Volume 8, Number 2

Rosemary Turnbull RSCN BSc(Hons)Child Health Paediatric Dermatology Specialist Nurse, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, London

Skin rashes are a source of anxiety for parents and carers and are one of the most common reasons for children attending GP clinics in the primary care setting, paediatric A&E and outpatient departments. It is essential that the practitioner is able to recognise the various rashes and in particular, to differentiate between those that are contagious and those that are not.

Margaret Russell BA RGN Specialist Nurse, Genzyme Homecare, Oxford

Fabry disease is a rare X-linked recessive metabolic disease. The disease is described as a dermatological disease due to the presence of angiokeratoma (small vascular lesions). Angiokeratoma corporis diffusum universale, Morbus Fabry and Anderson-Fabry are some of the less commonly used names – nowadays the disease is usually titled Fabry disease after Johann Fabry, the 19th century German physician.

Reverend Stephen Wright FRCN MBE Associate Professor, Faculty of Health, St Martin’s College, Lancaster and Chairman of the Sacred Space Foundation

In the modern chaotic workplace, where we all can feel the pressure, calm and serene healthcare workers can be very influential.

Jacqueline Lee RGN DipN Clinical Nurse Specialist in Dermatology, University Hospital of North Staffordshire; Kara Thomas BA(Hons) Service Improvement Facilitator, University Hospital of North Staffordshire

In 1998, an inquiry by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Skin identified a need for funding for specialist skin clinics in primary care.1 Two years later the NHS Plan stated that, ‘Redesigning care around patients involves … planning the pathway or route that a patient takes from start to finish to see how it could be made easier and swifter’.2

Rachel Webb BPharm(Hons) MSc MRPharmS Head of Prescribing and Medicines Management, Newmarket Hospital, Newmarket

In November 2002, Lord Hunt announced new powers that allowed pharmacists and nurses to prescribe a wide range of drugs from early 2003, following a diagnosis by a doctor and within an agreed clinical management plan (CMP). This long-awaited announcement paved the way to enable both pharmacists and nurses to take on prescribing responsibilities and further enhance their contribution to patient care.

Julie Bowman, Editor

Do you walk like a duck or a penguin? Don’t think too much about it at this point. Following a report in The Sunday Times concerning Dr Beverly Malone,1 the RCN General Secretary, some RCN officials would say she walks like neither, as she doesn’t know how to put one foot in front of the other – accruing monthly taxi bills of £1500.

Janice Cameron MPhil RGN ONC FETC Clinical Nurse Specialist in Wound Management, Department of Dermatology, Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals, Oxford

A common complicating factor in the management of venous leg ulcers is the presence of eczema on the skin of the lower leg. The eczema may be endogenous and have an internal cause; for example, venous stasis (varicose) or gravitational eczema. Alternatively, the eczema may be exogenous, caused by external factors, and be an irritant or allergic contact dermatitis.

Janice Cameron MPhil RGN ONC FETC Clinical Nurse Specialist in Wound Management, Department of Dermatology, Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals, Oxford

Studies suggest that chronic leg ulceration affects as many as 1% of the adult population in the UK at some time in their lives. Up to 70% of leg ulcers are associated with venous disease.1,2 A common complicating factor in the management of venous leg ulcers is the presence of eczema on the skin of the lower leg, found in approximately 60% of all patients with a venous leg ulcer.3