Following publication of the extended analysis of the Danish Cohort Study on VTE risk (with combined oral contraceptives with different progestogens and oestrogen doses) in the BMJ and the rapid responses since, Shapiro S and Dinger J have now produced a Commentary for the January 2012 edition of the Journal of Family Planning and Reproductive Healthcare (JFPRHC). This is now published at BMJ Online First.
To accompany the commentary Anne Szarewski, Editor in Chief of the JFPRHC writes
VTE and the Pill … again
The re-analysis of the Danish Cohort Study has recently been published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ). Unfortunately, there are still many methodological issues with it, as discussed in this commentary by Dinger and Shapiro. They also point out that the important analysis that was actually requested by the regulatory authority (but not published in the BMJ paper) showed no difference in risk between combined oral contraceptives.
FSRH Workforce Planning Committee
The Faculty has vacancies for 2 members on its Workforce Planning Committe (1 associate member and 1 diplomate, member or fellow). Details available on the Faculty website.
2 New Publications for Nurses –
as reported by Wendy Moore, Vice Chair of the Faculty Associate Members’ Working Group
RCN Competences for nurses undertaking bimanual pelvic examinations
Nurses working in sexual and reproductive health are increasingly extending their role, benefitting both the nurses and their client groups. The ability to carry out pelvic and bimanual examinations is now a key requirement for nurses working in these specialisms in primary, secondary and community care. The purpose of the competency framework is to ensure that women requiring a pelvic exam are cared for safely and that training and assessment processes are in line with local guidance.
Aimed at sexual and reproductive health practitioners this new set of competences is aimed at nurses who are assessing and counselling women who have requested or received long-acting reversible methods of contraception (LARC). The purpose of this competency framework is to ensure such women are cared for safely and helps professionals to identify their training needs, ensuring they have the skills and knowledge to undertake the delivery of contraception services competently and safely.
And finally we hope that reports from America that Apple’s new voice recognition software, Siri, is anti-abortion are exaggerated – the ‘tech’ giant says it will improve the software’s unintentional omissions so that it doesn’t say it cannot find abortion clinics. Knowing the age we live in we suspect this ‘issue’ will run for a while in blogs and tweets around the world.