What Has Happened to Named Nursing? Perceptions of the Named Nurse System

The purpose of this study was to explore the previously little researched area of the implementation of the Named Nurse Standard in hospital settings. The Standard formed part of the Government's programme of health service reforms that aimed to enhance the patient experience by having an identified nurse in charge of their care from admission to discharge. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used to identify whether nursing work was organised to facilitate the named nurse concept and the patient's perception of who delivered their care. A case study approach in surgical wards in two NHS trusts enabled comparison of clinical settings with a high adherence to the Standard's criteria and wards with a low adherence. The areas selected for comparison were the methods of organising nursing work, nurses' perceptions of the Named Nurse Standard and the patient's experience of the named nurse role. The results show that, although levels of patient satisfaction were high, this was not associated with care from a named nurse. There was no significant difference between the methods of organising nursing work on the wards in the two adherence categories. Furthermore, the Named Nurse Standard was not fully implemented on any of the wards sampled. The main recommendation of this study is that innovations in nursing practice should be evaluated in a pilot study before being introduced nationally. Areas recommended for future research in the organisation of nursing work include day case units and discharge planning

Total Portfolio Activation: A Framework for Creating Social and Environmental Impact across Asset Classes

Interest in investment that pursues social and environmental impact has exploded in recent years. Although opportunities for impact investing have emerged across asset classes, most impact-investment activity has remained largely confined to a limited array of private investments, touching only a small percentage of investor portfolios. For organizations and individuals seeking greater impact and better alignment between their investment activities and their mission or values, there remains a pressing need for tools to help investors identify and seize opportunities to activate more of their assets for social and environmental benefit. To help fill this gap, this paper introduces a simple conceptual framework: Total Portfolio Activation

Exploring the complexities of understanding vulnerability and adult safeguarding within Christian Faith organisations

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report the findings from a study exploring the understanding of vulnerability and adult safeguarding within Christian faith based settings. The article concludes with recommendations for practitioners involved in safeguarding adults in faith based Christian settings. Design/methodology/approach – The paper considers a survey (n=3182) into understanding of vulnerability and adult safeguarding for individuals who attend Church regularly or work in a Christian organisation Findings - This paper is the first to be undertaken with a UK sample and highlights a range of factors informing adult safeguarding practice within Christian organisations. This includes:- complexity linked to understanding vulnerability and its role in safeguarding activity; lack of clarity about what to do with a safeguarding adult concern, and the need for safeguarding training pertinent to the particular needs of faith based settings. Research limitations/implications - As there is currently a dearth of research in this area this paper makes a valuable contribution to the developing knowledge base around safeguarding and vulnerability within faith based organisations. Practical implications - Professionals need to develop increased understanding of the complexities involved in safeguarding activity, and specifically how those working in the wider context of supporting vulnerable adults make sense of safeguarding processes and procedures. Social implications – It is important that all organisations, including faith based settings, working with adults have an understanding of their roles and responsibilities with respect to safeguarding those at risk of harm. Originality - This paper is the first UK study to consider safeguarding adults at risk of harm in Christian faith context

Measuring the Contribution and Complexity of Nurse and Physiotherapy Consultants: A Feasibility Study

Advanced practice roles in nursing and other health professions have become integral to a range of healthcare services world-wide providing experienced practitioners with the opportunity to extend their roles and influence decision making whilst maintaining patient contact. However, there has been limited research to evaluate the impact on health services of these advanced practice roles

Trauma Exposure Among Women in the Pacific Rim

Purpose Healthcare professionals who provide services in the immediate or long‐term aftermath of traumatic events need to understand the nature and frequency of traumatic events in the lives of women. However, research on trauma exposure in women has only recently begun to assess events other than intimate partner and sexual violence and has not supported direct statistical comparison of cross‐national and cross‐cultural data. The purpose of this descriptive, correlational study was to describe and compare trauma exposure prevalence and type in community‐based samples of women in the United States, Colombia, and Hong Kong. Design Women were recruited through posted notices at community health sites, snowball sampling, and online advertisements (N = 576). The Life Stressor Checklist‐Revised (total score range 0 to 30) was used to determine the type and prevalence of trauma exposure. Data were collected by native language members of the research team. Methods Descriptive statistics were used to summarize demographic characteristics and trauma exposure for the total sample and each community‐based sample (location). Between‐location differences were tested using Fisher\u27s exact tests for categorical measures and general linear models with pairwise a posteriori least squares t‐test for continuous measures. Responses to open‐ended questions were translated and categorized. Findings Over 99% of women in the total sample reported at least one traumatic life event. The mean number of traumatic life events per participant was 7, ranging from 0 to 24. Although there was consistency in the most commonly reported trauma exposures across locations, the rates of specific events often differed. Conclusions Historical, political, geographic, and cultural factors may explain differences in trauma exposure among women in the four locations studied. Clinical Relevance This study offers relevant knowledge for providers in diverse locations who provide services to women who have experienced traumatic events and provides evidence for the need for future research to further enhance knowledge of trauma exposure among women, and on the effects of trauma in women\u27s lives

