‘Bare below the elbows’ what’s all the fuss about?

Bare below the elbows: preventing crosscontamination via the staff's attire.

Beginning in the 1880s, nurses donned uniforms that were considered to be state-of-theart protection against illness. The original nurses’ uniform was known as the “fever-proof” shield to protect the entire body of the visiting nurse from infection, although it left the face and the hands uncovered (Figure 1). Over the years, the nurse’s uniform has changed significantly. Gone are the days of a...

What's all the fuss about?

Justifying all the fuss about false belief.

The classic study by Wimmer and Perner showed that children below the age of about 4 years of age fail to appreciate others' false beliefs. This opened the floodgates to the theory-of-mind research programme. Recently, a study by Riggs and Simpson has called the central challenge of false belief into question, reporting similar difficulties with true belief. I would argue, however, that not onl...

Agricultural Biotechnology: What’s all the fuss about?

F rankenfood or silver bullet? The current debate over agricultural biotechnology is raging in the news media, in agribusiness boardrooms, among consumer and environmental activist groups, among government officials and international trade negotiators, within the scientific community, and in rural communities across this nation. Biotechnology is truly ubiquitous. Everyone is impacted directly o...

Bare Below the Elbows: A comparative study of a tertiary and district general hospital.

A 'Bare Below the Elbows' (BBTE) dress code policy has been introduced by the majority of NHS trusts in the UK. The aim of this Irish study was to evaluate the impact of an educational intervention on perception of medical attire. The study was carried out in two centres: a tertiary referral centre (Beaumont Hospital) and a district hospital (MRH, Portlaoise). Two questionnaires, incorporating ...