Volume 9, Number 2

Jane Freak NNEB SEN RGN Clinical Nurse Specialist in Skin Cancer Prevention, Wessex Cancer Trust Marc’s Line, Dermatology Treatment Centre, Salisbury District Hospital

Skin cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in the UK.1 There are two main types of skin cancer, melanoma and non-melanoma. Melanoma is the least common, but deadliest, form. Basal cell carcinoma (BCC), also known as a rodent ulcer, is categorised as a non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC). BCC is the most common, but least dangerous, form of skin cancer.

Melody Gill NVQ 2 Camouflage Practitioner, Queen’s Medical Centre, University Hospital, Nottingham

I have been a camouflage practitioner for two years at Queen’s Medical Centre and was trained by the British Association of Skin Camouflage (BASC). We have an adult camouflage clinic once a month but, in response to a growing demand, this will be increasing to twice a month. I have also set up a camouflage clinic for children in our paediatric outpatients department.

Rev. Prof. Stephen G Wright FRCN MBE Faculty of Health, St Martin’s College, Lancaster. Chairman, The Sacred Space Foundation

‘I don’t want to be a burden’ – I can’t say I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve heard that from patients. I’ve heard it so often it has never been worth counting. It’s a standard cliché that arises among those who feel they may be too old and or ill to cope by themselves, those who think they may be dying, or those who at some point have given some thought to their own death, which is pretty much all of us.

Julie Bowman, Editor

Tony Blair’s first public speech after the election displayed an almost personal road to Damascus revelation, ‘The great thing about an election is that you go out, you talk to people for week upon week and I’ve listened and I’ve learnt and I think I’ve a very clear idea of what the British people now expect from this government for a third term.

Ann Brown RN BA RNT MA Principal Lecturer/Programme Manager, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, St Martin’s College, Lancaster

Preregistration nursing education is currently delivered at diploma and degree level. Many registered nurses have academic qualifications at or below that level. This has resulted in a desire by many nurses to gain higher qualifications in practice-focused courses, such as dermatology.

Jane Watts RGN ENB 393 998 Dermatology Nurse, Whipps Cross University Hospital

Nurse prescribing has been discussed and debated for many years; however, over the last five years there has been a dramatic leap forward to reach the stage where nurses are prescribing in reality. In 1999, the government published Making a Difference, in which it was stated that the role of nurses would be extended, ‘To make better use of their knowledge and skills, including making it easier for them to prescribe’.1

Elizabeth Mudge MSc BSc MChS SRCh Research Fellow; Patricia Price PhD BA(Hons) AFBPsS CHPsychol Director, Professor of Health Sciences, Cardiff Wound Healing Research Unit

Health-related quality of life (QoL) encompasses physical, social and emotional wellbeing.1 The World Health Organization believes that health should not be viewed purely as the absence of disease or infirmity, but also as the ability of a person to lead a productive and enjoyable life.2 Skin diseases can adversely affect patients’ lives when they alter physical appearance, which can cause feelings of stigmatisation and shame.3

Simon Dodds MA MS FRCS Consultant Vascular Surgeon; Susan Hayes RGN Vascular Research Nurse, Department of Vascular Surgery, Good Hope Hospital NHS Trust, Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands

Leg ulcers are common clinical problems that require long-term multidisciplinary care. Delivering improved patient-centred services requires a co-ordinated redesign of care pathways and evaluation of the roles and responsibilities of the team, as well as improved communication. Telemedicine is a powerful enabling technology that improves communication and patient outcomes and reduces costs in leg ulcer care.