Lindsay Dingwall

Lindsay Dingwall

I'm a Clinical/Academic Nurse Consultant (Older People) with the School of Nursing & Health Sciences, University of Dundee and with NHS Tayside. Most of my career has related to nursing older people

Location Scotland

Activity

  • This is wonderful news Karen. I am delighted.

  • Hello Sarah

    I am trying to be as inclusive as possible and recognise that there are other statutory bodies.

  • This is a wonderful example of positivity

  • Good luck!

  • This is exactly the autonomy and critical thinking needed by all nurses. This is also why standard "audits" don't always reflect the quality of care delivery - your account of this lady and your actions (plus good documentation processes) absolutely reflects good care quality!

  • I think Linda the skills and information sharing/communication by the staff are crucial. Take DNACPR for example - many people think of this they way they see it on television - some chest compressions etc and the person recovers - we know this is not the case especially for older people and kind communication about the reality can help decision making. There...

  • This Linda - this is a fabulous example of using biographic care.

  • Wow! Fantastic

  • Lindsay Dingwall replied to [Learner left FutureLearn]

    I agree Robin - probably fewer "technical" skills but also very important to get the communication between hospital, community and care home absolutely right.

  • Hello Linda - that is exactly when I trained and colleges had only just started using older people areas as placements for student nurses - up until a couple of years before only pupil nurses were in these wards. I think there is still a "hangover" from the days when we were sent to learn "basic" care. I try to talk about essential or fundamental care.

  • Good for you!

  • I completely agree Lian - in fact I would go as far as to say far more positive stories because every time a resident feels good because of the care delivered and relationships made could be counted as a positive experience.

  • Linda - I do worry sometimes that there is a perception that the most vulnerable and complex people in our society may be deprived of the skilled care they need.

  • This is really important - attitudes towards nurses in care homes can vary - and hopefully we will begin to understand the complexities and skills in the weeks of this course.

  • Thanks you Isaac.....and please spread the word that care home nurses ARE real nurses and make such a difference in people's lives

  • @OlabimpeIgbinidu That isn't the case in Scotland - or I would imagine the UK - we desperately needs nurses of all ages and life experiences. We have an ageing workforce many who will retire in the next few years and we need as many people as possible with the right skills to come in to nursing.

  • That is so fantastic! Well done and the best of luck in your career choice.

  • Thank you so much.

  • This is thought provoking. The organisation that nurses work for I believe should demonstrate caring for their staff. Staff should care for each other - and then as we also care for ourselves, we are fit and ready to care for our patients and residents?

  • Or make a person feel safe and listen to their fears about falling again?

  • I hope we don't disappoint Faustina.....please keep commenting and sharing your thoughts

  • @IsaacOduroAppiah Isaac - there is a football reminiscence group in Dundee where I live for men with dementia (although women are welcome). One older gentleman with dementia went to see a match and laughed out loud every time a particular footballer passed where he was sitting in the crowd. it turns out that he had been a footballer in the 1950s and was...

  • I'm glad you find this useful Bridget

  • Laughter - even if the cause for it has been forgotten leaves people with dementia in a better place inside themselves - we all react similarly to happy moments - very important point.

  • That's interesting Bridget - can you let us know why? Your opinion is important.

  • In my opinion, the fundamental skills are the same Darshakkumar - but there may be a different focus - sometimes the use of the "art" of nursing (the interpersonal and assessment skills) are used more than the technical skills - but nurses everywhere need to be able to assess, respond to and manage ill health

  • Thanks Maria - I'm not sure that everyone has access to mental health services and so it falls to the nurse and health/social care team to treat the person and not just the condition?

  • Hugely important issue Angelique - physical and mental (and often social) health cannot really be separated in my opinion

  • Thank goodness we are moving away from single system focused nursing to caring for the whole person - and yes - this is very much where the complexity of care arises

  • You are right - and the value of all good nursing is the impact on the patient's quality of life.

  • Good point Catherine - I wonder if these are the technical skills?

  • You make a hugely important point Vanessa. We know that carers' health can be put at risk sometimes and families can become strained. I have heard some family members say that they would rather visit their parent in a care home as their "child" and the time is enjoyed and meaningful rather than being a full time carer under extreme stress. It should be a...

  • I'm sorry this still happens.

