Australian Nursing Journal articles from June 2004

Australian Nursing Journal archives from June 2004

Nurses can make aged care an election issue.(editorial)
June 1, 2004... In this issue of the ANJ we bring you the first of our features in the lead-up to the federal election 2004. Federal elections provide an opportunity for nurses to put forward their issues to political parties and seek commitments from them...

Enrolled nurses unwanted.(mail)(Letter to the Editor)
June 1, 2004... Now I have completed my enrolled nurse (EN, RN Div 2) training, I am seeking the opportunity to expand my knowledge in the acute sector. For the past three and a half years, I have been working in aged care, and although I love it, I would now...

Leave your comfort zone.(mail)(Letter to the Editor)
June 1, 2004... Barry Morley makes a lot of sense ('The world is loud but nurses remain silent', ANJ, May 2004, p.15). Nurses do a lot of talking among themselves, but seldom identify themselves as nurses when they move outside their clinical area. Barry...

Learn from mistakes.(mail)(Letter to the Editor)
June 1, 2004... As a nurse practicing in an acute hospital, I found the recent article 'How Safe are our Hospitals' (ANJ April 2004, pp.18-21) disappointing. While there are problems, the article made some questionable assertions. For instance, to...

Network.(Calendar)
June 1, 2004... Reunion of Mildura Nurses 26 June 2004. All past and present nurses who have worked in the Mildura area are invited to the annual get-together luncheon. Contact: Secretary, Mildura District Nurses Association Inc, PO Box 2180, Mildura Vic...

Health Minister launches nursing brochure.(Nat)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... [NAT] Nurse Unit Manager at the National Capital Private Hospital, Narelle Cromer, helped the Federal Health Minister Tony Abbott and the Australian Peak Nursing Forum launch the Nursing In Australia brochure on International Nurses Day....

Rural students prefer nursing--if they get a place.(Nat)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... [NAT] Recent data from rural high schools reveals interest in a nursing career among rural high school students far exceeds that of either allied health or medicine. Researchers from rural New South Wales, who published their findings...

Call for more HECs places for midwives.(Nat)(Health Workforce Advisory Committee)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... [NAT] The ANF has called on the Australian Government to introduce new initiatives to address the growing shortage of midwives. In 2002, the Midwifery Workforce in Australia 2002-2012 report by the Australian Health Workforce Advisory...

Pay disparity no joke.(Qld)
June 1, 2004... [OLD] 'Why did the nurse cross the road?' To get pay justice! That's the situation in South Brisbane, where pay disparity is causing nurses to leave the Mater Private Hospital for public hospitals such as the one across the road,...

Doctors seek extension to nurse rebate.(Nat)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... [NAT] The general practice doctors group, the Australian Divisions of General Practice, have recommended the role of practice nurses be expanded to encourage and promote an extended role for general practice nurses to chronic disease...

Agency 'gifts' investigated.(SA)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... [SA] SA Health has dismissed anonymous claims reported on in the May ANJ that SA nursing agencies provided expenses for candidates in the Nurses Board of SA elections. SA Health referred the complaints to the Crown Solicitor to be...

Top nursing award for WA nurse.(WA)(Andrew Cameron )(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... [WA] WA RN Andrew Cameron was awarded the 2004 Australian National Care Award on International Nurses Day. Known affectionately as 'Norse Andrew' by his patients, Andrew won the award for his work in the remote township of Cue in WA....

Govt moves on aged care regulations.(Vic)
June 1, 2004... [VIC] The ANF Victorian Branch has opposed moves by the Victorian government to change the regulations that govern the administration of drugs and medications in the state's hostels. The change follows a decision by the Federal Court...

'Anti-competitive' medical training to be addressed.(news)(Australian Competition and Consumer Commission )(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Training for doctors wishing to become specialists will be subject to a 'more streamlined and efficient' process, after Australia's health ministers agreed at their April meeting to work with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission...

New Indigenous chair.(news)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... In a move aimed at strengthening its Indigenous health education and research, Melbourne University has appointed lan Anderson to its new chair of Indigenous health. An Indigenous Australian, GP and bureaucrat, Professor Anderson, said his...

ACTU wins $19 a week for the low paid.(news)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) has won a pay increase of $19 a week for 1.6 million workers in their national minimum wage case in May. The $19 brings the Australian minimum weekly wage up to $467.40 a week. ANF Industrial...

One in five experience mental health disorder.(news)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Almost one in five Australians have experienced a mental health disorder during their lives, with GPs being the main providers for people dealing with problems such as depression, according to a new Australian Institute of Health and Welfare...

Ratios sale but nurses disappointed.(news)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Victorian nurses have retained their world leading nurse patient ratios, but remain disappointed that the Victorian Government has refused to extend the ratios in rural Australia and some specialty areas. After much debate, nurses voted to...

Tax booklet for nurses.(news)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... The Australian Taxation Office has developed guidelines specifically for nurses. The booklet includes information nurses need to know when claiming work-related expenses. It also contains tips to help nurses complete their tax return and claim...

