Search

Interviews with 10 men studying early childhood education and 8 women in motor-vehicle engineering, areas in which they were gender minorities, revealed intimidating behaviors and stereotypes preventing their full participation. Difficulties also arose in workshops and job placements. (SK)

This year will be remembered as historic for nurse prescribing. The big story, undoubtedly, was the opening of the full British National Formulary (BNF) to nurse prescribers on May 1. [...]

Student health visitors led a Mini-MEND project for families with young children as part of their public health nursing course. The project gave a framework for the students and staff members from the children's centre to stimulate an awareness of health needs and facilitate health enhancing activities in terms of healthy eating and parenting. Reflection on the initiative identified application of the principles of health visiting and the domains of specialist community public health nursing, yet the pressures of current health visiting workloads mean that having developed public health skills to use with groups and communities, they may not be used by newly-qualified health visitors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers the author's insights regarding his decision to return to practice as a health visitor after several years of being a lecturer in public healt. The author says that he was employed at a provider, in which he works two days a week following experienced health visitors. Furthermore, he mentions the changes on the practice which include the use of electronic records, skill mix and integrated working, and the emergence of specialist health visitors.

The article offers information on the use of social marketing approach by the Department of Health (DH) in Great Britain for the reduction of the proportion of overweight and obese children in the country to 2000 levels by 2010. The initiative has been indicated as marketing with a social rather than a financial goal. It has been using a range of models and different tools which have been familiar to healthcare professionals. The approach has also been designed to be part of the care delivery in the National Health Service (NHS).

Information on the electronic discussion forum Senate for Health Visiting and School Nursing (SENATE-HVSN) in June 2011 regarding the health visitor implementation plan of the U.S. Department of Health (DH) is presented. Topics include how to implement the plan into reality by enabling health visitors have autonomy and authority, sound health visiting practice, and its opportunities. The electronic forum featured deputy chief nursing officer Viv Bennett of DH.

A letter to the editor about the proposed five post-registration pathways intended for health visitor lecturers in Great Britain is presented.

In this primary care trust there was limited health visitor prescribing. A case study approach sought to identify reasons for this, to lead to recommendations and changes to develop health visitor prescribing. The situation was examined using qualitative methods to consider the opportunities and challenges in health visitor prescribing. Semi-structured interviews with eighteen health visitors and managers explored their views of health visitor prescribing and its position within the PCT. The findings demonstrated only three health visitors prescribed; yet the majority were positive about prescribing, both for clients and health visitor development. Practitioners recognised their difficult working context and felt that organisational systems were not supportive of prescribing. A culture of prescribing was not felt to be in evidence, but was seen as a realistic possibility. Recommendations for change focused on the organisation and practitioners, with improved communication and structures supportive of prescribing. There was a need for practitioners to be active in learning so that they could share knowledge, experience and commitment to prescribing in locally based groups.