  • @HaideeJDiaz-Ysturiz I think we may have just identified that caring is within the person and not the role?

  • Which statement Vanessa? I love your observation that nursing (wherever) makes a difference.

  • These are the issues many nurses - and care home providers are facing. It's difficult to know how to overcome these challenges...

  • fantastic observation Isaac. Maybe care home staff need to actively seek to be more connected with the communities surrounding them.....? In weeks three and four we see more of this.

  • Does your care home have a residents' meeting Gordon? Can you identify this as a concern?
    In response to the "generic" term - all healthcare workers are referred to in this section because all nurses and healthcare assistants should be using person-centred approaches to how they deliver care with residents.

  • Hello Gordon. It is wonderful to have you as part of this course. Your experiences of care home life add a depth to the content that we, as the educators, couldn't hope to bring. Please don't feel that you are a burden - you have spent a lifetime contributing to society (and still are) and now I hope society can contribute to your life. I sincerely thank you...

  • This is a very important point Gordon - Quality of life is also improved the more a person with dementia can interact. I agree that nurses can feel pressured at times and one of the interventions may be that care homes collaborate with volunteers and other organisations such as nurseries and animal charities to introduce new and varied social experiences into...

  • I completely agree Ayodele - I think the media maybe has a long way to go yet.

  • This is an interesting thought Thomas. We sometimes call it "golden handcuffs" but I'm not sure if there is a legal obligation to stay.

  • Jessica - I have thought this for a long time - the only television programmes about care homes tend to be comedies and this sends a different message to the public.

  • That's interesting Rebecca - I wonder if you have thought about the teams that acute nurses work with and what the skills are of nurses in care homes who may have their team some distance away - or at the end of a phone?

  • How sad that the first search focuses on bad news.

  • This is an interesting perspective - assistive technology is vital in helping people stay in their own homes as long as possible ad there is an argument that care homes should be "linked" to many more services and again technology can help with this.

  • There is some evidence that mortality rises when people have to move home. If we think about it, moving house is one of the most stressful life events - and if this decision is taken out of your hands, it can also be a sense of loss of control.

  • This is interesting and please continue to share your views

  • People are living longer which is to be celebrated but for some, their long term conditions can be so complex that families are no longer able to care for them without detriment to their own health. Not all people feel the same but care homes absolutely have a value.

  • Hello Caitlin. I agree completely and I look forward to reading what we all think the solutions may be.

  • These are insightful comments and I look forward to hearing more of your thoughts

  • The video is "fictional" Karen but based on real life experiences. Thank you for commenting

  • That's good. Welcome!

  • Bear with the course Sarah - we look at these standards and others as we progress through the course. I'm sorry you think the issue is fudged but the course is about care home nursing and this is what we have tried to focus on. Your comments are very welcome.

  • Lindsay Dingwall replied to [Learner left FutureLearn]

    This saddens me greatly. If practices like this occur due to low staffing, it is a vicious circle - less people will want to work in the social care sector. I wonder if there are other models of care elsewhere ...is anyone able to share?

  • You are right Lynsay - I think changing attitudes towards older people an caring for older people is the start of moving towards positive care. I have spent my career nursing older people/educating about older people care and I gradually have seen a shift.

  • You have a point Robin - do you think that healthcare givers possibly don't see the "speciality" ?

  • Looking forward to reading your comments Matthew as you progress through the course

  • That is so great to hear - and I bet the residents enjoy every minute of your visits.

  • I'm interested Sarah in what you would suggest - do you think there is a role for an advanced nurse practitioner or a specialist nurse?

  • This is something that I agree should be addressed. More an more people are living with dementia and knowledge of the condition and the risks that go along with dementia (depression delirium etc) should be fundamental to care delivery

  • I hope you are going to try

  • Indeed. Certainly we need to think about compassion and kindness as we deliver care.

  • We do indeed! I like to think its exactly because most homes are very good that when care does fail we are more aware of it...good news doesn't sell newspapers.

  • You are so right! When we think of all the care giving episodes and all the care homes, the vast vast majority are very good - maybe that is why the poor ones are newsworthy.

  • I think you are right - good and bad. I wonder if some people become "burnt out" - it can be called compassion fatigue - they give so much until there is nothing left to give.

  • Indeed they are not Mercy. Every profession has its share of poor stories - I wonder if it is because nurses are so trusted that when care goes wrong it is "bigger" news?

