Australian Nursing Journal articles from February 2002

Australian Nursing Journal archives from February 2002

Whistleblowing: A difficult decision. (Editorial).
February 1, 2002... Jill Iliffe What do you do when something happens that you know to be wrong, unethical or inappropriate? Reading Kevin's story in this ANJ brought to mind a number of situations during my nursing career where I was faced with this...

A case of academic elitism. (Letters to the Editor).(Letter to the Editor)
February 1, 2002... It is disappointing that today Debbie Philp (Thoughts on conversion', ANJ, December 2001/January 2002, p.4) should still be experiencing the ridiculous non-recognition between the higher education and TAFE sectors of post secondary education....

Hang in there graduate nurse. (Letters to the Editor).(Letter to the Editor)
February 1, 2002... Dear fellow RN, ('Graduate year: Far from a bed of roses', ANJ, November 2001, p.4) I know exactly what you are talking about and the crap these other nurses put you through. I bet you have never had a complaint from one of your patients,...

A cynical view. (Letters to the Editor).(Letter to the Editor)
February 1, 2002... I read with interest the article Expanding the role: Nurses in general practice (ANJ, December 2001/January 2002, pp.28-30). I am even more interested in how divisions may change the functions of community health centres (CHC) and public...

What is compassion? (Letters to the Editor).(Letter to the Editor)
February 1, 2002... Louise Maguire ('Some thoughts on refugees', ANJ, November 2001, p.3) disassociates herself from the ANF Federal Council's resolution on asylum seekers ('ANF Opposes asylum treatment', ANJ, October 2001, p.7). Acknowledging her right to an...

Letters.(Letter to the Editor)
February 1, 2002... Are we our own worst enemies? Nurses are the victims of bureaucratic bungles and bad management decisions. The ripple effect of unwise decisions impacts on those of us who are further down the ladder. There will always be people in...

Video targets perinatal depression. (Briefs).(What do you mean I've changed?)
February 1, 2002... A new video focusing on pre and postnatal depression offers valuable insights and provides advice on treatment options and where to seek help. What do you mean I've changed? is produced by the Dona Maria Pre and Postnatal Support Network and is...

Guide focuses on illicit drug use. (Briefs).
February 1, 2002... The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has released a new comprehensive guide to the availability of Australian data on the use of illicit drugs. Illicit drug use: Sources of Australian data reports on a range of national data sources...

Rake attack closes clinic. (Briefs).
February 1, 2002... Three nurses were evacuated from a remote NT community in late November after a man allegedly attacked one of them with a garden rake causing cuts and bruises. ANF NT Branch Secretary Paul Nieuwenhoven condemned the assault. The clinic is now...

No laughing matter. (Briefs).
February 1, 2002... Ten midwives and a doctor at Wollongong Hospital's birthing unit were suspended in early January over allegations they held nitrous oxide parties. A hospital spokesperson said six midwives had been stood down and four moved to other wards...

New editor for AJAN. (Briefs).(Margaret McMillan to become the new editor for the Australian Journal of Advanced Nursing)
February 1, 2002... Professor Margaret McMillan from the University of Newcastle commenced as consultant Editor of the Australian Journal of Advanced Nursing in January. Professor McMillan takes over from Heather Dawson-Byrne. Professor McMillan will bring her...

NSW overtime payments: 'A significant breakthrough'. (News).(senior nurses in New South Wales receive overtime payments)
February 1, 2002... Overworked senior nurses at smaller understaffed hospitals on the NSW North Coast received overtime payments for the first time at the end of 2001, after lobbying by the NSW Nurses Association (NSWNA, ANF NSW). In what the NSWNA described...

Nurses top ethics poll again. (News).
February 1, 2002... Nurses have, for the eighth year running, topped the 2001 Morgan Poll's ethical and honesty list of professions, and increased their standing to enjoy a massive 90% support in the community. The poll was conducted last November and surveyed...

New Health Minister urged to address nurse shortage. (News).(Kay Patterson)
February 1, 2002... Peak nursing and general practitioner groups have called on Senator Kay Patterson, the incoming Minister for Health and Ageing, to address Australia's critical nursing shortage as the first priority of her ministry. The ANF, Royal College...

