Friday 28 July 2017

Things in the library 28 July

Things about antibiotics...
Hitting the news yesterday - this is the comment from NHS Behind the Headlines.  "The researchers behind this review challenge these established ideas by suggesting that shortening the course of antibiotic treatment could be just as effective and that 'finishing the course' could actually be making the problem of antibiotic resistance worse. This narrative review was written by researchers from several UK institutions, including Brighton and Sussex Medical School, the University of Oxford and the University of Southampton. It was published in the peer-reviewed British Medical Journal and is free to read online .Generally the UK media's coverage was accurate and balanced. The majority of reporting referred to the review as an "opinion piece" and highlighted the importance of people continuing to follow doctors' advice to complete a prescribed antibiotic course.This review raises some interesting points and the guidelines around antibiotic treatments may change in the future. However, for now it's best to stick with current advice to complete the full antibiotic course as prescribed."

Things on rare diseases...
Rare disease study day in Sheffield on 7th September 2017.  Aimed at non-specialist clinicians. This day aims to give an update on important rare diseases in paediatric practice.  Talks will include: overgrowth syndromes, 22q11 deletion syndrome, immunodeficiency and inherited causes of renal cancer. Representatives of the charities Unique and SWAN will give talks on their work.  Attendance is free.  Please contact Dr Alisdair McNeill (consultant in Clinical Genetics),  a.mcneill@sheffield.ac.uk if you would like to attend. CPD accreditation is being sought.

Things about case reviews...
NSPCC have a selection of thematic briefings which highlight the learning from case reviews that are conducted when a child dies or is seriously injured and abuse or neglect are suspected.
Each briefing focuses on a different topic (eg parents with mental health problems, culture and faith, sexual exploitation), pulling together key risk factors and practice recommendations to help practitioners understand and act upon the learning from case reviews.

Things about migrant child health...
The International Society for Social Pediatrics and Child Health, Geneva, Switzerland (ISSOP) published a position statement on migrant child health this week. The health of migrant children is related to their health status before their journey, the conditions during their journey and at their destination, and the physical and mental health of their caregivers. These children may have experienced numerous forms of trauma including war, violence, separation from family, and exploitation. They may suffer from malnutrition and communicable diseases including vaccine-preventable diseases. In 2015, the number of forcibly displaced people across the globe reached 65.3 million. Of the more than 1 million migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees who arrived in Europe in 2015, nearly one third were children, and 90,000 of these children were unaccompanied.

Things about NHS staff...
Behind Closed Doors : Can we expect NHS staff to be the shock absorbers of a system under pressure? This briefing highlights the latest evidence on NHS staff, their experience at work, the pressures they face and the consequences for patients. The Point of Care Foundation believes that it’s critically important that NHS employers to pay attention to staff and their experience at work because when staff feel positive and engaged with work it has a positive impact on patient experience. Behind Closed Doors therefore recommends that staff experience should be given equal priority with patient experience at all levels of the healthcare system. They would like to see organisations encouraging frontline staff to look after themselves, to pay attention to their own and their colleagues’ wellbeing, to alert their managers to pressures that can be alleviated, and to let them know when they need support.

and also....
NHS Employers have published a briefing on 'Leading a healthy workforce:  engaging board and clinical leaders to take positive action on staff wellbeing. "To achieve a healthy workforce, we need to be clear on what success looks like. Board leads and other leaders can start to make tangible differences immediately by focusing on these key elements: A clear vision and leadership from the top.

  • Making the wellbeing of staff central to the organisation’s work.
  • Training for all managers on effective leadership and management behaviours
  • The importance of staff wellbeing is embedded into organisational culture & known by staff.
  • Organisational data is used effectively to inform engagement activity around staff wellbeing, target interventions, evaluate the impact of interventions and amend wellbeing programmes.
  • A range of staff wellbeing interventions are provided specifically including both physical and emotional wellbeing and including quick access to treatment and support.
  • Information and interventions are accessible, communicated and used to enable staff to take personal responsibility to improve and enhance their own wellbeing.

Things about nature, wellbeing and Sheffield...
Shmapped is an app for your smartphone that invites users to map the good things about Sheffield’s green and built spaces. It is part of the innovative IWUN (Improving Wellbeing through Urban Nature) project run by the Universities of Derby and Sheffield which aims to better understand how different aspects of city living affect our wellbeing. When you download the app, you will be presented with a five-minute questionnaire that asks about your current health and wellbeing. All information you provide is anonymous and you can withdraw it at any time. For 30 days, the app will ask you to note the good things about the area around you. It’s very simple and allows you to share your thoughts and photos in seconds. After the 30 days, you will be asked to complete another questionnaire plus a final short one two months later.