  • Totally - good news is rarely news and we don't always do enough to celebrate good care. However I also like to think that good care is normal.

  • 4. Every effort is made to keep people in their own home as long as possible as this tends to be what people want. However, for a very few (and it is still a very small percentage of the population) community services and families can't meet their needs safely and a care home may be the option. If a person has the capacity/mental ability to choose, then it is...

  • Hello - answers that I hope help:
    1. Residential care homes without nursing are mainly for people who have conditions where they are fairly stable but find it difficult to meet their living/societal needs. For example, they may not be able to manage their own nutrition or may be unsafe at home (falls, fire risk, vulnerable to manipulation) they may be lonely...

  • That is so important - and is clearly the art of nursing to complement the science

  • Please!

  • @NargesBitarafHaghighi I understand that a person's culture can influence their ideas about living in care homes. Thank you for your comment.

  • This is a difficult decision. Sometimes people feel guilty for "putting" their relatives in a home - but sometimes their care needs are more than a family can manage even with help from community nurses.

  • @TshepisoKekana I'm so sorry to hear this. How terrible for your family and of course for your grandmother. Some older people are so very vulnerable - we need to be able to trust those who look after them.

  • How lovely - and yes - care homes need to feel like home and not an extension of hospital.

  • Welcome - what an interesting comment. We look forward to hearing what you think. Please ask questions!

  • Absolutely. There is evidence that if the care giver is not supported, they become ill.

  • Welcome - yes we must be kind and compassionate when we deliver nursing care.

  • Welcome - compassion must be at the heart of what we do. It influences how we deliver care

  • Welcome - we hope you find this interesting - please ask questions.

  • Welcome and thanks for your comments. You have beautifully outlined what we would call in nursing the interpersonal skills needed for the "art" of nursing

  • Hello - welcome. I hope that throughout the course you will find some areas that can help you. Feel free to ask questions and share your experiences.

  • This is an insightful comment. I am interested in where/which care homes with nurses do not have 24 hour cover? Nobody is suggesting at all that non-nurses are neither skilled nor knowledgeable but there are some areas of care where a nursing registration is required and/desirable. Possibly one advantage of registered nurses in care homes relates to the...

  • @SarahGill Hello. The evidence comes from the Care Commission where they have found that because of recruitment difficulties into care home/social care nursing, some homes have had to "drop" their nursing status. They may not necessarily close but cannot provide the care required for people who have complex care needs and often multi-comorbidities. I agree...

  • Looking forward to hearing your thoughts Sarah.

  • Hello Barbara - this is a really difficult situation and an attitude voiced by many people. I hope we can provide reassuring information for you - don't be afraid to ask questions.

  • Hello - I hope you learn lots - and don't be afraid to ask questions.

  • This is really interesting - and sad. Hopefully we hear more from you throughout the course. Are care homes available for older people?

  • This is interesting - can you tell us more?

  • I hope by the end of the course, you will have read and thought about many many roles of nurses in care homes. Physical care is important, but caring for the mental and social health of residents is important - as is caring about the families and loved ones.

  • Thanks for commenting - sometimes people find it hard to ask for help and they need support with that too. Sometimes they may feel it's a failure to ask for help.

  • Thanks for commenting. I think sometimes I need reminded that however hard it can be, it's probably harder for the person with dementia. Patience is vital, you're correct.

  • I agree - caring for people based on who they are and what they like is vital. We look at person-centred care later in the course.

  • That's interesting Bridget - do you think we can teach compassion in nursing, or is it part of who we are?

  • Hello Sarah - hopefully through the next four weeks we can unpick some of these attitudes. Thank you for commenting.

  • Lindsay Dingwall made a comment

    Hello and welcome - please feel free to comment - we all learn from each other this is fantastic opportunity to share our thoughts.

  • Seth has mentioned twice about one of these robbers looking different - rounder - feminine?

  • Can't wait for the next "episode"! That was so interesting - do people not like to contradict each other or was it shock - or is this just what happens when gathering statements? it's really made me think.

  • I'm not surprised by this. The discussion relating to Peter Hain as a bank robber just illustrates how "rumours" can also circulate and then become accepted as fact. We see this a lot on social media and in the main stream media - but I wonder how much influence attitudes have - and whether "wanting" to believe something about a person (from another witness or...