About Journal of Paramedic Practice

Journal of Paramedic Practice (JPP) is the only monthly peer-reviewed journal dedicated to the clinical and professional needs of paramedics. It is a vital resource for helping paramedics enhance their professional knowledge and stay ahead of all their continuing professional development (CPD) requirements.

Latest CPD

Achieve your CPD with JPP We offer a programme of 12 online reflective practice CPD modules per year. In consultation with experts, the online CPD modules will aim to cover core topics of practice relevant for paramedics, including the key area of pharmacology. Website subscribers can access our latest and archive modules, a selection of which can be found below. Subscribe Today

Exploring the clinical debrief: benefits and barriers

Paramedics are regularly exposed to traumatic situations in the prehospital environment, which can profoundly affect their emotional resilience. A debrief is a recognised tool that is used to manage the aftermath of such events. Its aims are to unpick the components of the situation, identify any issues or achievements in clinical care, highlight learning points to improve future practice and safeguard the clinician’s emotional wellbeing. This article explores the benefits of and barriers to debriefing in clinical practice as well as the emerging debate around the potential harm or benefit of single-session debriefing.

Legal issues in end-of-life care 2: consent and decision-making

Paramedics are legally and professionally obliged to uphold their patients' right to dignity, respect and autonomy—and this includes the general requirement to obtain their consent before proceeding with any intervention. The first instalment of this two-part article considered the challenges that this might present to the paramedic. This second article develops this theme and further explores the legal framework underpinning the decision-making process when caring for a patient approaching the end of life. It also examines issues around consent and mental capacity in more depth and addresses matters such as such as advance decisions to refuse treatment (ADRT) and do not attempt cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (DNACPR) decisions.

Paramedic ethics, capacity and the treatment of vulnerable patients

Vulnerable patients are at an increased risk of harm or exploitation in healthcare. Their vulnerability may impede their autonomy, which can then affect their ability to self-advocate. Clinicians have an important role in supporting vulnerable patients and upholding their autonomy. This article explores practical issues of capacity, autonomy and beneficence as they apply to some of the most common vulnerable groups that UK paramedics may encounter: children, older people, those with a mental illness and persons with a disability.

End-of-life care part 1: implications for paramedic practice

Caring for patients who are approaching the end of life is an important part of the paramedic's role. Patients' circumstances are individual; for some, death is expected and may even a welcome (albeit sad) relief from a long period of pain and distress, while for others it is a tragic, unexpected outcome after every effort to prevent it has been exhausted. Regardless of circumstances, paramedics have to make wide-ranging clinical decisions, underpinned by a complex legal and regulatory framework. Paramedics generally have to obtain a patient's informed consent before proceeding with any intervention. They may be challenged if a dying patient refuses life-sustaining treatment or no longer has the mental capacity to consent and need to know the law on decision-making in these cases. This article discusses issues around capacity and consent at the end of life. The next article in this series considers issues such as advance decisions to refuse treatment and do not attempt CPR decisions.

What our readers say

“Journal of Paramedic Practice is an essential reference tool for the practising paramedic. Not only does it keep you up to speed with clinical best practice (focused on the topics you need to know), but its online CPD modules make it easy to carry out your required learning whenever is convenient.”