Learning disability nursing and primary healthcare.

This article addresses the issues surrounding the role of learning disability nurses and their relationship with primary healthcare colleagues. It highlights opportunities in general practice for the learning disability nurse who has become a key player in shaping services for this client group as services swing towards primary healthcare. The NHS Executive document NHS Priorities and Planning Guidance 1997-98 is explored and the opportunities that this gives the community learning disability nurse are discussed. The article stresses the need for learning disability nurses to obtain quality research-based evidence on effective caring interventions. The importance of clinical audit and outcome measurements from interventions are highlighted. Finally, the importance of good communication and being able to respond to this client group's needs is emphasized.

Nursing in war-time Guernsey: a preliminary review.

The research for this article was carried out in the Channel Island of Guernsey during 1996-97 and focuses on the remarkable resilience of a small group of nurses as they strove to provide an emergency hospital service to the civilian population of Guernsey between 1940 and 1945, during which time German forces were in occupation. Insights are provided into a unique period of nursing history, giving a flavour of the harsh environment in which care was provided. Hospital records at the time described a nurse as 'someone who earns her living nursing', therefore the title 'nurse' is used collectively to describe both the qualified State Registered Nurse and the unqualified junior staff. The article is part of an ongoing oral history project representing a collaborative venture between the Department of Health Studies at the University of Lincolnshire and Humberside, and the School of Healthcare Studies at the University of Leeds. Data for this study were obtained from a series of semi-structured audio-taped interviews with 13 former nurses who worked at the States of Guernsey Emergency Hospital during the occupation. Supporting data were derived from official archives, news reports and other published literature. The article is based on the author's inaugural lecture delivered at The University of Lincoln Campus, Friday 30 May 1997.