Australian Nursing Journal articles from February 2008

Australian Nursing Journal archives from February 2008

Editorial.(Editorial)
February 1, 2008... Welcome to 2008. I think 2008 will be a good year for nurses and for health and aged care. The new Rudd Government, since taking office, has already announced a number of key initiatives impacting on nursing. A focus on primary health care...

Penalising nurses hurts whole families.(mail)(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] My husband is an emergency nurse at a busy regional hospital. He loves his job and is a well-respected part of its nursing team. He has been nominated for various awards and receives many accolades from patients. I...

Influenza vaccine a matter of choice?(mail)(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2008... I oppose the support NICS [National Institute of Clinical Studies] is giving toward a move for compulsory influenza vaccination in aged care (ANJ Nov 07). It is unfortunate that eight people died in an influenza outbreak, but how often...

Global warming questioned.(mail)(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2008... I am writing in response to the article Climate change apathy (ANJ October 07) as I feel compelled to point out that the concept of global warming we have been sold by the media is misguided and essentially wrong. Is it not an interesting...

Correction.(mail)(Correction notice)
February 1, 2008... The new enterprise bargaining agreement between the ACT Government and the ANF ACT Branch will provide a 12% pay increase over 30 months, not over three years as reported in last month's ANJ (15:6, p.12).

Memorial project strengthens nurse's commitment.(mail)(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2008... I recently had the opportunity to participate in the Anna Stewart Memorial Project. This project was instigated 23 years ago to honour the memory of Anna Stewart. Anna was a unionist who worked tirelessly to promote women in the union movement....

Network.(Calendar)
February 1, 2008... Austin Hospital, Melbourne, Trainees: PTS 141 reunion 22 & 23 March 2008. For further information please contact A Russell Ph: (03) 9432 2924. Royal Adelaide Hospital, Adelaide, Group 906 reunion 4 April 2008. Please come and join...

New institute to tackle hearth workforce shortages.(NATIONAL)
February 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A new institute has been set up to address Australia's health workforce shortage. The Australian Health Workforce Institute (AHWI) is a collaborative initiative between the University of Melbourne and the University...

RCNA--supporting aged care nursing.(NATIONAL)(Royal College of Nursing, Australia)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Royal College of Nursing, Australia (RCNA) is administering the aged care nursing scholarship scheme which includes both undergraduate and postgraduate levels of education. The scholarships aim to encourage people to enter the aged care...

Pressure mounting in aged care.(NATIONAL)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] One third of older people entering residential aged care do so following hospital admissions and two thirds of those require permanent care, an Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report shows. Preliminary...

More nurses but older and working longer.(NATIONAL)(Survey)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... An alarming report on the nursing and midwifery workforce shows more nurses are working in the health system but they are older and working longer hours. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare figures shows a 7% increase in the nursing...

Nurse practitioners a solution to health care crisis.(NATIONAL)
February 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Nurse practitioners' ability to offer expert nursing care that is both cost effective and able to reach those most in need, may be a solution to Australia's health care crisis, according to nurse academics. The...

Brave new policies not just cash.(NATIONAL)
February 1, 2008... The ANF has called on the new federal government to implement serious health reform after Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced a pre-election cash bonus recruitment plan for nurses will go ahead. The $87 billion plan aims to attract 7,750...

Graduates enter as experienced nurses leave.(STATE AND TERRITORY: NSW)
February 1, 2008... A record number of graduate nurses started work in NSW public hospitals last month, yet disturbing figures show almost 30% of nurses recruited back to the public hospital system leave within a year. NSW Premier Morris lemma announced a...

Deadly pathogens found on lanyards.(STATE AND TERRITORY: VIC)
February 1, 2008... Identity badges and lanyards worn by nurses and doctors at Monash Medical Centre in Victoria have been carrying pathogenic bacteria, according to a study recently published in the Medical Journal of Australia. A study of 71 health care...