L-selectin is essential for delivery of activated CD8+ T cells to virus-infected organs for protective immunity

Cytotoxic CD8+ T lymphocytes play a critical role in the host response to infection by viruses. The ability to secrete cytotoxic chemicals and cytokines is considered pivotal for eliminating virus. Of equal importance is how effector CD8+ T cells home to virus-infected tissues. L-selectin has not been considered important for effector T cell homing, because levels are low on activated T cells. We report here that, although L-selectin expression is downregulated following T cell priming in lymph nodes, L-selectin is re-expressed on activated CD8+ T cells entering the bloodstream, and recruitment of activated CD8+ T cells from the bloodstream into virus-infected tissues is L-selectin dependent. Furthermore, L-selectin on effector CD8+ T cells confers protective immunity to two evolutionally distinct viruses, vaccinia and influenza, which infect mucosal and visceral organs, respectively. These results connect homing and a function of virus-specific CD8+ T cells to a single molecule, L-selectin

An investigation of genotype-phenotype association in a festulolium forage grass population containing genome-spanning <i>Festuca pratensis</i> chromosome segments in a <i>Lolium perenne</i> background

Alien chromosome introgression is used for the transfer of beneficial traits in plant breeding. For temperate forage grasses, much of the work in this context has focused on species within the ryegrasses (Lolium spp.) and the closely related fescues (Festuca spp.) particularly with a view to combining high forage quality with reliability and enhanced environmental services. We have analysed a L. perenne (perennial ryegrass) population containing the majority of a F. pratensis (meadow fescue) genome as introgressed chromosome segments to identify a) marker-trait associations for nutrient use and abiotic stress response across the family, and b) to assess the effects of introgression of F. pratensis genomic regions on phenotype. Using container-based assays and a system of flowing solution culture, we looked at phenotype responses, including root growth, to nitrogen and phosphorus status in the growing medium and abiotic stresses within this festulolium family. A number of significant marker/trait associations were identified across the family for root biomass on chromosomes 2, 3 and 5 and for heading date on chromosome 2. Of particular interest was a region on chromosome 2 associated with increased root biomass in phosphorus-limited conditions derived from one of the L. perenne parents. A genotype containing F. pratensis chromosome 4 as a monosomic introgression showed increased tiller number, shoot and root growth and genotypes with F. pratensis chromosome segment introgressions at different ends of chromosome 4 exhibited differential phenotypes across a variety of test conditions. There was also a general negative correlation between the extent of the F. pratensis genome that had been introgressed and root-related trait performances. We conclude that 1) the identification of alleles affecting root growth has potential application in forage grass breeding and, 2) F. pratensis introgressions can enhance quantitative traits, however, introgression can also have more general negative effects

Are you Ready? Assessing Whether Organisations are Prepared for Digital Preservation

In early 2009 the Planets project undertook a survey of national libraries, archives, and other content-holding organisations in Europe to better understand the organisations' digital preservation activities and needs, and to ensure that Planets' technology and services are designed to meet them. Over 200 responses were received including a cross-section of major libraries and archives especially in Europe. The results provide a snapshot of organisations' readiness to preserve digital collections for the future. The survey revealed a high level of awareness of the challenges of digital preservation within organisations. Findings indicated that approximately half of those organisations surveyed have taken measures to develop digital preservation policies and to budget for it, while a majority have incorporated digital preservation into their organisational planning. Organisations predict that within a decade they will need to store large quantities of data in a wide range of formats from a variety of sources; three quarters of them are looking to invest in a solution within the next two years. However, the findings also point to varying degrees of readiness. Organisations with a digital preservation policy are significantly further advanced in their work to preserve digital collections for the long-term than others

Religion as practices of attachment and materiality: the making of Buddhism in contemporary London

This article aims to explore Buddhism’s often-overlooked presence on London’s urban landscape, showing how its quietness and subtlety of approach has allowed the faith to grow largely beneath the radar. It argues that Buddhism makes claims to urban space in much the same way as it produces its faith, being as much about the practices performed and the spaces where they are enacted as it is about faith or beliefs. The research across a number of Buddhist sites in London reveals that number of people declaring themselves as Buddhists has indeed risen in recent years, following the rise of other non-traditional religions in the UK; however, this research suggests that Buddhism differs from these in several ways. Drawing on Baumann’s (2002) distinction between traditionalist and modernist approaches to Buddhism, our research reveals a growth in each of these. Nevertheless, Buddhism remains largely invisible in the urban and suburban landscape of London, adapting buildings that are already in place, with little material impact on the built environment, and has thus been less subject to contestation than other religious movements and traditions. This research contributes to a growing literature which foregrounds the importance of religion in making contemporary urban and social worlds