Placement Overview
| Placement Title | Farnworth DN |
| Trust | |
| Your Placement Contact | Paula Clarke – Send Email |
| Placement Contact’s Role | |
| Placement Address | Farnworth Health Centre Fredrick St Farnworth Bolton BL4 9AH |
| Placement City/Town: | Bolton |
| Placement Phone | 01204 463630 |
About this placement
What is organised for students on commencement of placement?
All students will have a Trust induction on their first day.
Students will arrive about 9am on their second morning and will be shown round the centre by a member of the Team and introduced to appropriate staff and made to feel welcome.
At some time during their first day, a member of their Team will go through the Induction list with them, as per the assessment booklet. E.g. sickness reporting, health and safety information files, location of policy files, etc.
They will be shown modes of communication and mail points, location of message books, fax machine, email access, any teaching and learning resources, and a brief overview of the management structure of the Trust.
Hours of duty and uniform policy will be discussed. They will meet their mentor at the earliest opportunity but will have a named person to relate to until their mentor is available.
The student’s initial interview will take place at the earliest opportunity but certainly within the first week.
What are the arrangements for mentors/assessors?
Adult branch students are allocated a mentor within a District Nursing Team prior to arrival at their placement and will have the name of their mentor given in the welcome letter sent out by the Clinical Placement Co-ordinator. Students are asked to contact the placement one week before their starting date to confirm their arrival.
All mentors have a mentorship qualification. All Specialist Practitioners are nurse prescribers.
What shift patterns are students allocated for learning?
Early:
Late:
Night:
Shift Notes:
All students will work a thirty seven and a half hour week over five days.
Generally this will be 8.30am until 5pm Monday to Friday but this may be negotiated with their mentor. One hour is allocated for lunch.
Students are expected to work a minimum of one weekend, preferably with their mentor, during an average allocation of six weeks.
Students are also expected to work a minimum of two evenings during an average allocation of six weeks.
Some areas have an integrated day/evening service and students will be able to work on a rota system to fit in with their mentor. Where this is not the case, students will access the evening service based at Pikes Lane Centre by prior arrangement and negotiation.
What patient care situations are available in this placement?
- Care of patients in their own home or Treatment Clinics
- Care of patients in Residential Care Homes, Neighbourhood Network Homes
- Acute and non-acute medical and post-operative care
- Wide and varied range of wound care with extensive range of wound dressings
- Compliance and non-compliance of treatments
- Maintenance treatments of anaemias, vitamin deficiencies, hormone disorders
- Care of patients with eye problems, post cataract, glaucoma, blindness
- Palliative and terminal care
- Shared care with Social services and other agencies
- Care of the acute and chronically ill – short and long term care Health promotion situations
- Continence assessments and treatments
- Care of the catheterised patient
- Caring for patients with learning disabilities, Alzheimers disease, etc Bowel care – acute and chronic Diabetic care – insulin and non-insulin dependent
- Care of patients diagnosed with Deep Vein Thrombosis preventing hospital admissions
- Paraplegic patient care
- Follow up care of patients who have had day surgery
What nursing model is used for planning care?
Generally Orem’s model of self care and also Roper, Logan and Tierney’s model based on the activities of daily living. Other models may be used in individual situations appropriate to the needs of the patient.
What core clinical skills can be learnt?
- Ear syringing
- Male and female urinary catheterisation
- Venepuncture
- Recording of blood pressure, blood sugar
- Injections – subcutaneous and intramuscular
- Administration of eye drops, creams, lotions
- Administration of suppositories, enemas, rectal medication
- Aseptic technique and wound care
- Bandaging, wool and crepe and understanding of four layer support
- Removal of sutures and clips
What additional clinical skills can be learnt?
- Stoma care
- Central line management Use and maintenance of the syringe driver
- Care of eye prosthesis
- Care of supra pubic catheter
- Setting up and maintenance of parenteral feeding regimes
- Understanding of the administration of Zoladex injections
- Care of gastrostomy, PEG feeds
- Doppler assessments
- Care of chemotherapy and intravenous therapy
- Care of tracheostomy
What resources are available to help students learning?
All areas have resource information available for students, full internet access and also access to the main healthcare databases e.g. CINAHL, following input of a password and code.
Many areas have their own area specific induction pack for students with information pertaining to the individual placement.
What research and practice development activities are being undertaken?
Spoke Placements
Additional Information
Clinical practices, procedure and experiences for the student nurse
The staff at Farnworth health centre feel that we have a variety of learning opportunities to offer student nurses. Below is a list of such practices, procedures and experiences, which students are likely to encounter in our practice area and, in addition, examples are provided of the type of illness, disease and conditions presented by patients in our care. Please note that this list only provides an insight into the type of experiences and learning opportunities, which you may undertake during your placement in the community.