Nation's first teaching nursing home.(STATE AND TERRITORY: VIC)
February 1, 2008... Australia's first teaching nursing home will be established in Melbourne this year. Teaching nursing homes developed internationally, largely in the USA from 1985, to improve the experience of student nurses on clinical placements in aged care;...

Indigenous cadetships.(STATE AND TERRITORY: QLD)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Queensland Government has announced 40 new nursing cadetships for Indigenous students. The Indigenous nurse cadets will be paid $15,000 for 12 weeks' work in public hospitals to help financially support them...

ANF move to state of the art facility.(STATE AND TERRITORY: SA)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... The ANF SA office and Nursing Industry Skills Centre has moved to a new purpose built premises. Situated in the Adelaide suburb of Ridleyton the building has taken over three years to develop after receiving partial funding from an...

Green light for NPs.(STATE AND TERRITORY: TAS)(nurse practitioners)
February 1, 2008... Recent legislative amendments in Tasmania will finally allow nurse practitioners to prescribe medications. Tasmania and the Northern Territory are the only remaining jurisdictions in Australia with no nurse practitioners. Nursing Board of...

Cleaner to clinic coordinator takes out prestigious award.(STATE AND TERRITORY: NT)
February 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A clinic coordinator who started out as a cleaner and who has been awarded the Northern Territory Aboriginal Health Worker Award for 2007 says she just happened to be in the right place at the right time. "I just...

Students pay thousands with course in limbo.(STATE AND TERRITORY: QLD)
February 1, 2008... Hundreds of student nurses at Shafston Nursing College in Queensland face an uncertain future following the lapse of the institution's accreditation in December last year. Shafston College has taken a case against the Queensland Nursing Council...

Nurses pressured onto non-union agreements.(INDUSTRIAL: QLD)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Nurses employed at the Mater Private hospitals in South Brisbane and Redlands have been pressured to sign non union agreements under WorkChoices legislation before it is repealed by the new federal government. Management gave nurses no...

Aged care nurses ballot for action.(INDUSTRIAL: TAS)
February 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Nurses employed by Tasmania's largest aged care provider were set for industrial action last month following a decision by the Industrial Relations Commission to ballot nurses across several facilities in Tasmania....

Midwives under pressure.(INDUSTRIAL: NSW)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Staffing levers at Wollongong Hospital have not kept pace with rising birth rates in the region and midwives are appealing for more staff to help them cope with increased demand. The midwives' plans to take complaints to the New South Wales...

Chemical exposure toxic to nurses.(world)
February 1, 2008... A national survey in the USA shows a link between nurses' exposure to chemicals, drugs and radiation at work, and serious health problems such as cancer, asthma, miscarriages and child birth defects. The first ever national survey was...

Presidential candidates shadow nurses.(world)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Presidential candidates, including Democrats candidates senators' Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, have shadowed nurses, care workers and teachers as part of a campaign to ensure USA politicians know the hard working conditions of those...

Nurse struck off for MRSA.(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... English nurse, Yvonne Zanele Cemare, is the first nurse to be struck off the register in the UK for failing to wash her hands after treating a patient with MRSA. The Nursing and Midwifery Council found the nurse guilty of six allegations of...

Pedometers effective in exercise programs.(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Pedometer and daily step targets make exercise programs more effective, Californian researchers have found. In a literature review of eight randomised trials, results showed people with pedometers walked 2,491 more steps every day than those...

Staffing levels improve patient outcomes.(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... The number of hospital-related deaths in the USA could be significantly cut if hospitals added one more full time registered nurse on staff to care for patients, a review in the journal Medical Care has recommended. For every 1,000 hospitalised...

Nurse registrations delayed in South Africa.(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... The South African nurses union says delays to the registration of qualified nurses in South Africa is exacerbating workforce shortages and adversely affecting the morale of nurses working in overstretched hospitals. The Democratic Nursing...

Safe workplace improves patient care.(research)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Good nursing leadership and adequate staffing levels are key factors to improving safety in hospitals and creating better outcomes for patients, a study by the University of Technology in Sydney (UTS) concludes. The Glueing it together:...

