Acknowledgements xii

Introduction to District Nursing xiii

Part 1 Introduction 1

1 The early history of district nursing 2
Matthew Bradby

2 History of the Queen’s Nursing Institute 4
Matthew Bradby

Part 2 The learning environment 7

3 Preparation for a learning environment in the community 8
Shirley Willis

4 Providing student placements in the community 10
Irene Cooke and Deborah Haydock

5 Supporting nursing students in the community 12
Josephine Gray

6 Mentorship and preceptorship 14
Meriel Chudleigh

Part 3 Working in the community 17

7 The role of the district nurse: autonomous practice 18
Matthew Peasey

8 Evidence‐based practice 20
Ben Bowers

9 Communication 22
Claire Green

10 Initial assessment and collaborative working 24
Georgina Newbury and Jayne Foley

11 Safer caseloads: service planning and caseload allocation 26
Celine Grundy, Helen Wheeler, Paula Wood, and Rachel Hogan

12 Skill mix in the community 28
Ann Cubbin

13 Nurse prescribing 30
Dianne Hogg

14 Medicines management 32
Dianne Hogg

15 Patient documentation 34
Angela Reed-Fox

16 Risk management 36
Mandy McKendry

17 Measuring quality and patient outcomes 38
Susan Harness

18 Caring for yourself in the community setting 40
Anita Clough and Neesha Oozageer Gunowa

Part 4 Caring for the whole person in the community 43

19 How to make every contact count: health chat 44
Amanda Huddleston

20 Cultural issues associated with district nursing 46
Rachel Daly

21 Social isolation and loneliness 48
Annie Darby

22 Health inequalities and engaging vulnerable groups 50
Annie Darby

23 Hygiene in the home, infection prevention and control 52
Susan Wynne

24 Substance and alcohol dependence 54
Alison Ward

25 Safety in the home, including falls prevention 56
Helen Davies

26 Effective discharge planning 58
Lena O’Reilly

27 Encouraging patient concordance 60
Gina Riley

28 Community health equipment services 62
Candice Pellett

29 The use of new technology to assist daily living in the home 64
Hilary Thompson

30 Use of mobile technology to support practice 66
Margo Grady

31 Patient care in nursing homes 68
Linda Thorley, Charlotte Hudd, and Anne Bennett

32 Person‐centred dementia care 70
Mo Boersma

33 Safeguarding 72
Helen Marshall

34 Supporting carers 74
Julie Bliss and Emma Lea

35 Supporting young carers and older carers 78
Julie Bliss and Emma Lea

36 Palliative care 80
Vanessa Gibson

37 Spirituality 82
Melanie Rogers

38 Bereavement 84
Julia Fairhall

Part 5 Physical and mental health in the community 87

39 Holistic nursing assessment in the community 88
Emma Brodie

40 Baseline observations 90
Lucy Stewart

41 Long‐term conditions and co‐morbidities 92
Lorraine Smith

42 Hydration 94
Alice Chingwaru

43 Nutrition in the community setting including enteral feeding 96
Alison Burton Shepherd and Susan Dunajewski

44 Kidney/renal health 98
Debbie Brown

45 Skin assessment 100
Sandra Lawton

46 Continence 102
Debra Dooley

47 Constipation 104
Debbie Bromley

48 Catheter care 106
Debbie Myers

49 Recognising lymphoedema, lipoedema and chronic oedema in the community 108
Mary Warrilow

50 Pressure ulcer prevention 110
Debbie Myers and Neesha Oozageer Gunowa

51 Lower leg ulceration 112
Carol Hedger and Susan Knight

52 Management of type 2 diabetes in the older person: using the International Diabetes Federation Guidelines in practice 114
Sonia Wijesundera, Julie Phipps, and Marion Snelling

53 Ischaemic heart disease 116
Lynne Bax and Helena Masters

54 Respiratory health 118
Dorothy Wood, Mags Dowie, and Lee Hough

55 Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease 120
Lynne Bax and Helena Masters

56 End‐stage respiratory care in the community 122
Jenny Rasmussen

57 Neurological conditions 124
Victoria Queen

58 Multiple sclerosis 126
Julie Matthews and Kathy Franklin

59 Cancer as a chronic condition 128
Ben Bowers

60 Mental illness 130
Lesley Frater

61 Assessing mental capacity 132
Beverly Graham

62 Dementia 134
Morejoy Saineti

63 Learning disability 136
Raj Jhamat and Shirley Chappel

Part 6 Specialisms in the community 139

64 Specialist nurses and the role of district nurses in coordinating care 140
Sadie Campbell

65 Voluntary organisations and district nurses 142
Carol Singleton

66 Occupational health: specialist community public health nurses 144
Catherine Best

67 Community learning disability nursing 146
Denise Souter

68 Tuberculosis nursing 148
Nicky Brown and Simone Thorn Heathcock

69 Prison nursing 150
Amanda Phillips

70 Nursing in defence primary healthcare 152
Katherine Moore

71 Homeless and inclusion health nursing 154
Jan Keauffling

72 Gardens, health and district nurses 156
Cate Wood

References and further reading 158

Index 161