Australian Nursing Journal articles from December 2003

Australian Nursing Journal archives from December 2003

Nurses to lead the way.(editorial)
December 1, 2003... I was privileged to be at the 6th Biennial National Delegates Conference in Hobart in October to hear two great orators address the conference--Marcus Einfeld AO QC and Julian Burnside QC. While both spoke of different things, their message was...

HECS fails Div 2s.(mail)(Letter to the Editor)
December 1, 2003... Yet another reference to shortfalls in excess of 30,000 nurses by 2006 in 'Migration of nurses: Finding a sustainable solution' (ANJ, September 2003, pp.24-26). It is incomprehensible to my colleagues and I that we are not providing more...

Fed up with forms.(mail)(Letter to the Editor)
December 1, 2003... Am I the only one drowning in a sea of paper? I know that work practices have changed over the last few years necessitating more paperwork, but to what avail? Nothing seems to change except for the increasing amount of forms that have to...

Thought provoking.(mail)(Letter to the Editor)
December 1, 2003... Ged has done it again with another thought provoking article (ANJ, November 2003, p.44). I finished my shift the other day and felt dissatisfied, but I didn't know why. Yes, I had a heavy workload--it was physically demanding and also had...

Get real!(mail)(Letter to the Editor)
December 1, 2003... If there was one attitude that struck me as I returned to study after 20 years in the workforce it was the 'it's not my problem' ethos of some TAFEs and universities. As some students doing their Div 2 (EN) training at TAFE literally...

Network.(Calendar)
December 1, 2003... Royal Hobart Hospital, PTS January 1974, 30-year reunion 3 January 2004. Contact Sue lles Ph: (03) 6234 2408 Email: suzanne.iles@dhhs.tas.gov.au Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woodville SA Group 1/74, 30-year reunion 17-18 January 2004....

Medicare item numbers for nurses.(Nat)
December 1, 2003... NAT Patients will be able to claim a Medicare rebate for treatment given by nurses in a new proposal by the Federal Government. The revised Medicare package 'MedicarePlus' includes an item in the medical benefits schedule to allow...

Nurses to fight for ratios.(Vic)
December 1, 2003... VIC The stage is set for a bitter struggle in Victoria with both the ANF Vic Branch, the Victorian government and public sector health service employers serving a log of claims in the 2004 public sector enterprise bargaining round. ...

Poll shows support for refugees.(Nat)
December 1, 2003... NAT More Australians are becoming disenchanted with the Howard Government's approach to refugees, a recent poll of Australian workers has found. The Irving Saulwick poll asked 1,000 Australian workers for their views on refugees and...

ANF seeks parity and ratios for Tasmanian nurses.(Tas)
December 1, 2003... TAS Tasmanian nurses have commenced their public sector enterprise bargaining with a 30% wage claim aimed at achieving pay parity with otherTasmaniahealth professionals and interstate nursing colleagues. ANF Tasmanian Branch Secretary,...

Sexual harassment rife.(news)
December 1, 2003... A review of workplace sexual harassment complaints has shown sexual harassment is still rife despite legislation outlawing it having been in place for 20 years. Speaking at the launch of the report A bad business: Review of sexual harassment in...

University budget cuts affect nurses.(news)
December 1, 2003... The University of Western Sydney stands to lose $14 million in funding over three years, forcing the university to turn away nurses, according to NSW Labour Minister Diane Beamer. UWS provided 20% of the state's nurses, Ms Beemer said, but the...

2004 Midwifery Conference.(news)
December 1, 2003... The 14th National Conference of the Australian College of Midwives, to be held in Perth in September 2004, is calling for abstracts. For more information on submitting an abstract for the conference entitled 'Midwifery Great Expectations', go...

Overseas drive.(news)
December 1, 2003... Adelaide's Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) hopes to cut their agency bill by $850,000 this year by recruiting nurses from overseas. The hospital has already signed 54 nurses from the United Kingdom and South Africa and 24 have already commenced...

Fat but don't know it.(news)
December 1, 2003... Although one in five Australians are officially obese, most believe they are in good health. Recent statistics indicate that of 30 OECD nations, only Americans, British and Mexicans were likely to be more obese than Australians. However, the...

First NPs graduate in NSW.(news)
December 1, 2003... The first seven Master of Nursing (Nurse Practitioner) students graduated from the University of Newcastle in November. Ron Sharkey, senior lecturer in the School of Nursing, said the Master of Nursing program was the only approved nurse...

