Nursing Standard Podcast

Nurses encounter many different wounds in their practice.

These range from lower limb leg ulcers – including venous leg ulcers and diabetes-related foot ulcers - to surgical wounds, pressure ulcers and those caused by trauma. 

Wounds can be distressing, painful and debilitating for the person as well as affecting body image. They are also costly and take time to manage for the health service and organisation. 

This episode looks at what nurses need to know about this important area of practice.

Our expert guest is Matthew Wynn, a lecturer in adult nursing who runs the tissue viability and leg ulcer management module at University of Salford.

He explains the difference between an acute and chronic wound, the importance of assessment prior to wound cleansing and when to employ aseptic and clean wound techniques.

He also discusses how to choose the correct cleansing solution including the use of water and use of dressings.

At the end of the podcast, Matthew neatly summarises the three things nurses need to know about cleansing a wound.

For more episodes of the Nursing Standard podcast, visit rcni.com/podcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The link between nurse staffing levels and patient outcomes has been proven time and again – so why does the UK have a persistent shortage of nurses?

Is it all financial? And do, or should, nurses have a role in calling this out and finding solutions?

This episode of the Nursing Standard podcast hears from Jane Ball, professor of nursing workforce policy at University of Southampton who has spent 30 years researching safe staffing issues.

She speaks about the positive impact on patient care of having the right number of nurses who are degree educated and have a good working environment.

Professor Ball talks about how the pandemic has shown both the importance and disregard of nursing, and the danger of government and policy-makers thinking the profession doesn’t need workplace planning or to be rewarded.

She also advises nurses to report short-staffing and not to let their context – or working environment – allow them to compromise on these vital safety issues.

Speaking to Nursing Standard editor Flavia Munn as the annual International Nurses’ Day takes place on 12 May, Professor Ball says the value of nursing can be shown by nurses showing their own worth by not letting their expectations or standards be knocked.

For more episodes of the Nursing Standard podcast, visit rcni.com/podcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Are you being held back in your career by self-limiting beliefs? These are those nagging thoughts that you’re not quite good enough or an imposter in your nursing role.

Such anxieties can hamper professional development, discouraging nurses from stepping forward for new opportunities and job promotion.

So how do you overcome these doubts? Gemma Stacey, director of the Florence Nightingale Foundation’s Academy, has some answers and inspiration for us all.

The academy runs a series of leadership and development courses including on unlocking the barriers that hold nurses back on an individual level.

In this episode, she tells Nursing Standard editor Flavia Munn about the importance of developing leadership skills from the outset of a nurse’s career and how honing your communication skills plays an important role.

She also speaks about what she has learned personally as someone with dyslexia and how to challenge perceptions and assumptions, plus the continuous and vital work of self-evaluation.

Find out more about the Florence Nightingale Foundation Academy and its courses: https://florence-nightingale-foundation.org.uk/academy/

For more episodes of the Nursing Standard podcast, visit rcni.com/podcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Do you know your emotional triggers, those particular situations that cause a surge of stress or anger?

Feeling overwhelmed is a common response in times of high pressure, and the pandemic has brought even more challenges for healthcare staff.

Yet self-care can appear a self-indulgence practised by people with time and energy.

But does it have to be that way? A free massive online open course (MOOC) is offering self-care and well-being support as something ‘learners’ can dip into when they can.

In this episode of the podcast, course tutor Tonks Fawcett, who is professor of student learning (nurse education) at University of Edinburgh, explains how the course works and its popularity among global healthcare staff.

Professor Fawcett talks about the three-step breathing space practice and a simple hand-fist exercise to support frazzled nervous systems, and the importance of knowing and accepting our vulnerabilities and learning how to respond to them.

The course Self care and wellbeing: A practical guide for health and social care is jointly run by FutureLearn, University of Edinburgh and the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and is open to all healthcare staff including nursing students.

It follows a highly popular MOOC for critical care staff used by 57,000 workers, which identified the need for a tailored well-being course.

https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/self-care-and-wellbeing-a-practical-guide-for-health-and-social-care

For more episodes of the Nursing Standard podcast, visit rcni.com/podcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How can you make revalidation a straightforward task?

The process can feel like a mammoth task to many nurses and nursing associates when faced with their deadline to revalidate with the Nursing and Midwifery Council every three years.

There can also be confusion about what can be included as continuing professional development (CPD). Do you need a certificate for every learning experience?

This episode sees RCN profession lead for education Gill Coverdale discuss CPD and revalidation with Nursing Standard senior nurse editor Richard Hatchett.

