ABSTRACT
IMAGINE THAT . . . You are a student nurse who is on a placement in general practice and you are con-
tributing to the work of the district nursing team that is based in the general practice
surgery. You have found, when going out on the visits to patients’ homes, that many
of the patients are older people who seem to have varying levels of quality of life. You
are concerned that some of the older patients appear isolated and lonely and are
sometimes restricted by their physical health problems too. You mention your con-
cerns to your mentor and your mentor identifies an article (Coubrough, 2008) about
the government asking people to take part in a debate on the future of the care and
support system in the United Kingdom for older people with a view to helping older
people stay active, retain their dignity and respect and have a good quality of life (if
you want to read the article it is at: https://www.nursingtimes.net/whats-new-in-nursing/
minister-calls-for-londons-views-on-care-for-older-people/1744134.article). This gets
you thinking about the older people that you have encountered on the visits and how
district nurses might be able to enhance these patients’ quality of life. It may be that
you can find research into this area that can help you to improve district nurses’ cur-
rent practices and make the situation of these older patients a lot more manageable
for them.
