Summer recess / the silly season when nothing much of import seems to happen and when we should all probably adopt the French tradition of loosing ourselves with the entire family in some quiet little spot in Provence. No such luck however - some of us have to battle on in particularly hot and humid units and look forward to a fresh start in September. Well this year - having been freshly inspired and reinvigorated by our 17th Annual Conference - I shall not let the silly season pass and go to waste without quietly planning for our next years activities. Melanie is writing up the conference report and I do not want to steal her thunder - but I will say how delighted I was with the conference. We tried for a ‘new look’ and I believe we largely succeeded. It was wonderful to share the platform with our friends from ASPAN and welcome the nurse leaders from IARNA and SSARN. We had an excellent timeand taking them all to the Shepherd and Dog via narrow country lanes that the bus could hardly navigate was a definite master stroke.

This overview of the research process is for nurses who have either not had a formal course of study in the area, or have not thought about the process in some time. Using a systematic method of viewing the research process should improve understanding. By knowing how question type determines design, and ultimately how results are structured, nurses will be better able to engage in the process as knowledgeable participants. Using this framework should allow those, who wish to do so, to further study the numerous variations in designs and nuances within in each level

Home to this years ASPAN conference, Albuquerque New Mexico - home to the native Indians - then Spanish and finally the Americans. A rich blend of cultures that has left stunning pueblo architecture, jewellery, pottery. For me the big thrill however was Route 66 - this classic road cuts right through Central - as I walked two blocks down this street everyday to the conference convention centre I tried to imagine what it must have been like 40 years ago with the Cadillacs and convertibles, bumper to bumper taking the famous trip from LA - Chicago or the other way. Now the street is fairly quiet and Albuquerque has grown outwards.

Current practice in the United Kingdom (UK) dictates that the administration of a general anaesthetic is undertaken by a physician. However, for several years now the controversial question has been raised as to whether other practitioners, primarily nurse anaesthetists, should also be allowed administer general anaesthetics. The ensuing debate has been refueled in recent times resulting from the trend towards providing cost-effective health care delivery combined with concerns over current and anticipated further shortages in anaesthetic manpower. This paper discusses some of the arguments both for and against the introduction non-physician anaesthetists in the UK, also drawing on the debate in other parts of the world, concluding with a call for more research to address the controversy. First though, because there appears to be some confusion over the difference between the meaning of the titles ‘Anaesthetic Nurse’ and ‘Nurse Anaesthetist’, it will be helpful to provide brief definitions of these terms.

IARNA held its inaugural seminar in Cork on 16th November attracting over 250 anaesthetic and recovery nurses from all over Ireland. The excitement and enthusiasm was infectious - up to the formation of IARNA there had been little provision at all for specialist academic meetings within the sphere of anaesthetic and recovery nursing.

The Changing Workforce Programme (CWP) has established a national pilot that is focusing on roles within anaesthesia, in the context of new ways of working. The pilot is building on the joint evaluation work undertaken by the Changing Workforce Programme, Department of Health and the Royal College of Anaesthetists (RCA) visits to the USA, Sweden and Holland, which looked at the role of nonmedical staff in the delivery of anaesthesia services. The document The Role of Non - Medical Staff in the Delivery of Anaesthesia Services is available on the RCA website www.rcoa.ac.uk.

The 12-lead ECG provides information about the electrical activity in the heart viewed from 12 different directions and in two different planes. The standard 12 lead ECG consists of 3 bipolar leads (leads 1, 11 and 111) and 9 unipolar leads (aVR, aVL and aVF, V1-V6) giving information about the inferior wall, lateral left ventricular wall and anterior wall of the heart. It is an invaluable part of the preassessment of the patient prior to surgery and enables the surgeon and anaesthetist to risk assess the patient prior to anaesthetic and surgery.