Practice Nurse Newsletter - October 2021
Written by Anna Davis
Brief update from me
Welcome to the October GPN Newsletter. Many of you may already know me but for those who don’t, my name is Gemma and I am one of Nottinghamshire’s Practice Nurse Leads with a focus on those new to practice. I have only been in this post for the last few months, so am still learning and developing my role. This month I have been given the opportunity to create the October Newsletter for you all. I know many of us in general practice are feeling the strain of the flu season and covid boosters in addition to our day-to-day tasks. As well as this, the recent negative media publicity on GP/Primary care over the recent months has left many of us feeling deflated and burnt out. But regardless of this, we continue to do our jobs day in day out. I just want to remind you all how amazing you are! What a difference primary care and its staff make to the NHS and public. Reminder for you all to take time out when needed and look after yourselves and your colleagues. You cannot pour from an empty jug. If there is anything I can do to help or support any of you within your roles please feel free to contact me.
In this edition of the newsletter, you will find information and news on:
Congratulations
The team at NATH would like to congratulate the entire January 2021 cohort who has recently passed their GPN course at De Montfort University! Well done, this is an amazing achievement and we are really pleased to see that the primary care nurse workforce continuse to grow and develop.
Nursing Associate Forum
The next Nursing Associate Forum is on cardio vascular disease part 1 with a focus on hypertension. It will be a short presentation with a chance to answer your questions and share what is happening in your practice. If any HCAs are thinking about their next steps or wish to be more involved, you are more than welcome to attend, please contact NATH at alliance.hub1@nhs.net
Improving access to new asthma therapy
Do you have patients with asthma who are having frequent exacerbations? Or stuck on long-term oral prednisolone? Your patient could be eligible for an asthma biologic to help them get off steroids for good. Virtual MDT clinics have been set up with clinical leads. They would currently like to target patients age 18 or over who are needing 3 or more courses of oral prednisolone per year and/or on long-term maintenance prednisolone (this is regardless of a good adherence of at least 75% with medium or high-dose inhaled steroids).
Professional Nurse Advocate (PNA) Training Programme
The virtual Level 7 Accredited PNA Training Programme will run for 10 days, but the delivery may differ due to the various higher education institutes delivering the programme and the mode of academic assessment can vary from short essays and poster presentations to competency portfolios.
The PNA Training Programme will focus on the four functions of the Advocating for Education and Quality and Improvement (A-Equip) model, but it will primarily focus on restorative clinical supervision. The four functions of the A-Equip Model are as follows:
➢ Clinical Supervision (Restorative)
➢ Monitoring, Evaluation and Quality Control (Normative)
➢ Personal Action for Quality Improvement
➢ Education and Development (Formative)
The course is fully funded by NHS England and NHS Improvement.
If you would like more information please email Gemma.bird5@nhs.net.
Funding for Level 5 and 6 Respiratory courses
We have been made aware of some available funding for the level 5 and 6 respiratory courses via education health. If you are interested please email Gemma for details on how to apply
Upcoming events and training
-For all healthcare professionals, within general practice, involved in Quality improvement projects and audit. A meeting to discuss and plan ideas around the PCN plans for 2021/2022 & 2022/2021.
For further training and Events information please visit Events & Training
Local services
This section of the newsletter will be dedicated to showcasing local services that will be useful to you! This month we would like to introduce the Nottinghamshire Carers Association.
“From our experience, a carer will wait an average of three years before asking for help or support and by that time can often be in crisis. This also means carers are missing out on support and benefits within this early period. Carers deserve to be better informed and prepared to care for their family and friends.
We are encouraging health professionals across Nottinghamshire to actively join us in finding “hidden” carers, ensuring a clear pathway of signposting and support, to enable interventions that direct people caring much earlier to support”.
This is a free service for GP practices and health professionals and we offer:
• Free carer awareness training for staff
• Resources
• Advice on how to set up a Carers Champion
• Up to date Information for carers
• Reviews
• Opportunity to achieve our Carer friendly Quality mark to evidence best practice
- Gemma -
ICS Practice Nurse Lead
Relevant Links
ShinyMind App - A free wellbeing and resilience app for all Primary and Community care workers in Nottingham & Nottinghamshire ICS
Tagged as: Practice Nurse Newsletter
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