Booksearch help.(news)
December 1, 2003... A leading search service for out-of-point, collectable and hard-to-find books has launched a new service tailored to the medical professions. Developed by BiblioQuest International, the portal page gives nurses, other health practitioners,...

Mayne out.(news)
December 1, 2003... In a deal worth more than $800 million, the Mayne Group will sell its entire private hospital business in Australia and New Zealand. The buyers are the management of the hospitals together with Ironbridge Capital, CVC Asia Pacific Limited, and...

Antibiotics link to asthma.(news)
December 1, 2003... Babies given antibiotics in their first six months are far more likely to develop asthma, according to a US study. A team of researchers at the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit, USA, followed 448 children from birth to seven years. At the...

Four Darwin nurses honoured for Bali.(Nt)
December 1, 2003... NT Four nurses at Royal Darwin tiospital have been awarded Order of Australia medals for their heroic role in helping victims of the Bali bombing in October 2002. The nurses, Ronnie Taylor, OAM, Alison Mustapha, OAM, Maureen Brittin,...

Cardiac treatment better in post offices and planes.(Nat)
December 1, 2003... NAT More lives would be saved in hospitals if nurses were able to perform defibrillation for cardiac arrest, according to research by nurses published in the Medical Journal of Australia last month. The research by the University of...

First nurse practitioners registered.(Wa)
December 1, 2003... WA The WA Nurses Board CEO Ms Margaret Watson has announced the registration of WAs first nurse practitioners. Speaking at the First International Congress on Innovations in Nursing held in Perth last month, Ms Watson said the...

ANF concerned about young people's privacy.(Nat)
December 1, 2003... NAT The ANF has called on the Federal Health Minister Tony Abbott to abandon plans to develop legislation giving parents access to their children's medical records up to the age of 16 years. ANF Secretary Jill Iliffe said the ANF...

A new approach to nurse discipline needed.(Nat)
December 1, 2003... NAT Competent nurses who make 'genuine practice errors' should not be disciplined for unprofessional conduct but should be dealt with using a 'clinical risk management' approach according to two leading nursing academics. In a paper...

US keen to follow Victoria in No Lifting.(Vic)
December 1, 2003... VIC Victoria is a world leader in preventing manual handling injuries and the United States should follow its lead, according to the editors of a new book on the topic. Anne Hudson, RN, and health and safety expert William Charney,...

Nurses seek HECS reimbursement.(Nt)
December 1, 2003... NT Nurses at the Royal Darwin Hospital (RDH) have been seeking compensation for work related courses going back to term one, despite an undertaking from the hospital that reimbursement would be provided by mid-November. The scheme to...

QNU seeks return of nursing hours.(Qld)
December 1, 2003... QLD The Queensland Nurses Union (QNU, ANF Qld) is asking the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission (QIRC) to restore nursing hours in six RSL aged care facilities and compensate the nurses involved. In September, the QNU...

ANF rep wins top delegate award.(Sa)
December 1, 2003... SA Adelaide RN Mick McClellan has been named joint winner of the South Australian United Trades and Labor Council Annual Best Delegate Award. Mr McClellan works in radiology at the Royal Adelaide Hospital and is a member of the ANF SA...

Private hospital growth.(news)
December 1, 2003... The number of private freestanding day hospitals in Australia has trebled from 72 to 236 over the last decade, according to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. During the same period, the number of private acute and private...

No to rebate increase.(news)
December 1, 2003... Federal Treasurer Peter Costello has ruled out any increase to the private health insurance rebate in next year's budget saying the scheme had already cost taxpayers more than $2.5 billion a year. A group of government senators proposed raising...

Cancer treatment in demand.(news)
December 1, 2003... Australia's ageing population is driving a rapid increase in demand for cancer treatment services, according to a new report released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Cancer in Australia 2000 shows the death rate from cancer...

Caesarean births rise.(news)
December 1, 2003... Caesarean births are on the rise in Sydney, with almost one in three births now a caesarean in many major centres. Hannah Dahlen, secretary of the NSW Midwives Association said: 'Our major concern for women is that some in the media and in the...

