacological and non-pharmacological management of hypertension in primary care.
14. Managing chronic oedema and wet legs in the community: a service evaluation
This article investigates the potential economic benefits of a project focused on raising community nurses’ awareness and recognition of chronic oedema and wet legs, and its effects on patients’ quality of life.
15. Selecting the best theory to implement planned change
Improving the workplace requires staff to be involved and innovations to be maintained. This article considers three change theories and discusses how one in particular can be used in practice.
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