Service user involvement in preregistration child nursing programmes

Service user involvement is a fundamental part of preregistration nursing education programmes, however achieving this for child nursing students is challenging. Service user involvement can be achieved through online forums but this method can lack the emotional interaction and opportunity for deep reflection. This article reviews the background and challenges of service user involvement in preregistration child nursing programmes, further exploring the evaluation of a group of final year child nursing students’ experience of appreciating the journey of two service users. The input from service users provided the opportunity for reflection, empathy and improved student self-awareness in nursing practice. Students gained perspective of the holistic needs of the service user, which empowered them to have confidence in their communication skills to ensure the voice of the child is heard and their rights are upheld. This article concludes that service user involvement is crucial in preregistration nursing programmes for the development of child nursing students, not only affecting their training but also the future workforce.</p

The thermal constant of the onchocerciasis vector Simulium damnosum s.l. in West Africa

The minimum water temperature for development (t0) and the thermal constant (K) for the development of immature stages of Simulium damnosum s.l. (Diptera: Simuliidae) in West Africa were estimated as 20.1 ◦C and 93 day-degrees, respectively, based on analyses of published data on development rates of eggs, larvae and pupae at different water temperatures (24.0 ◦C and 31.5 ◦C). Thus, at a constant water temperature of 30.0 ◦C (approximately 10 ◦C above t0), adult flies would emerge about 9 days after oviposition. Analysis of a dataset probably restricted to S. damnosum s.s., but for which the temperature for the egg stage varied, revealed a much lower t0 (16.3 ◦C) and a much higher K (181 day-degrees), suggesting that the insects’ thermal relations may be cytoform-specific. The results will aid control decisions and predictions of possible effects of climate change on sizes and geographic distributions of populations of onchocerciasis vectors in West Africa