Things about reading...
Don't forget to come and choose your holiday reading from our leisure reading section - or if you are around next Wednesday 2 August at 17:15 come and join our informal Reading Group - this month we are discussing 'Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop cafe' but don't worry if you haven't read it...come along anyway.

Things about personalised medicine...

With the increasing identification of  disease-associated variants in human genetics there is more discussion around personalised treatments. This article uses Cystic Fibrosis as an example to discuss this topic 'Personalized or Precision Medicine?'

Things from Budapest...
(c) Gill Kaye 2017
On my recent holiday (thanks Fran for the guest blog you wrote) we enjoyed some lovely food...and who knew Swiss Roll featured in every cake selection! For a non-healthy street food I can recommend Lángos  It's a deep fried flat bread made of a dough . Lángos can be made with yoghurt, sour cream or milk instead of water, a dash of sugar along with salt and sometimes with flour and boiled mashed potatoes, which is called potato lángos - our potato ones pictured here one with cheese and the other containing salami. Certainly delicious or 'finom' as we learnt to say.









Thursday 20 July 2017

Things in the library 21st July

Things about changes to the NMC's Nursing Code...
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has been told that a change to the code may be required to ensure clarification on delegation to nursing associates. The NMC also plans to begin working on professional standards for the new nursing associate role over summer. Read about it here.

Things about the health of the nation...
A report about the heath profile of the nation has been published by Public Health England (PHE).This report focuses on the question 'are we living longer, and are the extra years spent in good or bad health?' Four key areas are considered; life expectancy, health life expectancy, morbidity and mortality. The report data also compares the health of the population in England with other developed nations.

Standardizing things for ambulances
Following the largest clinical ambulance trials in the world, NHS England is to implement new ambulance standards across the country. The changes focus on making sure the best, high quality, most appropriate response is provided for each patient first time.
So, in future there will be four categories of call. Details can be found here.





Things about new books in the Library...
We have many new titles available to be borrowed; including this book on integrative paediatrics which provides an "excellent introduction to a relatively young field and will help the reader understand the scope of current evidence for integrative therapies in children and how to introduce integrative concepts into clinical practice".

Things about volunteers...


Volunteers are crucial in both health and social care. Have your say on the future of  volunteering in the NHS by completing the online survey or downloading the questionnaire from this page.



Things about Google Translate... 

As it's summertime and lots of us are visiting places where we don't necessarily know the language - Google Translate is a nifty tool that can help us. If you're not already familiar,  you can use it to overcome the language barrier as it will translate the word, phrase or sentence from English to countless other languages. It works the other way round too! The app is available on Android or Apple.

Summer things..
Jersey Royals, courgette & goat’s cheese tart

Make the most of Jersey Royals while they're in season with this lovely summer tart that has a tang of goat’s cheese. Ideal for a picnic, served with salad






Friday 14 July 2017

Things in the library 14 July



Hi Fran here, I'm the Illingworth Library's Intern.  I wanted to share with you some of the many things I've  learned about and enjoyed while interning at the Illingworth Library.

Things about dates with a librarian!
 When I started at the Illingworth I was quite intrigued by this poster! I needn't have worried, it  turns out it was a completely ethical way of promoting the many training services the library provides. These include sessions on critical appraisal - which I attended and I must say it challenged the way I thought about and evaluated journal articles. The library also runs sessions on keeping up-to-date and reference management. See here for details.

Things about literature searches 
Did you know the librarians are amazing when it comes to completing literature searches?
They perform several each week. I've really benefitted from learning a few of their secrets, such as how to construct a search and their strategies to find the most appropriate evidence for the Trust's staff.



Things about Cataloguing                                        
As a health library the Illingworth Library uses the National Library of Medicine (NLM) system of classification. It seems obvious writing this now, but I was surprised to learn that as the Illingworth Library is in Sheffield Children's Hospital not all of the classifications in the NLM are as relevant to paediatrics (they are designed for adult medicine).  I've really enjoyed learning about cataloguing and had the chance to practise this on some of the NICE guidelines.

Things about Knowledge Management 
I was very lucky during my placement to be able to attend training on knowledge management.
During the session we were encouraged to define the term "knowledge management", and as the room was full of health librarians, it was good that there were lots of similarities in the definitions. The session's focus was on the fact that the phrase knowledge management was problematic as it didn't mean the same things to health professionals and librarians. So it is being replaced with the phrase Mobilising Evidence and Organisational Knowledge or MEOK for short . It also led me to ponder the question:  where does knowledge come from?