Victorian Government questions agency expenditure. (News).
February 1, 2002... The Victorian Government unveiled plans in January to establish its own nursing banks and reduce the State's estimated $1 million-a-week agency bill. The plans propose the use of a centralised statutory authority, Health Purchasing...

Typhoid outbreak: Nurses fear spread. (News).(outbreak on Christmas Island)
February 1, 2002... Nurses working on Christmas Island seriously questioned the safety of the Federal Government's offshore detention policy after an outbreak of typhoid among asylum seekers last December threatened to spread. ANF WA Branch Secretary M k...

Queensland nurses take action over pay and staffing issues. (News).
February 1, 2002... Nurses at the Queensland's Trinder Park aged care facility walked off the job on 8 January and held a rally in protest at the Lutheran Church's refusal to give them wage parity with public hospital colleagues. The action was part of a...

Nurse practitioners: Forging ahead in Victoria. (News).
February 1, 2002... Victorian nurses can now apply to the Nurses Board of Victoria (NBV) for endorsement as nurse practitioners in the State. The opportunity follows the implementation of the Nurses (Amendment) Act 2000 by the Victorian Government last...

Concerns over mental health in SA. (News).(South Australia)
February 1, 2002... South Australian mental health nurses lifted work bans on 15 January after the SA Department of Human Services agreed to give ANF SA Branch copies of draft policies and procedures relating to improved admission, discharge, bed management and...

Improving medication safety. (Briefs).
February 1, 2002... The Safety and Quality Council is interested in hearing from health organisations who wish to participate in The collaborative initiative to improve medication safely a national initiate to tackle the problem of inappropriate medication use....

Nursing complaints soar. (Briefs).
February 1, 2002... The proportion of health complaints against NSW nurses referred to he nurses' tribunal for disciplinary ac ion tripled last year, according to the latest NSW Health care Complaints Commission. The 22% figure in 20 02001 compared to 7% in 1999-2...

AARN receives commonwealth funds. (Briefs).(Australian Association for Rural Nurses)
February 1, 2002... The Australian Association for Rural Nurses Inc (AARN) has announce it will receive commonwealth Govrnment funding to formally establish a Secretariat. AARN President David Lindsay applauded the decision and said the move, as the AA N...

$6.8 million report criticised. (Briefs).(cost of report of inquiry into King Edward Memorial Hospital in Australia questioned)
February 1, 2002... ANF WA Branch has criticised the WA government for failing to reveal why an inquiry into King Edward Memorial Hospital cost $6.8 million. ANF A Branch Secretary Mark Olsen called on the Government to release a cost breakdown of the 2500 page...

WA decision protects workloads. (News).(Australian Industrial Relations Commission makes decision on nursing hours)
February 1, 2002... Public sector nurses in WA are set to benefit from an Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC) decision which promises to better control nurses' workloads. The 17 December decision, which is seen as the solution to the State's...

ANF Tas Branch elects new Secretary. (News).(Neroli Ellis elected as secretary of the Australian Nursing Federation in Tasmania)
February 1, 2002... The ANF Tasmanian Branch has elected Neroli Ellis as its new Secretary in their recent Branch election. Neroli has been an ANF member since 1975 and an ANF representative for 18 years. She was an ANF Branch Councillor for three years and an...

Government targets lapsed registrations. (News).(Rural and Remote Nurse Reentry Scholarship Scheme)
February 1, 2002... A new Federal Government Scholarship Scheme has been established with the aim of getting remote and rural nurses with lapsed registrations back into the workplace. The Rural and Remote Nurse Reentry Scholarship Scheme is funded by the...

Falls affect young and old alike. (News).
February 1, 2002... Accidental falls are leading causes of injury at both ends of the age spectrum in Australia, according to two new reports by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. The reports show more than 1000 individuals (65 years of age and...

Rebate caused little rise in private health cover. (News).
February 1, 2002... New research shows that the Federal Government's 30% rebate on private health insurance, at a cost of about $2.4 billion a year, has made only a minor contribution to increasing the level of private health insurance cover in Australia. ...

Applications up as nursing invites interest in Tasmania. (News).
February 1, 2002... There has been a surge in the number of Tasmanians applying to study nursing at TAFE and the University of Tasmania, but according to the ANF there are insufficient places to meet demand. ANF Tasmanian Branch Secretary Neroli Ellis said...