IV cannula re-sites under review.(research)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... The practice of re-siting intravenous cannulas every few days will be reviewed in a study by Griffith University researchers in Queensland. The research will involve more than 3,000 patients at the Gold Coast, Princess Alexander and Royal...

Eyes increase cancers on the nose.(IN SHORT)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... High rates of basal cell carcinoma skin cancers on the sides of the nose could be due to ultraviolet (UV) radiation rays reflected off the curved shape of the eye, research by the Queensland University of Technology shows. Good wraparound...

Pregnant women face discrimination.(IN SHORT)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Almost one fifth of women have been discriminated against at work as a result of their pregnancy, a study published in the recent Australian and New Zealand journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology shows. The survey of 165 pregnant Australian...

Sign up for study to improve nursing.(IN SHORT)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Nurses and midwives are urged to take part in the international e-cohort study. Over the next five years, participants can contribute to their profession through the nurses and midwives e-cohort study which considers factors influencing...

Questioning nursing ethics.(ethics & legal)
February 1, 2008... In 2005, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, allegations were made that a number of 'mercy killings' had occurred at the Memorial Medical Centre in the city of New Orleans. Four nonambulatory patients had been 'euthanised' apparently to...

Health reform: finding the way.(Cover story)
February 1, 2008... A Rudd Labor Government was swept to power last November after an election campaign largely based on the issues of health and industrial relations. Federal Labor announced a wave of initiatives including the abolition of WorkChoices, a national...

Challenging times worthwhile.(working life)
February 1, 2008... Jill McHenry was quite content in her role as associate nurse manager in an acute medical unit in a large private hospital in suburban Melbourne when a new opportunity caught her eye. The chance to take part in a project evaluating the...

A new national IR system.(industrial)
February 1, 2008... Following the defeat of the Howard Coalition government in last year's election, employees can expect to see a number of changes in a post WorkChoices environment. While there has been a change of government the Coalition still retains control...

Auditing rural health: only the beginning.(professional)
February 1, 2008... One of the benefits of the recent federal election is that many politicians visited parts of Australia beyond their own electorates and unfamiliar to them. This provided the opportunity for members of the Australian community to share concerns...

Clinical Companion: Medical-Surgical Nursing.(Brief article)(Book review)
February 1, 2008... CLINICAL COMPANION: MEDICAL-SURGICAL NURSING By Gayle McKenzie and Tanya Porter RRP: $39.95 (including GST) Publisher: Elsevier NSW, Australia, 2007. ISBN: 978-0-7295-38/40-4 www.elsevier.com [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] This user-friendly...

Orphaned by the Colour of My Skin: A Stolen Generation Story.(Brief article)(Book review)
February 1, 2008... ORPHANED BY THE COLOUR OF MY SKIN: A STOLEN GENERATION STORY By Mary Terszak RRP: $33.00 (including GST and postage) individuals $66.00 (including GST and postage) institutions. Publisher: Verdant House (imprint of eContent Management Pry Ltd),...

Nursing and the Law.(Brief article)(Book review)
February 1, 2008... NURSING AND THE LAW By Patricia Staunton and Mary Chiarella RRP: $58.00 (including GST) Publisher: Elsevier, NSW, Australia, 2008. ISBN: 978 0 7295 3834 3 www.elsevier.com.au [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The new edition of Nursing and the...

Ending Nurse to Nurse Hostility: Why Nurses Eat Their Young and Each Other.(Brief article)(Book review)
February 1, 2008... ENDING NURSE TO NURSE HOSTILITY: WHY NURSES EAT THEIR YOUNG AND EACH OTHER By Kathleen Bartholomew RRP: $US 99.05 (price not available in AUD) Publisher: HCPro Inc, USA, 2007. ISBN: 978-1-57839-761-7 www.hcpro.com [ILLUSTRATION...

Pre-operative hair removal to reduce surgical site infection.(CLINICAL UPDATE)
February 1, 2008... Recommendations The recommendations are based on the best available evidence at the time of conduct of this systematic review. The systematic review finds insufficient evidence to state that pre-operative hair removal results in fewer...

