Australian Nursing Journal articles from July 2002

Australian Nursing Journal archives from July 2002

Time to look to the future.(Australian Health Care Agreement)(Brief Article)(Editorial)
July 1, 2002... Negotiations for the 2002-2003 Australian Health Care Agreement (AHCA) are underway. Unlike previous years, the all-ALP State and Territory health ministers, led by Craig Knowles (NSW) and John Thwaites (Victoria), are trying to establish a...

All things being equal: guys versus girls in nursing.(Letter to the Editor)
July 1, 2002... In reply to the article about men in nursing ('Not just women's business: Men in nursing', ANJ, June 2002, pp.24-26). I am the only guy on a vascular ward at Monash Medical Centre in Clayton, Victoria, working with 30 women. I found it...

Address the knowledge deficit to attract more men.(Letter to the Editor)
July 1, 2002... I would like to thank the ANJ for the feature on male nurses ('Not just women's business: Men in nursing', ANJ, June 2002, pp.24-26). I have had family and friends asking me some demoralising and uneducated questions about the nursing...

Male nurses give a real sense of balance.(Letter to the Editor)
July 1, 2002... Does nursing need more men? As a male RN specialising in acute inpatient psychiatry, the simple answer is yes. As acute psychiatry is a too often unpredictable hostile setting due to varying degrees of disturbed human behaviour, a lot of...

Teaching an old dog new tricks?(Letter to the Editor)
July 1, 2002... My mother will soon complete her supervised practice and will be eligible to re-register as a RN Division One. She will be two weeks short of her 67th birthday. I admire her courage doing it. For me, dynamaps, tympanic thermometers and...

Pressure area management: a core nursing competency.(Letter to the Editor)
July 1, 2002... I work in critical care but have a background in nursing education and therefore have been dismayed at a recent trend I have noted in the workplace. It is in relation to pressure area management and the wider area of tissue viability. I...

Tears of hope and inspiration.(Letter to the Editor)
July 1, 2002... After reading Ged Cowin's piece about her experience of our health care system ("I wish I'd shaved my legs', ANJ, May 2002, p.40) I found myself moved to tears. As a nurse counsellor, I was touched by Geds courage in sharing a very...

Detention dilemmas affect health professionals.(Letter to the Editor)
July 1, 2002... In response to Mandatory detention: The Minister replies' (ANJ, May 2002, p.5). As an RN who has worked at the Woomera Detention Centre, I agree with Minister Ruddock that health staff in detention centres practice 'under difficult...

Unfriendly environments discourage newcomers.(Letter to the Editor)
July 1, 2002... Having always wanted to venture into perioperative nursing I decided to spend a few weeks in this area to see if it really was what I was interested in. There was not a day went by when someone didn't comment on the amount of work and the...

Network.
July 1, 2002... Royal Adelaide Hospital Group 701 reunion On 6 July. Contact Louise Flett (nee Harris) ph: (08) 8336 1615 email: mflett@ozemail.com.au, or Chris Rippin (nee Edwards) ph: (08) 8390 1361 email: garippin@eisa.net.au. Westem General...

Bulk billing rates fall again. (FED).(general practice medicine)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Low income earners and people in rural and remote areas continue to be hit hardest as the latest figures show the number of bulk billing GPs has dropped to its lowest level in 10 years. The March 2002 quarter Health Insurance Commission...

Survey shows endemic nature of workplace violence. (FED).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Over a quarter of nurses have experienced violent incidents at work on a daily basis during the last year, and over 40% have received physical injuries at work, according to a new survey by the ANJ. In April this year, readers were asked to...

Work bans start after QNU rejects 'inadequate' offer. (QLD).(Queensland Nurses Union)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Hundreds of Queensland Nurses Union (QNU, ANF Qid) members began stop-work meetings at more than 80 Queensland health facilities at the beginning of June, after rejecting a $250 million three-year package from the State Government. The...

One selfless act deserves another. (VIC).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... The actions of three defiant nurses, who vowed to work without pay rather than let a dying cancer patient be transferred out of a remote Victorian hospital faced with closure, touched the heart of millionaire businessman Ron Walker in June. ...

Calling for reviewers. (News).(Australian Journal of Advanced Nursing)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... The Australian Journal of Advanced Nursing (AJAN) is looking for nurses to join its reviewer panel. The AJAN publishes peer-reviewed research and scholarly manuscripts on all areas of nursing practice and theory. Reviewers provide advice to...

Winter blues as elective surgery is axed. (SA).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... At least five major metropolitan hospitals in SA will defer elective surgery during the winter months as part of a Government strategy to ease growing pressure on emergency beds. The measures come despite a recent $3 million injection to...

