Care Home Nursing: The World’s Largest Relay Race?
In a relay race members of a team take turns completing parts of a course, with relay being defined as…
Helen Cowan
Helen studied human physiology to PhD level at Oxford University. She then qualified with distinction in Adult Nursing and has worked as a nurse for 12 years in cardiac surgery, neurosurgery, elderly care, hospice care and clinical trials.
Mouth Care Matters in Older People
Our population is ageing as the health care workforce is ever more stretched; is mouth care being sacrificed on the…
Dealing with illness in dreadful hot weather
“What dreadful hot weather we have! It keeps one in a continual state of inelegance,” cried Jane Austen. Inelegance is…
Hands as diagnostic tools
Human hands are vastly more sophisticated than is necessary for survival. Each has 27 bones and is controlled by 35…
How do nurses say goodbye?
In nursing there are many ways of saying goodbye when the therapeutic relationship ends. Some patients bid a cheery goodbye,…
A nurse takes a view on cricket
That cricketing and clinical concepts collide has become apparent to me as a nurse spectator enjoying numerous cricket matches. I’ve…
Life is all memory
We’ve all forgotten to pack our toothbrush for the holiday, or the reason why we went up the stairs. But…
Diana’s endless empathy
How did Diana learn to become the 'Queen of Hearts' for the marginalised and unloved? Nurse Helen Cowan says she…
Twins – nature or nurture?
Twins have been of interest to scholars since early civilization; my twin sister and I would have definitely made an…
Names I will never forget
As a nurse, there are some patients whose names I will never forget, as they have taught me something…
No cameras in care homes
Should cameras be compulsory in care homes? One firm of solicitors, which specialises in care home negligence claims, is supporting…
Starvation in hospitals
Nurse Helen Cowan talks about starvation, dehydration and death in hospitals. “Kill by mouth” read a recent headline in the Sun…