Community care. Breaks in the chain

Tension and conflict between GPs and social services have dogged community care reforms. Bob Hudson suggests how the links can be strengthened.

A model abuse prevention program for nursing assistants

This article describes the development, implementation, and evaluation of a model abuse prevention curriculum designed for nursing assistants. Findings from the evaluation showed high satisfaction with the program and improvement on a number of indicators, including reduced conflict with and abuse of residents.

Finance and management. An induction programme for recovery ward nurses

Recovery ward nurses have often been viewed as the poor relations of theatre nurses. However, these nurses need the skills to care for highly dependent patients who have undergone both surgical and anaesthetic procedures. This article describes training for recovery ward nurses at the author's hospital.

Corneal biopsy in microbial keratitis

Presumed microbial keratitis in the absence of a specific microbiological diagnosis is a particularly difficult clinical problem. Corneal biopsy may provide the diagnosis when corneal scrapings have been negative. We present two cases in which corneal biopsy was helpful and discuss the role of corneal biopsy in the management of chronic keratitis.

Looking for a way out

In the second part of his overview of the deinstitutionalisation policy of the 1980s Bob Hudson examines the reasons for its apparent failure and looks at what needs to be done in the 1990s.