Hospital comes clean.(news)
December 1, 2003... Nurses at Manly hospital will be entitled to a share of $400,000 awarded in the NSW Industrial Relations Commission to repay nurses for a laundry allowance they should have been receiving for six years. NSWNA Assistant General Secretary...

ANF develops practice standards.(professional)
December 1, 2003... The ANF Federal Office has secured federal government funding to undertake a major project to develop competency standards for nurses. The ANF will contract an organisation or consortia to undertake the project, which will be overseen by a...

Free trade, fair trade or the road to ruin?(industrial)
December 1, 2003... For the past twenty years, the accepted 'truth' underlying international trade policy has been that free trade agreements benefit everyone involved and should be vigorously pursued. However, as ANF Federal Industrial Officer Nick Blake...

All British nurses to be trained in prescribing.(world)
December 1, 2003... In a landmark move, the UK Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has included training in prescribing medicines in the pre-registration curriculum for nursing students to enable all nurses to become 'supplementary prescribers'. Royal College...

$1 billion needed to address US shortage of nurses.(world)
December 1, 2003... The US needs to spend at least $1 billion to make any inroads into the nursing shortage, according to a senior nursing academic. Senior Associate Dean of Research at Vanderbilt University, Peter Buerhaus, said the quality of health care...

Nurses in Bangladesh injured in protest.(world)
December 1, 2003... Nurses and police in the Bangladesh capital of Dhaka have been involved in several clashes over the last month. Fifty-two nurses were injured and three were in intensive care after being clubbed by police outside the Dhaka Medical College...

Singapore to be 'health tourist' hotspot.(world)
December 1, 2003... More nurses and doctors will be recruited to Singapore under the government's SingaporeMedicine initiative. The initiative aims to attract one million foreign patients every year to boost the economy and create jobs. Acting Minster for Health,...

NZ PM sympathises with nurses.(world)
December 1, 2003... Nurses in NZ are undervalued and historically underpaid, Prime Minister Helen Clark told a Council of Trade Unions conference in Wellington. Raising hopes that future pay claims would be met with more sympathy, Ms Clark said the government was...

India has highest maternal death rate.(world)
December 1, 2003... New findings on maternal mortality have revealed maternal deaths were disproportionately high in developing countries, with most occurring in India. According to the latest report from WHO and UNICEF, many deaths could be avoided if women had...

Asylum seekers in Scotland train as nurses.(world)
December 1, 2003... Refugees in Scotland with nursing backgrounds are now able to work as volunteers in Glasgow hospitals while their applications for asylum are assessed. The initiative provides mentors to work with the refugees, and was set up after refugees...

Travelling North: RN Libby Clegg describes her transition from Melbourne to the Gove Peninsula.(working life)
December 1, 2003... "Two and half years ago, my partner and I decided to leave our jobs in Melbourne, travel around Australia for a year, and then reassess our future. Two months into the trip and loving it, we were in Perth. Vaguely thinking we could live...

Japanese diet provides relief for menopause symptoms.(research)
December 1, 2003... Women call reduce unpleasant menopause symptoms by changing to a Japanese style diet and a regular exercise regime, according to a trial conducted by nurse researchers at Queensland University of Technology. The 12-week randomised...

Agency nurses seek flexibility.(research)
December 1, 2003... A recent study into the experiences of nurses working through agencies in Melbourne has revealed their primary motivation for doing so is flexibility. The literature also revealed nurses working through agencies were more likely to work...

Aspirin cancer link.(research)
December 1, 2003... A study involving 88,000 nurses in the US has found women who take one aspirin a day significantly increase their risk of getting pancreatic cancer. According to the American Association for Cancer Research's latest report, participants in...

Come together.(Cover Story)
December 1, 2003... In his speech to the ANF Biennial National Delegates Conference in October, the Honourable Justice Marcus Einfeld, AO, QC, PhD, urged nurses to come together and lead the community towards justice. This extract from his speech is reprinted...

Guidelines for reducing risk in heart disease: implications for nursing practice and research.(clinical update)
December 1, 2003... Introduction Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in Australia. (1) Approximately 2.8 million Australians are living with stroke, heart and blood vessel disease and one in three families are directly affected by poor"...

Community nurses need a united voice.(Focus: postgraduate education/community nursing)
December 1, 2003... The first community health centre in which I worked in the early 1980s employed four nurses who combined their clinical role with a health promotional and community development role. We each spent about two days in the centre working...