Prison promise broken: Vic Branch. (Briefs).
February 1, 2002... The ANF Vic Branch accused he Victorian Government in January of failing to live up to its election promise of winding back privatisation of the States prison service. ANF Vic Branch Secretary Lisa Fitzpatrick said the ANF was disappointed the...

New premises for the NBV. (Briefs).(Nurses Board of Victoria in Australia)
February 1, 2002... The Nurses Board of Victoria (NBV) has moved to new premises at Level 2, 595 Little Collins Street in Melbourne. NBV Chief Executive Leanne Raven said the new building would meet the needs of everyone working at the NBV and the public and...

NACA discusses next move. (Briefs).(National Aged Care Alliance)
February 1, 2002... The National Aged Care Alliance (NACA) met on 29 November to discuss future action on the consensus proposals developed in the lead up to the 2001 Federal Election. Briefs were prepared and meetings arranged with relevant ministers and shadow...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
February 1, 2002... In The December 2001/January 2002 (volume 9, number 6) Clinical Update ('Palliative care ethics: Autonomy in aged care', pp.23-26 the third paragraph under Quality of life on page 25 should read: 'As a person's values evolve from their...

Professional round up. (Federal Professional News).
February 1, 2002... The ANF is a member of the National Rural Health Alliance (NRHA) which is organising a national rural and remote area nursing summit in Adelaide in July. The purpose of the summit is to use the activities taking place, including the...

Training packages. (Federal Professional News).
February 1, 2002... Community Services and Health Training Australia (CSHTA) has commenced a review of community services training packages, including aged care, disability services and drug and alcohol work. These training packages provide an educational...

National Review of Nursing Education. (Federal Professional News).
February 1, 2002... The Government has just released the discussion paper relating to the National Review of Nursing Education which contains a summary of findings and raises a series of questions and issues the Review Panel wishes to explore further. The...

UK loses its appeal. (World Briefs).(nursing survey)
February 1, 2002... The number of Australian-registered nurses and midwives working in the UK fell for a third year, the latest United Kingdom Central Council for Nursing and Midwifery (UKCC) figures reveal. In 2000-2001, 1046 nurses and midwives from Australia...

Single use instruments get second outing. (World Briefs).
February 1, 2002... Survey results released last November show many UK hospitals persist in reusing surgical instruments designated for single use, despite a government ban on the practice. Twelve per cent of nurses and infection control professionals polled by...

International employment opportunities. (World Briefs).
February 1, 2002... The International Council of Nurses (ICN) launched a new Internet employment service last November. The service is designed to notify nurses about vacancies in international organisations in the United Nations (UN) system and in international...

Complaining about men. (World Briefs).(male nurses account for more than two thirds of nurse expulsions)
February 1, 2002... Men account for more than two thirds of the nurses struck off the UK professional register, according to the United Kingdom Central Council for Nursing and Midwifery (UKCC). Nursing representatives have called for an inquiry into why men,...

New consent forms on horizon. (World News).
February 1, 2002... A complete overhaul of the way patients give consent to treatment and examination will be introduced in England over the next two months. The new forms, drawn up by an expert panel including representatives of the health professions, follow...

Overtime ban may ease nurse shortage. (World News).
February 1, 2002... After nearly four years of lobbying, nurses in the US State of New Jersey have won legislation barring health care facilities from using mandatory overtime to deal with chronic staff shortages. The law, finalised in January, will make...

WFCCN provides critical care forum. (World News).(World Federation of Critical Care Nursing )
February 1, 2002... A new international nursing organisation, the World Federation of Critical Care Nursing (WFCCN), was launched at the 8th World Congress on Intensive Care in Sydney last October. The Federation, which aims to provide a worldwide forum for...

An agent for change. (This Working Life).(Interview)
February 1, 2002... Liz McCall is a multi skilled nurse midwife and clinical specialist in midwifery at Byron Bay District hospital in northern NSW. She is passionate about establishing more choice for women in terms of maternity care. Here Liz tells Steven...

Blowing the whistle: The costs of speaking out. (Feature).
February 1, 2002... Kevin Moylan never dreamed that protecting his patients would see him lose his house, his farm and his livelihood, and cause him a decade of ill health. But when Kevin exposed poor quality work practices at a Tasmanian psychiatric clinic in...

