'1 in 10 nurses lack cardiovascular training'

Healthcare News
25/07/2008
Research examines the levels of training given to primary care nurses.

More than one in ten primary care nurses in the UK lack basic training in cardiovascular disease (CVD), it has been reported.

Nearly a third of nurses said they are uncomfortable seeing patients with CVD, according to the research conducted by the journal Nursing in Practice.

However, the study authors point out that 86 per cent of respondents had undertaken some form of basic training in CVD.

Consultant editor of Nursing in Practice Marilyn Eveleigh commented that around ten per cent of an average practice caseload will comprise patients with heart disease.

She went on to assert that the treatment area "should be a core competency of nursing practice and certainly one to include in an induction training programme".

Research published in the online European Heart Journal earlier this week suggested a link between coronary heart disease and lower levels of performance in mental processes and verbal skills.

In addition, the longer the time period since a diagnosis of heart disease had been made, the researchers saw an increasingly low level of mental performance.

Please click here to find a care home for elderly care.