Nursing, health visiting and paramedical services

How do Health Visitors determine which families need extra health visiting input? A major study for which we provided tape transcription services was an extensive series of interview tapes for a study of health visiting in Britain and Scotland with the focus of the research on the above question. Dozens of health visitors all over the country and their clients participated in the study. Tapes were firstly, an interview with a health visitor about background, training and details of work, including teaching, counselling methods and record-keeping; secondly a recording of a visit or clinic session between the health visitor and a family; thirdly, an interview with the family (who had agreed beforehand to participate in the study), exploring their experience of health visiting and their views about the service, and suggestions as to whether and how it could be improved. All transcripts were anonymised as to subject and location. Here again, beyond the transcription, qualitative analysis and further processing was dealt with by the researcher.

Protecting paramedics from violent patients.  An important study done not long ago was an investigation into protocols for the administration of a drug sometimes given by paramedics to bring round subjects who have overdosed on narcotics. The researcher outlined the circumstances in which this drug is indicated and the wide variations in dosages and administration routes for the drug which produces a rapid but short-lived improvement in the patient's condition. The subject may become violent. For a brief period, because the subject feels perfectly fine, transport by ambulance to hospital is often declined and subsequent collapse of the subject when the effect of the drug wears off is not uncommon. The researcher contacted ambulance services up and down the country to ascertain local policies in respect of administration of this drug, protection of paramedics from attack and policies for dealing with the aftermath of the drug's administration, all with a view to producing a discussion document to inform policy.

Other nursing projects word processed by us have included papers on paediatric intensive care nursing and on specialist operation room nursing.