Community nursing in India.(Focus: postgraduate education/community nursing)
December 1, 2003... Community nursing in Northern India has formed the backbone of ongoing and affordable health care for thousands of rural improvement families. In the Koraput region, a grassroots "Medicare' Scheme that began with $35,000 in seed funding...

Diabetes goes postgrad.(Focus: postgraduate education/community nursing)
December 1, 2003... With almost one million Australians now affected by diabetes, a new postgraduate course offered by Victoria University and the Goonawarra Medical Centre in Victoria will help meet community needs. Nurses completing the course will be able to...

Nurse clinics decrease cardiovascular mortality rate.(Focus: postgraduate education/community nursing)
December 1, 2003... People attending nurse-led prevention clinics for cardiovascular disease are likely to maintain long-term improved health, according to recent research published in the British Medical Journal. Clinics for people with cardiovascular disease in...

New chair for health research.(Focus: postgraduate education/community nursing)
December 1, 2003... Health research has taken a new direction in WA with the appointment of child health promotion specialist Professor Donna Cross to the inaugural chair in health and wellness at Edith Cowan University (ECU). ECU Vice Chancellor Professor Poole...

Fee-paying students inject $5 billion.(Focus: postgraduate education/community nursing)
December 1, 2003... Education is Australia's third largest services export, delivering $5 billion to the economy last year, according to the annual report of the Department of Education. Overseas student numbers at Australian universities rose substantially...

Nursing Calculations CD-ROM.
December 1, 2003... Anthony Ramos Educational Innovations, $29.95 Visit: www.educinnov.com.au The Nursing Calculations program is an interactive and self-sufficient training and assessment tool for medication calculations. For use by individual students or...

Aboriginal Primary Health Care: an evidence based approach, 2nd ed.
December 1, 2003... Sophia Couzos and Richard Murray for the Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Services' Council Oxford University Press, $95.00 ISBN 0 19 551619 2 Drawing on an expanded range of experts, this edition is a comprehensive study of primary...

Postgraduate study leads to advance care planning role.(Focus: postgraduate education/community nursing)
December 1, 2003... Nurses who want to fast track their careers can now complete a Master's degree in health administration in 18 months full-time at LaTrobe University. Coordinated by one of Australia's most innovative health education academics, Associate...

Fijian RNs in Townsville.(Focus: postgraduate education/community nursing)
December 1, 2003... Academic nursing staff at the School of Nursing Sciences at James Cook University (JCU) Towsville, have been working in close partnership with the Fiji Ministry of Health and the Fiji School of Nursing to help meet the educational needs of...

Discharge planning top priority for district nursing research.(Focus: postgraduate education/community nursing)
December 1, 2003... Improvement of hospital discharge planning for district nursing care was the top ranked research priority for district nurses, according to a national study. The study seeking to develop research priorities sought the opinion of a panel of...

Nurses undertake postgraduate studies at work.(Focus: postgraduate education/community nursing)
December 1, 2003... In the first initiative of its kind in Australia, a NSW aged care facility is offering nurses the chance to study for postgraduate qualifications without leaving their workplace. The RSL Retirement Villages at Narrabeen NSW, together with...

School nurses find weight predictor wanting.(Focus: postgraduate education/community nursing)
December 1, 2003... Two common methods for assessing the body fat of children the body mass index (BMI) and skin fold measurements-have been found to be inaccurate, according to new research by nurses in the USA. The study of primary school children found the...

Australian Nursing Federation--Federal Office--summary of results.
December 1, 2003... INFORMATION PROVIDED TO MEMBERS OR REGISTRAR In accordance with the requirements of the Workplace Relations Act 1996, the attention of members is drawn to the provisions of sub-sections (1) to (4) of Section 274, which read as follows: ...

Calendar.(Calendar)
December 1, 2003... The College of Nursing (incorporating the NSW College of Nursing) Distance education courses for RNs The College of Nursing, Locked Bag 3030, Burwood, NSW 1805 Ph: (02) 9745 7500 Tailored education programs for health professionals...

You can't choose your family.(Ged)
December 1, 2003... You can't choose your relatives. Despite this, I love my family--we are large and largely female (six girls and three boys), and when we are together we are a force to be reckoned with. In the face of adversity we are fiercely protective,...

Carry on nursing ...
December 1, 2003... SHE'S MY PATIENT! SHE'S MY MOTHER!!