Caring for the patient with systemic lupus erythematosus. (Clinical Update).
February 1, 2002... About the author Rachel Rossiter, RN, BHSc (Nsg), BCoun, MCoun, is Clinical Nurse Consultant/Counsellor at the Scleroderma/Lupus Resource Centre in New Lambton, NSW, and a Counsellor in private practice at Kanwal and Gosford Counselling...

Nursing education: A concern of all nurses. (Nursing Education).
February 1, 2002... Nursing leaders and the broader nursing profession must not accept a return to the past clothed by a new language that promises a better education of beginning practitioners but which, in reality, could risk its dilution. Political and...

Managing anxiety when patients die. (Nursing Education).
February 1, 2002... Nursing graduates who are taught to manage anxiety are better able to cope with the death of a patient according to a new study by researchers at the University of Technology, Sydney. Lynda-Mary Wood, Manager of Clinical Development in...

Combining clinical education and management consultancy. (Nursing Education).
February 1, 2002... Innovations in Health Care (IHC) is a consultancy company offering services to metropolitan and regional Victoria. With a wide and varied scope of interest, including clinical education, policy design, clinical supervision and human...

Simulating resuscitation. (Briefs).
February 1, 2002... Resus sim in hospital is a new advance life support PC simulator which takes participants through a variety of problem based emergency scenarios. Using real life animation and sound effects, users can practice diagnostic, therapeutic and c se...

Nursing by degrees. (Briefs).
February 1, 2002... SA's Flinders University is offer in an accelerated Bachelor of Nursing degree to candidates who h ye already completed a degree at bachelor level or higher. Students receive one year of credit in recognition of prior learning and can complete...

Call for postdoctoral research. (Briefs).
February 1, 2002... The Nurses Board of Victoria is calling for applicants for the 002 Mona Menzies Postdoctoral G ant, The $50000 grant is available to Victorian RNs with doctoral qualifications. To apply, contact Maggie Xu, ph: (03) 8635 1260. Applications close...

Aged care scholarships. (Briefs).
February 1, 2002... Geriaction once again invites NF members to apply for the Geriaction Scholarship. The scholarship, which is competitive, is to allow the pursuit of a professional/scholarly activity related to aged care. This might be to attend a conference or...

Trial brings nurse practitioners one-step closer. (Nursing Education).
February 1, 2002... The registration of nurse practitioners in the ACT came another step closer last December with the conclusion of the Territory's nurse practitioner trial. The trial, funded by the ACT Department of Health, Housing and Community Care and...

Therapeutic Guidelines: Palliative care. (Nursing Education).
February 1, 2002... Therapeutic guidelines released the 10th of their pocket health care guides at the end of 2001 with the publication of Therapeutic Guidelines: Palliative care. The pocket size guide aims to de-mystify palliative care and give care...

An innovative approach to the graduate nurse program. (Nursing Education).
February 1, 2002... A Melbourne nursing agency has come up with an innovative way of supporting graduate nurses in their clinical practice. Since its inception Australian Nursing Solutions (ANS), which is owned and run by nurses, has wished to put something...

Aromatherapy: Not just nice smells. (Nursing Education).
February 1, 2002... Aromatherapy is being used more than ever before in many areas including nursing. Aromatherapy is a powerful tool and its use has been attributed to remarkable effects on the mind and body of many individuals. However, these can only be...

An example of professional responsibility for continuing nurse education. (Nursing Education).
February 1, 2002... By the end of 2001, nearly all Heath Wing Ward RNs at Victoria's Geelong Hospital had success-fully completed the Prostate Care Nursing Program (PCNP) run by La Trobe University and the Anti-Cancer Council of Victoria What brought about...

An overview of occupational violence. (Nursing Issues).
February 1, 2002... Dr Claire Mayhew is a senior research scientist at the National Occupational Health and Safety Commission, and an Associate of the Industrial Relations Research Centre at the University of New South Wales. In August 2001, Dr Mayhew was seconded...

Calendar.
February 1, 2002... Certificate in Natural Fertility Education 3,10,24 February; 2,9,23 June; 6,13,28 October Wise Woman Business, Kerry Hampton Ph/Fax (03) 9830 5280 Email: kerryhampton@iprimus.com.au The New South Wales College of Nursing:...