Surveying nurses' Internet access. (Briefs).(CancerNursing.org)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... CancerNursing.org is preparing to offer free online course in cancer care for nurses and health professionals. To help ensure that these courses best fulfill the needs of nurses CancerNursing.org is conducting an online survey of nurses' access...

NT plan targets indigenous health. (Briefs).(Northern Territory, Australia)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... The NT's indigenous communities will get control over their health funding under new reforms designed to eliminate disparities in the Territory's health outcomes. Unveiling the plan to create 21 indigenous health zones on 21 May, NT Health...

Detention children hearings begin. (Briefs).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... The National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention held its first public hearings in Melbourne on 30 May. The Inquiry was set up in late 2001 to inquire into the adequacy and appropriateness of Australia's treatment of children held in...

Rewarding stress research. (Briefs).(Australasian Society for Traumatic Stress Studies offers research awards)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... The Australasian Society for Traumatic Stress Studies has announced two awards to recognise excellence for research in the field of traumatic stress. The $1000 Annual Academic Prizes and $250 Chapter/State Awards are designed to acknowledge and...

Birthday honours for nurses. (FED).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Congratulations go to nurses from a diversity of backgrounds recognised in the 20(12 Queen's Birthday Honours List. Two nurses became members of the General Division of the Order of Australia (AM): * Rosalie Pratt, from Newport NSW,...

ANF joins Samoan celebrations. (FED).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... ANF Federal Secretary Jill Iliffe recently visited Samoa to join the Samoan Nurses Association (SMA) Golden Jubilee celebrations on 1 June. The Samoan Head of State, Prime Minister and Minister for Health attended. Ms Iliffe made a short speech...

Special wages case gets underway. (NSW).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... NSW nurses deserve a one-off 15% wage rise and a $5000 lump sum payment to stem the exodus from the profession and reward them for working harder, the NSW Industrial Relations Commission (IRC) heard in June. The full bench of the IRC began...

Mistake or design fault? (Briefs).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... NSW Health department officials were forced to close a Sydney hospital ward after a $20 million refurbishment resulted in a sloping floor, the NSW Parliament heard in May. A nurse broke his sternum and was knocked out when a trolley rolled down...

Giving something back to nurses. (Briefs).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... The ANF has joined with the Royal College of Nursing, Australia, in seeking nominations for the inaugural Australian Nursing Awards. Presented in conjunction with Health5taff Recruitment, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, these awards are...

Guide addresses paediatric pain. (Briefs).(Therapeutic Guidelines: Analgesic)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Common misconceptions about children's pain are the target of the latest edition of Therapeutic Guidelines: Analgesic. The revised pocket book offers comprehensive guidelines for providing safe and effective analgesia for children, as well as...

Report makes aged car recommendations. (FED).
July 1, 2002... Aged care employer groups must achieve wage parity between nurses working in aged care and their acute public sector colleagues to stop the attrition of nurses from the aged care sector. This is one of the recommendations in a Federal...

Volunteers open first asylum seeker health centre. (FED).(Bula Bula Health Project)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... The first Australian health centre designed specifically to assist asylum seekers gain access to health services opened in Melbourne in May. The Bula Bula Health Project in Footscray is staffed by volunteer doctors, nurses and other health...

Will initiatives be enough to avert a nursing crisis? (WA).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... The WA Government's initiative to encourage RNs to return to the public sector has done little to solve the nursing crisis in the State, according to the ANF WA Branch. The State Government announced, at the end of May, that the $6.4...

Drama hits theatre. (Briefs).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Three of Townsville's cardiac surgeons are under fire for allegedly mistreating two operating theatre nurses. Queensland Health sacked one surgeon after he allegedly manhandled a nurse out of theatre after an operation, and two others have been...

HIV and discrimination. (Briefs).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... People with HIV in Australia experience significant levels of discrimination, according to new La Trobe University research. HIV futures 3: Positive Australians on services, health and well being, released on 21 May, shows more than half of the...

NBV unveils new website. (Briefs).(Nurses Board of Victoria)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... After its recent move across Melbourne, the Nurses Board of Victoria (NBV) has gone online and is allowing members of the public to check the registration status and qualifications of Victoria's RNs through its website. NBV Chief Executive...

Survey shows tobacco use down. (Briefs).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... The number of Australians who smoke tobacco daily has dropped to 19.5% of the population over 14 years or more, according to a new Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report. 2001 National Drug Strategy Household Survey: First results...

Scholarships honour tireless campaigner. (FED).(Puggy Hunter Scholarships)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Three Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders (ATSI) nursing students are among the first recipients of the inaugural Puggy Hunter Scholarships. Emily Hunter, a third year student at Notre Dame University, Broome Campus; David Baker, a...

Dispute centres around on call allowances. (NT).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Nurses employed in the NT public sector are furious over the NT Government's failure to review the level of on call payments required by the terms of the latest enterprise bargaining agreement (EBA). ANF NT Branch Secretary Paul...