Things about Librarian Stereotypes

Dr Carla Hayden, Librarian of Congress, spoke at last week's  CILIP (Chartered Institute Librarians and Information Professionals) 2017 conference and said that librarians are the most stereotyped profession! Would you agree?

With that in mind here's a number of portraits of librarians featured in the Guardian to challenge this idea...This is What a Librarian Looks Like


Things about skills
There are so many skills that I've developed
and activities that I've participated in during the course of the internship - some could be an entire blog post by themselves!
Instead here's a word cloud to illustrate some of them.



Things about cakes and a recipe
You might be surprised to hear that the library service pretty much runs on baked goods! Between the various muffins Sarah bakes for journal club, to a fridge that always seems to include some sort of chocolate biscuits.  So it would be rude of me not to include the customary recipe! Here's a delicious sounding strawberry cake recipe.





Thank you 
I feel so fortunate to have interned at the Illingworth Library. During this experience I have learned so much from the very knowledgeable and supportive  Library staff. I now know what it means to be a health librarian in the NHS. A big thank you to all the staff for sharing their expertise with me; it's been fantastic!
I'm off to work on my dissertation but this internship has opened up the world of health librarianship to me and I would be interested in working in this sector in future.

Friday 7 July 2017

Things in the Library 7th July

Things about reading group...
We held our second meeting this week discussing 'Elizabeth is Missing' and we gave it a score of 76%. Our next book is “Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe” by Fannie Flagg

“The day Idgie Threadgoode and Ruth Jamison opened the Whistle Stop Cafe, the town took a turn for the better. It was the Depression and that cafe was a home from home for many of us. You could get eggs, grits, bacon, ham, coffee and a smile for 25 cents. Ruth was just the sweetest girl you ever met. And Idgie? She was a character, all right. You never saw anyone so headstrong. But how anybody could have thought she murdered that man is beyond me.” Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe is a mouth-watering tale of love, laughter and mystery. 
We are a friendly bunch and enjoying discussing our reading over a drink and some nibbles. Do come along if you enjoy reading and chatting 1st Wednesday of every month in the library at 17:15 for about 1 hour.

Things about ADHD...
An article in Journal of Attention Disorders 'Examining the Relationship Between Children’s ADHD Symptomatology and Inadequate Parenting: the role of household chaos.' This study examines the interrelations of parenting practices, emotional climate, and household chaos in families with children with and without ADHD. In particular, indirect pathways from children’s ADHD symptomatology to inadequate parenting and negative emotional climate via household chaos were investigated.


Things about research...
The  Royal College of Physicians have produced a document "Research for all: Sharing good practice in research management" this document outlines the conditions needed to support research directors, managers, clinical and non-clinical staff and, ultimately, patients. The added examples of good practice from NHS organisations around the country aim to help build the knowledge base for all involved or wanting to be involved in research. By recognising and addressing barriers to pursuing research, both doctors and R&D departments can underpin research as a core activity and demonstrate how it is everyone’s responsibility.



Things about the genome...
A report from the Chief Medical Officer (Prof Dame Sally C Davies) entitled 'Generation Genome' has been published and she takes a detailed look at genomics, exploring how we currently utilise genomics in our health and care system and how its potential may be developed. She says in her foreword:
"Genomics is not tomorrow. Its here today. I believe genomic services should be available to more patients, whilst being a cost-effective service in the NHS. This is exciting science with the potential for fantastic improvements in prevention, health protection and patient outcomes"

Things about digital literacy...
A report published by RCN and HEE on Improving Digital Literacy states that:
"Sound literacy capabilities are needed by everyone working and learning in health and social care if we are to maximise the potential of technology and digital in health and social care. It’s no longer possible to think about digital literacy as either purely technical proficiency or just something ‘other people’ do. We all need the right digital knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviours that will enable us to provide the best possible care for all".  They define digital literacy as: "the ability for everyone working in healthcare being able to learn, work and develop effectively in a digital workplace and society."
Here in the Illingworth library we consider ourselves to be digitally literate and we are always trying out new ideas and ways of working. If you or your department need any help do consider asking us or Book a Librarian for a training session.

So with the next Reading Group in mind...
From the book:
1 green tomato per person
White cornmeal
Bacon dripping
Salt & pepper
Slice tomatoes 1/4 thick and season then coat with cornmeal - heat the dripping then fry on both sides until lightly brown.
"You'll think you died and gone to heaven"

Or if you prefer a posher version Nigel Slater's is here Fried Green Tomatoes