Council for nursing and midwifery Health Dictionary

See MIDWIFE; PREGNANCY AND LABOUR.... midwifery

The nursing of a patient suffering from an infectious disease in such a way that the risk of their passing on the disease to others is reduced. Thus, precautions are taken to ensure that all infective matter – such as stools, urine, sputum, discharge from wounds, and anything that may be contaminated by such infective matter (e.g. nurses’ uniforms, bedding and towels) – is so treated that it will not convey the infection. (See NURSING.)... barrier nursing

A statutory body set up by the Dentists Act which maintains a register of dentists (see DENTAL SURGEON), promotes high standards of dental education, and oversees the professional conduct of dentists. Membership comprises elected and appointed dentists and appointed lay members. Like other councils responsible for registering health professionals, the General Dental Council now comes under the umbrella of the new Council for Regulatory Excellence, a statutory body. (See APPENDIX 7: STATUTORY ORGANISATIONS.)... general dental council

See “high dependency care facility”.... nursing home

A statutory body in the United Kingdom that promotes the balanced development of medical and related biological research and aims to advance knowledge that will lead to improved health care. It employs its own research sta? in more than 40 research establishments. These include the National Institute for Medical Research, the Laboratory of Molecular Biology, and the Clinical Sciences Centre. Grants are provided so that individual scientists can do research which complements the research activities of hospitals and universities. There are several medical charities and foundations – for example, the Imperial Cancer Research Fund, the British Heart Foundation, the Nu?eld Laboratories and the Wellcome Trust which fund and foster medical research.... medical research council

In 2002 the UK government set up this new statutory council with the aim of improving consistency of action across the eight existing regulatory bodies for professional sta? involved in the provision of various aspects of health care. These bodies are: General Medical Council; General Dental Council; General Optical Council; Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain; General Chiropractic Council; General Osteopathic Council; Health Professions Council; and Nursing and Midwifery Council.

The new Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence will help to promote the interests of patients and to improve co-operation between the existing regulatory bodies – providing, in e?ect, a quality-control mechanism for their activities. The government and relevant professions will nominate individuals for this overarching council. The new council will not have the authority to intervene in the determination by the eight regulatory bodies of individual ?tness-to-practise cases unless these concern complaints about maladministration.... council for healthcare regulatory excellence

A statutory body of elected and appointed medical practitioners and appointed lay members with the responsibility of protecting patients and guiding doctors in their professional practice. Set up by parliament in 1858 – at the request of the medical profession, which was concerned by the large numbers of untrained people practising as doctors – the GMC is responsible for setting educational and professional standards; maintaining a register of quali?ed practitioners; and disciplining doctors who fail to maintain appropriate professional standards, cautioning them or temporarily or permanently removing them from the Medical Register if they are judged un?t to practise.

The Council is funded by doctors’ annual fees and is responsible to the Privy Council. Substantial reforms of the GMC’s structure and functions have been and are still being undertaken to ensure that it operates e?ectively in today’s rapidly evolving medical and social environment. In particular, the Council has strengthened its supervisory and disciplinary functions, and among many changes has proposed the regular revalidation of doctors’ professional abilities on a periodic basis. The Medical Register, maintained by the GMC, is intended to enable the public to identify whom it is safe to approach to obtain medical services. Entry on the Register shows that the doctor holds a recognised primary medical quali?cation and is committed to upholding the profession’s values. Under revalidation requirements being ?nalised, in addition to holding an initial quali?cation, doctors wishing to stay on the Register will have to show their continuing ?tness to practise according to the professional attributes laid down by the GMC.

Once revalidation is fully established, there will be four categories of doctor:

Those on the Register who successfully show their ?tness to practise on a regular basis.

Those whose registration is limited, suspended or removed as a result of the Council’s disciplinary procedures.

Those who do not wish to stay on the Register or retain any links with the GMC.

