Below is a list of NEW & UPDATED procedures in ClinicalSkills.net . Access via the intranet on our Library resources page or via Athens at www.clinicalskills.net
New procedures
Oral contraception review This new procedure outlines
how to conduct an oral contraception review for a woman who is already using
this form of contraception. Demonstrated by Melanie Rogers, Senior
Lecturer/Advanced Nurse Practitioner (Primary Care) at the University of
Huddersfield, and Emma Fawcett, Cervical Screening Mentor/Coordinator, NHS
Kirklees, Calderdale and Wakefield, this procedure outlines how to conduct the
review and covers common side effects and risk factors of both the combined
oral contraceptive (COC) pill and the progestogen-only pill (POP). You’ll find
it in the Primary Care section, under the Contraception category.
Treatment of hypoglycaemia This is a new addition to
the Diabetes Care category in the Primary Care section. Demonstrated by Helen
Church, Lead Diabetes Specialist Nurse at Hounslow and Richmond Community
Healthcare, and Nina Garrett, Diabetes Specialist Nurse at Frimley Park
Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, this procedure discusses the signs and symptoms
of hypoglycaemia. It covers how to distinguish mild and moderate hypoglycaemia
and how to treat each of these. The last two pages describe how to give a
glucagon injection, in the event of a patient developing severe hypoglycaemia,
as well as the follow-up care required.
Childhood Immunisations We have published this
procedure in both the Children section and the Primary Care section, under the
category Vaccination & Immunisation. Demonstrated by Ann Sunderland,
Director of Clinical Skills and Simulation at Leeds Beckett University, this procedure
covers administration of a vaccine that comes as a powder, for reconstitution
with a diluent, to an infant up to 4 months old. It emphasises the importance
of the cold chain, and describes how to give a vaccine as an intramuscular
injection to an infant.
Monitoring and use of a medicines refrigerator in primary
care We have published this new procedure in both the Primary Care and the
Children sections, under the category Vaccination & Immunisation. It covers
the importance of maintaining a medicines refrigerator at the correct
temperature, the need for a ‘cold chain’ for certain medicines and vaccines. It
describes the necessity to rotate stock following new deliveries, as well as
what to do in the event of a breakdown. Demonstrated by Dr Richard Hatchett,
our Education Consultant, you can also find a copy of this procedure in the
Administration of Medicines category, in the Adults section.
Updates
The following series or individual procedures have also been
updated:
Blood Transfusion (all six parts) References updated,
with some minor text changes. This procedure was previously under the
Intravenous Therapy category, but we have now created a new category called
Blood Transfusion.
Caring for a patient with a chest drain (parts 1 to 3) References
updated, some minor text changes.
Neurological observations (in children) Updated and
peer reviewed, references updated. Some text changes: this procedure now
mentions application of pressure as a stimulus rather than pain, in line with
the most recent guidance. We have highlighted the importance of not using the
supraorbital notch as a stimulus if the patient has or is suspected to have
facial fractures. We carried out extensive research to determine whether the
neurological observations chart shown should be updated (to match the revised
chart in the Adults procedure on Neurological Observations) but the feedback we
obtained suggests that the chart shown is still in wide use.
Using Entonox to relieve pain in adults Updated and
peer reviewed, references updated.
Intradermal injections
Intramuscular injection using the deltoid site
Intramuscular injection using the dorsogluteal site
Intramuscular injection using the vastus lateralis site
Intramuscular injection using the ventrogluteal site
Subcutaneous injection of insulin
Subcutaneous injections (using a prefilled syringe with a
non-detachable needle)
All of the above have been updated by the authors—the main
changes have been updating of references.