The pair, who are both registered nurses, talk about what counts as CPD, how to use your own practice for reflection purposes, where to gain participatory learning and more.

They also chat about their personal experiences of undergoing revalidation.

For more episodes of the Nursing Standard podcast, visit rcni.com/podcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What makes a good leader and how can every nurse demonstrate these skills whatever their seniority or setting?

This episode of the Nursing Standard podcast examines the topic of leadership and how all nursing staff and other healthcare workers can find and develop their own style.

Guest Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust chief nurse Karen Bonner talks about her own style of authentic and compassionate leadership and how to inspire staff.

She tells interviewer Nursing Standard editor Flavia Munn how leaders such as herself have had to flex their style to the needs of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ms Bonner, who started her first chief nurse post in Buckinghamshire just as the pandemic was beginning, talks about the well-being techniques she uses to maintain her resilience. 

She also discusses the importance of reflection.

For more episodes of the Nursing Standard podcast, visit rcni.com/podcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Do you find it hard to eat well amid the pressures and demands of your nursing job?

Perhaps you find yourself skipping meals during long shifts, grabbing a takeaway on the way home or craving sugary treats to combat exhaustion?

You are not alone. A recent survey by Nursing Standard found almost six in ten respondents are turning to unhealthy and disordered eating as a result of work-related stress.

The latest episode of the Nursing Standard podcast unpicks some of the barriers to healthy diets in the nursing workplace, including lack of breaks, long hours and poor access to canteens.

We hear from Duane Mellor, a dietitian and senior lecturer at Aston Medical School in Birmingham, and second year nursing student Lewis.

Lewis, who has previously experienced an eating disorder, describes working on placements and with rotas that have not supported healthy eating patterns.

The pair share with podcast host health journalist Erin Dean their practical advice for improving your diet with some forward planning.

For more episodes of the Nursing Standard podcast, visit rcni.com/podcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Are you looking to change direction in your career?

You are not alone. The pandemic has made many nurses rethink – or at least review – their career pathway.

So what do you do? Do you need to spend a lot of time retraining – or could you use your transferable skills to secure that new job?

This episode of the podcast hears from former associate director of nursing and midwifery Winnie George, who is now retention lead at NHS England and Improvement.

Like many nursing colleagues, the pandemic - and also her personal experience of being very unwell with COVID-19 - inspired her to look for a fresh career opportunity.

Ms George talks about her own career experience including gaining a tissue viability nursing role without specialist skills, and also how nurses can apply their existing skills such as leadership in care provision or project management to a new job. She also tells interviewer Nursing Standard editor Flavia Munn about the use of secondments to gain new opportunities and how flexible working and treating everyone as an individual can help to retain staff.

For more episodes of the Nursing Standard podcast, visit rcni.com/podcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Many women experience heavy and painful periods which have a significant impact on their personal and professional lives.

While 10 % of women of reproductive age are thought to have endometriosis, a condition where tissue similar to the lining of the womb grows elsewhere in the body.

Endometriosis has a range of symptoms including pain in the lower stomach or back, during periods and sex, and while passing urine or faeces. It also can affect a woman’s fertility.

Nurses are often the point of care of the condition, which takes an average of seven and a half years for a woman to receive a diagnosis.

This episode of the podcast discusses the signs, symptoms and treatment of endometriosis, and examines support for those experiencing severe monthly menstrual pain.

Our guests are Claudia Tye, a clinical nurse specialist in endometriosis and gynaecology and Debby Holloway, nurse consultant in gynaecology, who are based at Guy’s Hospital in London.

They also talk to Nursing Standard editor Flavia Munn about the mental health impact of endometriosis, some of the lesser known symptoms and how women, including nurses themselves, can manage the condition at work. Plus the two nurse experts discuss the role of diet in treatment and how nurses can enter this fascinating field of practice.

For more episodes of the Nursing Standard podcast, visit rcni.com/podcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Are you tired of being told things would be better if you were just a bit more resilient? Or frustrated with well-being initiatives that are put on by well-meaning employers but for which you have no time?

This episode of the Nursing Standard podcast looks at the power of embracing your vulnerability and sense of humanity, and examines the dangerous misconception that health staff are superhuman.

Chiara Dall’Ora, lecturer on nursing workforce at the University of Southampton, talks to Nursing Standard editor Flavia Munn about why she refuses to teach resilience to nursing students.

She explains how instead she teaches students about the impact of the work environment, being change agents and the importance of being human.

Dr Dall’Ora also talks about what managers can put in place to support staff when staffing levels are low and how to avoid empty gestures or gimmicks.

For more episodes of the Nursing Standard podcast, visit rcni.com/podcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.