Nurses act on unsafe staffing. (TAS).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... ANF Tas Branch members at the Royal Hobart, the Launceston General and North West Regional Hospitals voted in June to ban 'unreasonable' overtime as part of their campaign to improve staffing levels. The move, which also saw nurses claim...

Insurance responsibilities in general practice. (FED).
July 1, 2002... Many nurses in general practice are uncertain about their responsibilities with regard to legal liability. So who is liable to pay compensation for a patient who is injured or damaged through the negligence of a nurse working in general...

Evaluating coordinated care. (Briefs).(Australian Coordinated Care Trials)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... The lessons learned from the first round of the Australian Coordinated Care Trials (ACCT) are included in the recently published National evaluation report. The report discusses the challenges of coordinated care, describes how to sustain...

Minister admits aged care burden unfair. (Briefs).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Nurses in aged care shoulder an unfair burden of responsibility for the income of their aged care facility, according to Federal Minister for Ageing Kevin Andrews. Mr Andrews, speaking at the Australian Nursing Homes Extended Care Association's...

Reaffirming the right to speak out. (Briefs).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... A national union leader won a Federal Court case against the ANZ Bank in May after she was threatened with dismissal for speaking out about industrial issues. Finance Sector Union National President Joyce Buckland brought her claim after ANZ...

Queensland nurse grants available. (Briefs).(Queensland Nursing Council)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... The Queensland Nursing Council is calling for applications for the 2003 round of research grants and scholarships, worth nearly $300,000. There are three categories of grant, including the $50,000 Florence Chatfield Grant. scholarships offer...

Why not come to Fitzroy Crossing? (This Working Life).
July 1, 2002... Fitzroy Crossing, in WA'S Kimberly Ranges, is a small, mainly indigenous community, 2524km from Perth and 500km from Broome. In this article, RN Laurence Rowland talks about his 'unique' nursing experience in this, remote part of Australia and...

Aged care is not the right place for younger people. (Federal Professional News).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... There are currently 1113 people under 50 years of age living in residential aged care facilities in Australia. They suffer from a range of illnesses and injuries including Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis and traumatic brain injury....

Rural and remote summit deferred. (Federal Professional News).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... The national rural and remote area nursing summit planned for July 2002 has been deferred until October. Read the draft papers, including an action plan, on the National Rural Health Alliance website: www.ruralhealth. org.au or ph: (02) 6285...

Ghanaian nursing exodus increases. (World Briefs).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Ghana's nursing shortage is now so acute that there are only 10,000 nurses taking care of a population of about 19 million, according to Ghana Registered Nurses Association Chair Emma Banga. Ms Banga, quoted on 13 May said more than 2500 nurses...

Bad uniform habits pose infection risk. (World Briefs).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Lack of laundering and changing facilities are making UK nurses uniforms an infection risk, according to the Royal College of Nursing, UK. The College's annual congress heard some nurses were wearing uniforms for more than one day and were...

The future of pain relief? (World Briefs).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... A new 'pain relief ball' which dispenses local anaesthetic directly into a surgical wound could be the new standard for postoperative pain control, US researchers say. Trials of the ON-Q postoperative pain relief system showed women who used...

UK nurses slam TV show. (World Briefs).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... UK nurses were said to be up in arms over an 'offensive' TV show in which health care workers told 'amusing' stories of patient abuse, in Confessions of doctors and nurses, screened at the end of May, nurses described how they deliberately...

Nurse joins East Timor Government. (World Briefs).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... The news from East Timor is that Luis Lobato, the President of the East Timor Nurses Association has been appointed as Deputy Minister for Heath in Xanana Gusmao's new Government.

Record overseas numbers join UK nurse register. (World News).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Record numbers of overseas nurses applied to join the UK nursing register last year despite UK Government Ministers' assurances they would not solve recruitment shortfalls at the expense of developing nations' health systems. Figures...

Canadian nurses explore national goals. (World News).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Canadian nurses' unions are crafting a new national set of bargaining goals that will face provincial governments with collective demands on salaries and working conditions. The strategy will take advantage of the pressures arising from...

Nurse wins contraceptive refusal damages. (World News).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... A US Federal jury ordered a Californian public health clinic in May to pay US$47,000 damages to a nurse fired after she refused to give patients 'morning-after' contraceptive pills because of her religious beliefs. The jury found that by...

Paid maternity leave now on the nation's agenda. (Federal Industrial News).
July 1, 2002... The release of the Federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner's Report, Valuing parenthood -- Options for paid maternity leave, Interim Paper 2002, has opened up a long overdue debate on this issue. The real question is not whether women...

Nurse practitioners compare well to doctors. (Research Update).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... The increasing availability of nurse practitioners (NPs) in UK primary care is likely to lead to higher levels of patient satisfaction and higher quality care. This is the finding of a review of research published in a recent British...