NACCHO welcomes health check.(news)(National Aboriginal Controlled Health Organisation )(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... The chairman of the National Aboriginal Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO), Tony McCartney, has welcomed the news that the Australian Government has introduced preventative health checks for Aboriginal Australians between 15 and 54 years,...

Asthma grants.(news)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004

Nurses protest over workloads.(ACT)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... [ACT] ACT nurses, led by ANF ACT Branch Secretary Colleen Duff, took their message directly to the government when they descended on the Legislative Assembly in May. The protest was part of a campaign to force the government to focus...

Action looms over winter bed plan.(NSW)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... [NSW] NSW nurses and the state government are at loggerheads over state government plans to open an additional 1,000 hospital beds this winter, and to change the trainee enrolled nurses (TENS) program. Changes to the TENS program would...

Nursing groups work against poverty.(Nat)(Nurses working for the poor against poverty)
June 1, 2004... [NAT] Nurses worldwide used International Nurses Day to draw attention to the links between poverty and health and to call for action to reduce poverty and improve health around the world. Focussing on the theme: 'Nurses working for...

Nurses reject government offer.(SA)(Enterprise Bargaining Act)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... [SA] Public sector nurses in SA have voted to reject the state government's enterprise bargaining agreement (EBA) offer and commence a staggered industrial campaign. ANF Senior Industrial Officer Rob Bonner said members had taken this...

Big win for public sector nurses.(Tas)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... [TAS] After threatening strike action, Tasmanian nurses have reached agreement with the state government in their enterprise bargaining agreement (EBA) negotiations. After nurses threatened the first 24-hour strike in 20 years, the...

Government abolishes single nurse posts.(NT)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Remote single nurse postings in the Northern Territory are to be abolished over the next four years, with the placement of 18 nurses into communities that were previously staffed by a single nurse. Health Minister Peter Toyne said nurses...

New workforce planning projects.(professional)(Australian Health Workforce Advisory Committee)
June 1, 2004... The Australian Health Workforce Advisory Committee (AHWAC) has commenced a number of workforce planning projects. The perioperative workforce planning group, chaired by Tasmanian principal nurse advisor Fiona Stoker, will consider workforce...

Nursing, enterprise bargaining and the Workplace Relations Act: public sector nurses in most states have embarked on negotiations over their terms and conditions of employment with their respective governments. Debbie Richards answers some common questions on the process.(industrial)
June 1, 2004... Most nurses employed in public sector hospitals have experienced first hand the often confusing and complex process of negotiating an enterprise agreement under the federal Workplace Relations Act 1996 (WRA). Public sector nurses in NSW...

The final straw.(issues)
June 1, 2004... The crisis caused by the global nursing shortage is being given priority by governments in many countries including those in Australia, Britain, Canada, and the United States. In Australia, surveys and research have been conducted to study...

Will nurses in aged care lose out again? Has the recent federal budget offered a lifeline to aged care, or is the industry still in trouble? Will the increased funding see wages and workloads improve for nurses working in the sector? Or do challenges persist for those who choose to care for the community's frail, older people?(Federal Election 2004)
June 1, 2004... 'It's the little things that keep you coming to work,' says Jenny Schlank, director of nursing at a residential aged care facility in Melbourne's inner west, 'knowing you have the ability to care for and reassure a demented person, to relieve...

Organ and tissue transplantation: an Australian perspective.(clinical update)
June 1, 2004... Introduction The current era of successful organ and tissue transplantation reflects many years of research and clinical experience. Organ donation and transplantation have now developed into skilled specialties, utilising the expertise of...

Ward nurses aid recovery: Melbourne RN Kate Barker tells how she used her surgical nursing expertise to educate local nurses about postoperative care in Papua New Guinea.(working life)(Column)
June 1, 2004

Protests over death sentence for nurses.(world)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... A Bulgarian woman holds a candle during a protest in Sofia, Bulgaria, after a Libyan court handed down the death sentence to five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor accused of deliberately spreading HIV in a children's hospital. The...

Right for nurses, right for patients.(world)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... The Royal College of Nursing in Scotland is calling for five measures, including nurse to patient ratios, to be implemented in order to recruit 12,000 more nurses by 2007. The Right for Nurses, Right for Patients campaign recognises the...

Infection high for Karachi nurses.(world)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Nurses in Karachi, Pakistan, are not taking adequate steps to protect themselves from infection, with more than ten per cent suffering from infections acquired while working in hospitals, according to the Infection Control Society of Pakistan...

Fuji nurse shortage.(world)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Continued emigration of health professionals is hurting the Fijian health system, and Fijian trade unions are calling on the government to implement a recruitment and retention strategy. The general secretary of the Fiji Nursing Association,...

Maoris living longer.(world)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... New statistics show the life expectancy of Maoris has significantly improved for the first time in two decades. The Statistic NZ figures show life expectancy for Maori men has increased from 66.6 years in 1995-97 to 69 years in 2000-02. Maori...