Assessing risk in aged care mental health: clinical nurse and Central Queensland University PhD candidate, Leonie Clancy has begun a research project examining risk assessment in aged care mental health settings.(focus: Aged Care)
February 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "The project aims to firstly explore clinicians', consumers' and carers' understanding and experiences. The next stage will develop, implement and evaluate a risk assessment and management tool designed specifically...

Cancer and the older person, are you prepared?(focus: Aged Care)
February 1, 2008... The highest incidence rates for most cancers occur in the older age groups. As the Australian population ages the total number of new cancer cases is likely to dramatically increase (McDermid 2005). The future aged care nursing workforce will...

Medication administration and nursing students: shifting levels of supervision of students administering medication can compromise patient safety.(focus: Aged Care)
February 1, 2008... The administration of medications to patients is a complex process undertaken by undergraduate nursing students during clinical placements in health care facilities across Australia. Students deal with real patients and real medications and can...

Continence care.(focus: Aged Care)
February 1, 2008... A recent study by nurse researchers at Monash Medical Centre in Victoria found that almost one in five patients admitted to acute and sub-acute settings reported urinary incontinence in the preceding 24 hours and one in ten were faecally...

RHH responding to Needs of older people.(focus: Aged Care)(royal hobart hospital )
February 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Royal Hobart Hospital (RHH) is responding to the demands of a rapidly ageing population by establishing three multidisciplinary teams to provide best practice care for frail older people. The teams will work...

Understanding quality of life and quality of care in residential care.(focus: Aged Care)
February 1, 2008... A recent study by nurse academics in Queensland has found aged care staff often became confused between resident's quality of life (QoL) and their quality of care (QoC). This is not surprising given the QoL of residents living in long-term care...

Aged Care focus for Nursing at Notre Dame.(focus: Aged Care)
February 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Daily adverse media about the state of health care services in Australia has not dampened the enthusiasm of those wanting to study nursing at Notre Dame in Western Australia. Applications for nursing at the Fremantle...

Cutting edge facility.(focus: Aged Care)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... The Mornington Centre is a new cutting edge aged care facility on the Mornington Peninsular in Victoria. The facility comprises 60 evaluation and management beds in stage one of a larger proposed development which will be expanded to include...

A case for expanded roles for NPs in aged care.(focus: Aged Care)(Nurse practitioners)
February 1, 2008... Amanda Sherratt is the coordinator of the nurse practitioner Masters program at Curtin University of Technology in Western Australia. Having worked in the UK, the Middle East and Australia she has global health industry experience and works to...

Urology nurses form global alliance.(focus: Aged Care)(Brief article)(Conference notes)
February 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The recently established Global Alliance of Urology Nurses (GAUN) aims to promote excellence, share knowledge, and set standards for quality urological nursing practice and patient education. The Australia and New...

The importance of diagnosing dementia.(focus: Aged Care)
February 1, 2008... Dementia is one of the major health problems of our ageing society, yet many people assume memory loss is part and parcel of old age. This is not necessarily the case. Many health care professionals, including nurses, may not recognise the...

Perception is everything: retirement villages.(focus: Aged Care)
February 1, 2008... Retirement villages have become a growth industry in Australia in recent decades as the population ages, social and family environments change and people seek a degree of security and support. The perception that retirement villages are another...

Calendar.(Calendar)
February 1, 2008... CHILDBIRTH EDUCATION TRAINING AT THE WOMEN'S Or programs run at your hospital tailored to your needs can also be arranged. Royal Women's Hospital Melbourne Ph: (03) 9344 2244 Email: childbirth.ed@rwh.org.au FEB LUNG HEALTH...

Ged: a little reassurance goes a long way.
February 1, 2008... I have a sister with an intellectual disability. She is two years older than me and is independent to a degree. She dresses herself and manages most of her activities of daily living, but she still needs quite a bit of care and supervision. She...