Inappropriate medication still a serious problem. (Research Update).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Around a fifth of older US patients not living in nursing homes use medications that are considered potentially inappropriate, American researchers say. The researchers examined the medication use of 2455 community-dwelling individuals,...

Poor communication key to clinical errors. (Research Update).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... The combination of interruptions and multiple concurrent communication tasks between emergency department staff may be the cause of clinical errors, according to Australian research. Researchers studied the interactions of six nurses and...

Alcohol-based hand gels have limited efficacy. (Research Update).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Alcohol-based hand cleansing gels are less effective than liquid hand disinfectants even when they have higher alcohol contents, according to European researchers. The researchers tested the antimicrobial efficacy of 10 gels and four...

Caring for the family. (Clinical Update).
July 1, 2002... Introduction International Nurses Day 2002 identified the theme 'Nurses always there for you: Caring for families'. (1) As part of this theme, the role of nursing in caring for the family was highlighted. Recent trends in nursing have seen...

What next for health funding? (Feature).
July 1, 2002... In this ANJ we look at health sector financing in Australia how it works, who gets what and what are some of the challenges for funding health care in the forthcoming decades. how will the current system cope? does it require reform and if so,...

Service improves indigenous outcomes. (Midwifery).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... More Victorian Aboriginal women are using maternity services to deliver better birth outcomes for both themselves and their babies, according to Victorian Health Minister John Thwaites. Mr Thwaites said the first statewide evaluation of the...

Guidelines address pregnancy and sport. (Nursing Focus).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... The benefits of staying active and continuing sport at some level throughout pregnancy can outweigh potential risks, but pregnant women should consult with health professionals before they make the decision to continue to participate in sport....

The end of home births? (Midwifery).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Independent midwives began closing their doors on 1 June, after the Federal Government's medical indemnity insurance rescue package failed to provide them with any assistance, according to the Australian College of Midwives Inc (ACMI). The...

Breastfeeding boosts small babies' brains. (Midwifery).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Low birth weight babies who breastfeed exclusively for six months may benefit from increased levels of intelligence compared with those fed formula or baby food, according to new international research. Researchers compared the cognitive...

Detergents linked to rise in infant eczema. (Midwifery).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Parents can play a key role in reducing childhood eczema by cutting down on the use of soapy detergents and baby wipes and replacing them with moisturising emollients, a UK dermatologist argues. Dr Michael Cork, from the University of...

SIDS death rates continue to fall. (Briefs).(sudden infant death syndrome)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... The number of babies dying from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) in Australia has fallen more than 70% during the past decade, a new report has found. The Australian Bureau of Statistics report says SIDS death rates fell from 1.83 per 1000...

Guide examines Internet midwifery resources. (Briefs).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... The university of South Australia has produced a comprehensive guide to Internet resources for midwifery. With a range of Australian and international content, the site provides a wide collection of links on subjects including birthing,...

UK breastfeeding's up, but not for long enough. (Briefs).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Most UK mothers fail to meet international guidelines on breastfeeding despite big increases among poorer women, according to a new report. The Infant feeding survey showed breastfeeding rose from 66% in 1995 to 69% in 2000. However, 90% of the...

Stressed at work? (Briefs).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Victorian WorkCover statistics point to increasing numbers of stress related claims each year. Yoga at work offers in-house programs for delivery in the workplace and include stress management, back and neck care, repetitive strain prevention,...

Time to take iodine deficiency more seriously. (Midwifery).
July 1, 2002... Children born in Australia may have a borderline iodine deficiency because of changes in their mother's diet, according to a study of newborns and mothers. The study, by Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney and the NSW Newborn Screening...

Mothers uncomfortable breastfeeding in public. (Midwifery).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... The majority of women are uncomfortable breastfeeding in public and the squeamishness of other people can lead to them abandoning the practice, new research has found. Researchers from Victoria's La Trobe University interviewed more than...

Continuity the key to contentment. (Midwifery).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... The saying that a mother never forgets her midwife may well be true in the light of a recent project conducted at Flinders Medical Centre (FMC). The pilot program run by FMC and the University of South Australia - which enabled mothers to...

Protecting the public with a heavy hand? (Issues).
July 1, 2002... In Queensland, under section 66 of the Nursing Act 1992 the Queensland Nursing Council (QNC) may refer a registered or enrolled nurse to attend the Health Assessment Advisory Panel (HAAP) for assessment where the QNC is concerned that an...

Multiculturalism: simply a matter of respect. (The Federal President Reports).
July 1, 2002... There is a funny ad on TV at the moment. The one where the guy wakes up in a foreign hospital and the nurse speaks away at him in another language. He has no idea what's going on until she shows him the photos on his fabulous digital camera of...