Those, placed on a supplementary list, who do not wish to stay on the main Register but who want to retain a formal link with the medical profession through the Council. Such doctors will not be able to practise or prescribe.... general medical council (gmc)

The statutory body that regulates the professions of ophthalmic OPTICIAN (optometrist) and dispensing optician. It promotes high standards of education and professional conduct and was set up by the Opticians Act 1958.... general optical council

Care provided in geriatric centres and acute hospitals to older persons who are in need of limited medical care and who are awaiting nursing home placement.... interim nursing home care

Licensed facility that provides skilled nursing care and rehabilitation services to functionally disabled, injured or sick individuals.... nursing facility

Data recorded by nurses concerning the nursing care given to the patient, including judgement of the patient’s progress.... nursing record

See APPENDIX 8: PROFESSIONAL ORGANISATIONS.... royal college of nursing (rcn)

Daily nursing and rehabilitative care that can only be performed by, or under the supervision of, skilled nursing personnel.... skilled nursing care

Nursing homes that are certified to provide a fairly intensive level of care, including skilled nursing care.... skilled nursing facility

Nursing care needs that require the advanced and specialized clinical skills and knowledge of a registered nurse.... specialized nursing care needs

Nurses are the largest single group of sta? working in the health service. There are more than 330,000 quali?ed nursing posts in NHS trusts and primary care across the UK. Would-be registered nurses (RNs) do either a three-year diploma programme or a four-year degree. An increasing number of nurses are now acquiring degrees, either as their initial quali?cation or by studying part-time later in their career. This has led to an often heated debate over the nature of nursing and whether there is now too much emphasis on academic theory at the expense of hands-on care.

Nursing is changing rapidly, and today’s nurses are expected to take on an extended role – often performing tasks which were once the sole preserve of doctors, such as diagnosing, prescribing drugs and admitting and discharging patients.

There are four main branches of nursing: adult, child, mental health and learning disability. Student nurses qualify in one of these areas and then apply to go on the nursing register. This is held by nursing’s regulatory body, the Council for Nursing and Midwifery. Nurses are expected to abide by the Council’s Code of Professional Conduct. The organisation’s main role is protecting the public and it is responsible for monitoring standards and dealing with allegations of misconduct. There are more than 637,000 quali?ed nurses on the Council’s register, and this is the main pool from which the NHS and other employers recruit.

The criticisms about nurses’ education being too academic, and persisting problems of recruitment of nurses into the NHS, were among factors prompting a strategic government review of the status, training, pay and career opportunities for nurses and other health professionals. The new model emphasises the practical aspects of the education programme with a better response to the needs of patients and the NHS. It also o?ers nurses a more ?exible career path and education linked more closely with practice development and research, so as to provide greater scope for continuing professional education and development.

About 60 per cent of RNs work in NHS hospitals and community trusts. But an increasing number are choosing to work elsewhere, either in the private sector or in jobs such as school nursing, occupational health or for NHS Direct, the nurse-led telephone helpline. Others have dropped out of nursing altogether. The health service is facing a shortage of quali?ed nurses and many trust employers have resorted to overseas recruitment drives. The government has launched a major nurse recruitment and retention campaign and is promoting family-friendly employment practices to lure those with a nursing quali?cation currently working outside the NHS back into the workforce. Nursing is a mainly female profession and a third of nurses work part-time.

Nurses’ pay has for long compared unfavourably with other professional employment opportunities, despite being determined by an independent Pay Review Body. With the recruitment of nurses a perennial problem, the government’s strategy, Making a Di?erence, is to set up a new pay system o?ering greater ?exibility and opportunities for nurses and other health-service sta?. In 2005, a newly quali?ed sta? nurse earned around £16,000 a year, while one of the new grade of consultant nurses could command an annual salary of between £27,000 and £42,000. Nurse consultants were introduced in spring 2000 as a means of allowing nurses to progress up the career ladder while maintaining a clinical role.