1. General nursing care
- Observations – blood pressure, blood glucose monitoring (pulse and respiration observed in initial documentation)
- Personal hygiene & oral hygiene
- Moving and handling (adhering to policies and procedures)
- Nutrition – care of patients requiring peg/gastrostomy tube feeding, caring for the site and management of, teaching patients to be self caring with tube feeding and flushing
- Nursing documentation – policies and procedures, legalities,
- Wound care – prevention and management of, aetiology and equipment needed
- Risk assessment – equipment
- Caring for patient who are terminally ill and are at the end stages of life
- Supporting patients and relatives in a community setting
2. Catheter care & bowel care
- Participate in female catheterisation under supervision
- Observe male catheterisation and supra-pubic catheterisation
- Participate in administrating bladder maintenance solutions under supervision
- Participate in female intermittent catheterisation under supervision
- Observe male intermittent catheterisation
- Participate in the care of catheters and changing leg bags
- Participate in the documentation of the above care
- Adhere to policies and guidelines for the above
- Observe continence assessment, the documentation involved etc. And refer to appropriate services
- Observe and participate in bowel assessments
- Assess diet and appropriate aperients
- Participate in the administrations of enemas
3. Assessment of new patients
- Participate in the assessment of new patients under supervision, documenting patient history, identifying problems/needs, ensuring that the documentation is legible
- Participate in the formulation of care plans to meet needs, implementation and evaluation of patient care, registration of new patients on the computer
- Communicating with patients and respecting their cultural beliefs, values and wishes and gaining informed consent
- Liaising with relatives and members of the multi-disciplinary team, referring patients to the relevant services using the e-mail, fax and telephone thereby contributing towards the development of effective inter-professional working practices
- Adhere to policies and guidelines for the above
4. Drugs/medication
- Participate in the administration of medication under supervision
- Participate in the administration of sub-cutaneous & intra-muscular injections e.g. insulin (syringes and pens), cytamen, avonex/interferon, epronex and calcitonin etc.
- Observe the administration of zoladex by sub-cutaneous injection and immunisation and vaccination by intra-muscular injection
- Observe and participate in the administration of drugs via syringe driver by intra-dermal infusion line under supervision
- Participate in the documentation of drug administration i.e. medication sheets ensuring that all medication has been sanctioned by the patients doctor and signed for or that the patients has been discharged home from hospital with a medication sheet clearly stating name of drug, dosage and frequency
- Observe the correct disposal of medication
- Adhere to policies and procedures for the above
5. Use of equipment in patients homes
- Hoists/ moving and handling aids e.g. slide sheets, waist belts
- Syringe drivers
- Glucometers
- Sphygmomanometer
- Commodes and gliders
- Electric beds and manual rise and fall beds
- Mattresses (pressure relieving and alternating air mattresses)
- Cushions
- Cot sides
- Risk assessments
- Adhere to policies and procedures regarding moving and handling and risk assessment and therefore contributing to public protection and maintain a safe environment
6. Aseptic technique
- Adhere to trust policy and procedure
- Participate in aseptic technique both in patients home and in the treatment room for the appropriate clinical procedures that require asepsis
- Setting up aseptic field both in patients home and treatment room
7. Resource management
- Self management – students will adhere to NMC code of conduct 2002 and recognise their own abilities and limitation
- Organisation skills – understand the importance of delegating duties to others
- Contribute towards practicing both legally and ethically in a fair and anti-discriminatory way
- Team nursing
- Opportunities to practice independently with a small case load only when student nurse is competent and mentor feels the student is both confident and competent to practice and to take on responsibilities of a first level registered nurse
Types of illness, disease and conditions
Neurological
- Multiple sclerosis
- Motor neurone disease
- Dementia
- Supra-nuclear palsy
- Cerebral haemorrhage – stroke
- Brain cancer
Respiratory
- Emphysema
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
- Lung cancer
- Chest infections
- Asthma
- Ca tongue
- Ca tonsil
- Ca pharynx
Cardiac
- Heart failure
- Angina
- Ischeamic heart disease
- Arterial disease
Renal
- Kidney impairment/failure
- Urinary tract infections
- Urinary incontinence
- Ca liver
Gastro-intestinal
- Constipation
- Colostomy’s and illeostomy’s
- Stomach cancer
- Oesophageal cancer
- Bowel cancer
Diabetes
- Insulin dependent
- Non-insulin dependent – diet and tablet controlled
Additional diseases and conditions:
- Post-operative wounds
- Deep vein thrombosis
- Pressure ulcers
- Leg ulcers both venous and arterial
- Anaemia
- Breast cancer and other types of cancers
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Eye care following cataract surgery and for patients with glaucoma and other eye conditions
Specific learning opportunities offered to students
CHILD:
Students will be able to observe work around post natal depression audit and also the audit of 8 month screening of hips, vision and testes. They will have access to school nurses and be shown School Health profiles. The student may be involved with baby massage sessions here, and post natal groups, hearing tests and BCG immunisation of babies up to 3 months old.
ADULT:
A dynamic treatment room offers experience in which students may participate. They will also be able to be involved with observing Zoladex injections, intermittent self catheterisation of patients, the Milestone rehabilitation project, and enteral feeding. Leg ulcer treatment and management is on-going and there are bandaging workshops which students may access. (Please see Information pack)
This is a fairly large and busy Health Centre and the local population quite dense and varied. Students will visit mixed social classes and ethnic minority groups.
Philosophy of the placement area
We aim to provide an optimum learning environment that creates and develops opportunities for students to identify and undertake experiences to meet their learning needs.
We provide a welcoming and supportive atmosphere to allow students to reach their maximum potential. All students will receive a comprehensive orientation and shall be mentored by staff who have the appropriate qualifications and experience to facilitate student learning.
We believe that by facilitating effective learning we can promote personal, professional and academic development. Students will be able to develop their knowledge and skills, which will lead to the development of abilities such as, inquiry, analysis, critical thinking and problem solving. By providing students with the best possible learning environment we are investing in the future of nurses and promoting fitness for award, practice purpose and development.
We are strong believers in life long learning and encourage continual professional development.
It is the philosophy of district nurses to deliver skilled evidence-based practice of a consistently high quality and standard to the patient and his/her family. We are adaptable and respond to the changing context of service delivery within the rapidly changing structure of the NHS.