Jane Rutty

Successful partnerships with third sector organisations to enhance the healthcare student experience: A partnership evaluation☆

There is limited research surrounding academic partnerships and more research is needed to educate universities, and the private, public and third sectors about the benefits and limitations of such partnerships. The aim of this study was to outline the unique partnership between Macmillan Cancer Support and De Montfort University and to evaluate the progress of this partnership. A qualitative approach was employed which involved interviews with nine members of the partnerships steering group. Interviews were transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis. The results showed that a partnership between a university and a third sector charity can have mutual benefits for all those involved, particularly for students and those affected by cancer. Furthermore, the module to develop volunteering among families affected cancer, created through this partnership is now being considered by other universities as a way of providing holistic and non-traditional lecture based learning experiences. Recommendations are made for future partnerships between third sector charities and universities.

Did the participants of the mass fatality exercise Operation Torch learn anything

There are a number of reasons why facilitating and participating in a mass fatality exercise may be viewed as continuous professional development for those ultimately engaged in the response to a mass fatality incident. These include, amongst other objectives; team integration, organization and preparedness, psychological and emotional effects, developing attitudes and behavioral responses as well as testing infrastructure, equipment, command and control. The objectives of attending an exercise from a player or observers point of view however may be completely different to those planning and running an exercise. This was identified at the exercise Operation Torch. The paper illustrates this and questions whether these two separate purposes can be fully achieved in one exercise. It puts forward proposals to assist exercise planners identify, plan, exercise, evaluate and implement both capability gap or educational exercises by assisting planners to deliver the purpose of the exercise which needs to be decided at the early stage of planning. It makes recommendations for the need for a national mass fatality exercise database to ensure that the correct exercise is delivered and a wider audience can be informed of the exercise outcome.

Does England need a new genesis of forensic nursing

This article begins by providing a global picture of violence and the possible effects it is having on the development worldwide of the forensic nurse examiner. A debate follows as to where the boundaries of this advancing nursing practice should lie in conjunction with medicine and postulates where this evolution in nursing may or may not be an advantage to the world of forensics. An analysis is then presented concerning violence in England and whether a need exists for registered nurses to expand and advance their practices, as already developed in other countries, in order to assist in civil, coronial, and crime investigations. This article closes by putting forward implications for nursing practice in England, the consequent multiprofessional issues that need to be debated to ensure that any such developments are not detrimental to legal investigations and health care, and recommendations for future needed research.

The development of a clinical policy ethics assessment tool

Introduction: Clinical policies control several aspects of clinical practice, including individual treatment and care, resource management and healthcare professionals’ etiquette. This article presents Clinical Policy Ethics Assessment Tool, an ethical assessment tool for clinical policies that could be used not only by clinical ethics committees but also by policy committees or other relevant groups. Aim: The aim of this study was to find or create a tool to identify ethical issues and/or confirm ethical validity in nursing practice policies, protocols and guidelines. Methodology: The development of Clinical Policy Ethics Assessment Tool involved first a literature review, followed by modification of the Research Protocol Ethics Assessment Tool, which was created to identify research protocols’ ethical issues, and finally, a trial of Clinical Policy Ethics Assessment Tool to ensure its reliability and validity. Ethical consideration: The policies analysed trialling Clinical Policy Ethics Assessment Tool were in the public domain and did not contain any confidential information. Despite that, Clinical Policy Ethics Assessment Tool also had the approval of a research ethics committee. Results: Research Protocol Ethics Assessment Tool was chosen as the template for a Clinical Policy Ethics Assessment Tool, to which several modifications were added to adapt it to work within a nursing practice context. Clinical Policy Ethics Assessment Tool was tested twice, which resulted in a general test–retest reliability coefficient = 0.86, r = 0.84, α1 = 0.817, α2 = 0.824 and interclass correlation coefficient = 0.874. Discussion: Contemporary nursing practice in a developed country is often ruled by clinical policies. The use of Clinical Policy Ethics Assessment Tool could confirm the ethical validity of those clinical practice policies, impacting on nurses’ education, values and quality of care. Conclusion: Clinical Policy Ethics Assessment Tool has the potential to detect ethical issues and facilitate the correction and improvement of clinical policies and guidelines in a structured way. This is especially so as it has shown reliability in detecting issues in clinical policies involving human participants and in encouraging policymakers to consider common ethical dilemmas in nursing practice.

Religious attitudes to death.

Abstract “All major religious traditions carry basically the same message, that is, love, compassion and forgiveness. The important thing is they should be part of our daily lives” (HH Dalai Lama). Religion remains a significant part of life for the majority across the world giving meaning to the individual’s experience of their personal life journey. The world’s religions are varied, with approximately 4200 religions being practiced today. It is understandable how easy it might be to bring about offence unintentionally. Therefore, this chapter aims to provide explanatory description that can be simply accessed regarding spiritual care after death.