The nurse of today is increasingly likely to be part of a multidisciplinary team, working alongside a range of other professionals from doctors and physiotherapists to social workers and teachers. A further sign of the times is that many registered nurses are being asked to act in a supervisory role, delegating tasks to nonregistered nurses working as health-care assistants and auxiliaries. In recognition of the latter’s increasing role, the Royal College of Nursing, the main professional association and trade union for nurses, has now agreed to extend membership to health-care assistants with a Scottish/National Vocational Quali?cation at level three.

Midwifery Midwives (see MIDWIFE) are practitioners who o?er advice and support to women before, during and after pregnancy. They are regulated by the Council for Nursing and Midwifery (formerly the UK Central Council for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting). Registered nurses can take an 18month course to become a midwife, and there is also a three-year programme for those who wish to enter the profession directly. Midwifery courses lead to a diploma or degree-level quali?cation. Most midwives work for the NHS and, as with nursing, there are problems recruiting and retaining sta?.

Health visiting Health visitors are registered nurses who work in the community with a range of groups including families, the homeless and older people. They focus on preventing ill-health and o?er advice on a range of topics from diet to child behavioural problems. They are employed by health trusts, primary-care groups and primary-care trusts.... nursing

the UK government’s chief nursing adviser, who is responsible for providing an expert professional contribution and advice on nursing, midwifery, and health visiting matters to ministers and senior officials. There are separate Chief Nursing Officers appointed to advise the devolved governments in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.... chief nursing officer

the supervisory body of *advanced life-support courses in Europe, responsible for updating the content of the courses based on best evidence from all countries represented.... european resuscitation council

(NMC) a statutory body that regulates the nursing and midwifery professions in the public interest. See nurse.... nursing and midwifery council

Inability to cope with incessant demands of the child. Heaviness of shoulders and back. Headache, pains, possible anaemia, lack of energy, insomnia, mental depression. Usually a combination of invigorating herb teas suffices. Alcohol-based tinctures, liquid extracts, etc, are contra-indicated. Bananas, to counter potassium deficiency. Oatmeal porridge. Alternatives. Teas. Oats. Raspberry leaves. Ginseng, Wood Betony, Vervain.

Gerard tea. Equal parts: Raspberry leaves, Lemon Balm leaves, Agrimony leaves. Mix. Made as ordinary tea: 2-3 teaspoons to small teapot; infuse few minutes. Drink freely.

Fenugreek tea: consume seeds as well as liquor.

Gentian root. 2 teaspoons to cup cold water left to steep overnight. Half-1 cup before meals.

Pollen..

Diet. Oatmeal porridge. Honey.

Supplements. Multivitamins, B-complex, B6, B12. ... breasts, nursing mother exhaustion

A General Medical Council style organisation with a single Register, common ethics and disciplinary procedures for its members. To promote high standards of education, qualification and treatment; to preserve the patient’s freedom of choice.

Founder groups: The National Institute of Medical Herbalists, College of Osteopaths, British Naturopathic and Osteopathic Association, The British Chiropractic Association, The Society of Homoeopaths, The British Acupuncture Association, The Traditional Acupuncture Society and the Register of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Objects: to provide vital unified representation to contest adverse legislation; to promote the interests of those seeking alternative treatments; to maintain standards of competent primary health care; to protect the practice of alternative medicine if Common Law is encroached upon. The Council prefers to work in harmony with the orthodox profession in which sense it is complementary. Council’s first chairman: Simon Mills, FNIMH. Address: 10 Belgrave Square, London SW1X BPH. ... council for complementary and alternative medicine

(GMC) the regulatory body of the medical profession in the UK, which was established in 1858 by the Medical Act and has statutory powers. It licenses doctors to practise medicine and has the power to revoke licences or place restrictions on practice. The governing body of the GMC, its Council, comprises 12 members, 6 of which are medically qualified and 6 of which are not. Its purpose is to protect, promote, and maintain the health and safety of the public by ensuring proper standards in the practice of medicine and medical education and training. Following various high-profile cases involving malpractice, there has been a shift in the role of the GMC from one of simple registration to that of *revalidation of doctors.

GMC website: includes the Council’s guide to Good Medical Practice... general medical council