The Nurse′s Clinical Skills Pocketbook

Catherine Delves-Yates is an experienced nurse and a Lecturer at the School of Health Sciences, University of East Anglia, UK.  She started her nursing career as a student at the Nightingale School of Nursing, London and has worked clinically in adult and paediatric critical care in the UK and has taught and nursed in America, Africa and Nepal.  Her passion is to ensure all nurses have the knowledge, skills and professionalism to deliver effective compassionate care to each of their patients.  Catherine is an Honorary Lecturer at the University of Buea and the Higher Institute of Applied Medical Sciences, Cameroon and an international advisor to the Patan Academy of Health Sciences, Nepal.  Currently she is researching whether nursing students’ views of health and illness alter during their pre-registration nursing programme. Fiona Everett is currently a Nurse Lecturer within pre-registration and master’s level nursing programmes with teaching, co-ordination and research supervision responsibilities. Fiona has a wide range of clinical experience including adult nursing, midwifery, district nursing and research project management within primary care. She has particular interests in clinical skills, dementia care and developing contemporary, support mechanisms in nurse education. She has published in these areas in nursing journals and has disseminated her work at national and international conferences. She is also an editor and author for SAGE publications in relation to the Essentials of Nursing Practice and Essential Clinical Skills for Nurses: Step by Step. Fiona is the co-creator of “Class in a Bag’, which is a portable educational resource that enables the delivery of health promotion in a diverse range of environments to suit individual needs. (Winner of Scotland’s Dementia Awards, 2016, Best Educational Initiative)         Wendy Wright is an Adult Nursing lecturer in the pre-registration and the master′s level nursing programmes and is currently the BSc Adult Nursing Programme Lead.  Wendy has a wide range of acute clinical experience including infectious diseases, stroke and elderly assessment and rehabilitation.  Wendy has responsibilities interests including clinical skills education for student nurses, dementia, the frail older Adult and the student experience. With a particular interest in the development of Class in A Bag (CIAB) which has developed from the initial research of Dementia through the eyes of a child.  She has published in these areas in nursing journals and has presented at national and international conferences.  She is also an editor and author for SAGE publications in relation to Essentials of Nursing Practice and Essential Clinical Skills for Nurses. Wendy is the co-creator of "Class in a bag", which is a portable educational resource that enables the delivery of health promotion in a diverse range of environments to suit individual needs. (Winner of Scotland′s Dementia Awards, 2016, Best Educational Initiative)

Common Abbreviations - Wendy Wright and Fiona Everett
Useful Prefixes and Suffixes - Wendy Wright and Fiona Everett
Infection and Prevention Control - Rose Gallagher
Hand-washing
Using hand sanitiser
When to remove your gloves and why
Clinical Measurement - Caroline Dobson and Trevor Simpson
Fundamental steps for all clinical measurements
Respirations
Pulse/heart rate
Manual blood pressure
Measuring body temperature
Pain Assessment - Ann Kettyle
Undertaking a pain assessment
Aseptic Technique and Specimen Collection - Rose Gallagher
Principles of asepsis
Common steps for the collection of all types of specimen
Taking a wound swab
Collecting a faeces specimen
Collecting a urine specimen
Collecting a sputum sample
Taking a throat swab
Skin Integrity - Alexandra Carlin
Principles of wound care
Removal of clips/sutures
Safe Movement of People - Michelle O’Reilly and David Best
Movement guidelines
Emergency Care - Sara Morgan
Head tilt chin lift
Jaw thrust
Using an oropharyngeal airway
Recovery position
Paediatric life support
Dislodging an obstruction to the airway
Medicines Administration - Carol Hall, updated by Christina Roulston
Administering medication (oral or topical route)
Administering a subcutaneous injection
Administering an intramuscular injection
Recording administration and outcome
Assisting People with their Nutritional Need - Kate Goodhand and Jane Ewen
Nutrition-related skills
Weighing a patient
Assisting a patient to eat and drink
Passing a nasogastric tube
Maintaining a nasogastric tube
Removing a nasogastric tube
Caring for a PEG (pertcutaneous endoscopic gastronomy)
Stoma care
Peripheral vascular cannula care
Assisting People with their Elimination Needs - Mairead Collie, David J. Hunter and Valerie Foley
Common steps for all elimination-related skills
Assessing bowel function
Assisting a patient to use a bedpan, urinal or commode
Performing catheter care
Emptying a patient’s catheter bag
Urinalysis
Assisting Patients with their Hygiene Needs - Catherine Delves-Yates
Common steps for all hygiene procedures
Bathing a person in bed
Assisting a patient with a wash (out of bed)
Shaving
Teeth-cleaning
Trimming nails
Washing a patient’s hair in bed
Care after Death - Maria Parry
Care after death
Appendix 1: Commonly Used Medication and Side Effects - Wendy Wright and Fiona Everett
Appendix 2: Normal Laboratory Values - Wendy Wright and Fiona Everett
Appendix 3: Hand-washing technique
References