Diabetes action now.(world)(International Diabetes Federation )
June 1, 2004... The World Health Organisation (WHO) and the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) have launched a joint program, Diabetes Action Now, to raise awareness of the disease and support the adoption of effective management measures in low- and...

Burns pain misjudged by nurses.(research)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Nurses tend to underestimate the pain of patients with burns, according to a study conducted by nurses at Royal Perth Hospital in WA. The study compared the efficacy of patient controlled intranasal fentanyl with oral morphine and found no...

Nil by mouth 'unnecessary' beyond six hours.(research)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... A recent Cochrane review has concluded the traditional practice of fasting patients for long periods before surgery may be unnecessary and could even put patients at risk. The review of 38 randomised controlled trials found participants...

Read your newspaper.(research)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Nurses needed to become more diligent readers of the press as well as more frequent authors, according to the authors of a study into nurses and the media Associate Professor Vivien Lane and Naomi McLoughlin from the Western Sydney Area...

Prayer for health.(research)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Over one third of American adults use prayer, in addition to conventional and complementary therapies, for their health concerns, according to researchers from the Harvard Medical School. The national survey of 2,055 people aged 18 and over...

El Nino linked to hepatitis.(research)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004

Clinical skills enhanced by specialist studies.(Intensive Care/Cardiothoracic/Education)
June 1, 2004... A postgraduate diploma level course in coronary care and cardiothoracic nursing has been established in the school of nursing and midwifery at La Trobe University in Melbourne. The course was designed in response to the need for cardiac and...

Neurological status after cardiac arrest.(Intensive Care/Cardiothroracic/Education)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Physical examination can be very useful in determining the neurological status of survivors of cardiac arrest and predicting their recovery, according to a literature review published in JAMA. The reviewers noted most survivors of cardiac...

Patients value friendly nurses.(Intensive Care/Cardiothroracic/Education)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... New research from the University of Western Sydney confirms a smile or sympathetic word from a friendly nurse helps hospital patients recover from and cope with their illness. Dr Rene Geanellos, from the school of nursing, family and...

Heart and nervous system disease costs the most.(Focus Briefs)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Cardiovascular disease and nervous system disorders accounted for the greatest portion of health expenditure in Australia, according to a new report released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW). Health System...

ACU National launches Chair in Aged Care.(Focus Briefs)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Professor Barbara Bowers from the University of Wisconsin's school of nursing is the inaugural appointment to the Australian Catholic University's (ACU National) Edith Morgan Chair in Aged Care. ACU Vice-Chancellor, Professor Peter Sheehan AO,...

NICS 2005 Fellowship.(Focus Briefs)(National Institute of Clinical Studies)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... The National Institute of Clinical Studies (NICS) is calling for applications for its 2005 Fellowship Program. Established in 2003 to identify and nurture health professionals with the potential to become leaders in evidence-based health care,...

Resource for patients with asthma.(Focus Briefs)(Alfred Hospital in Melbourne )(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... The Lung Health Promotion Centre at the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne has produced a new resource for teaching the correct use of inhaled respiratory medication devices. Centre coordinator Adrienne James says up to 80% of patients and 70%...

Weaning ventilated children safely.(Intensive Care/Cardiothoracic/Education)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Weaning children from mechanical ventilation in paediatric intensive care units (PICU) does not receive the attention it deserves, according to Queensland RN Samantha Keogh. 'Withdrawing from or weaning from ventilators receives relatively...

Indigenous heart health course.(Focus Briefs)(Aboriginal health workers )(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... A new course to provide Aboriginal health workers (AHW) with the skills to promote cardiovascular health in Indigenous communities has been developed in South Australia. SA has no Indigenous health workers with specific cardiovascular...

New guide encourages change.(Focus Briefs)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... A new guide launched by the Heart Foundation is encouraging Australians to make small but significant changes to their lifestyle in a bid to avoid heart disease. Heart Foundation Professor Andrew Tonkin said a new report showed Australians were...

Education grants for critical care.(Focus Briefs)(Australian College of Critical Care Nurses)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... The Australian College of Critical Care Nurses offers financial assistance for members for educational purposes through its funding initiatives. These grants, which are available on a twice-yearly basis, provide funding for members to...

New courses in ageing and health.(Focus Briefs)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Macquarie University is introducing three new postgraduate courses in ageing and health, commencing August 2004. The courses are designed for graduates with a Bachelors degree in a health related discipline (or in special cases, those with...

Western diseases reach newest nation.(Intensive Care/Cardiothoracic/Education)
June 1, 2004... Heart disease, diabetes and cancer are just some of the legacies of globalisation for one of the world's newest nations, according to researcher and lecturer in Southern Cross University's (SCU) school of nursing and healthcare practices,...

Heart disease hits young in developing countries.(Intensive Care/Cardiothoracic/Education)
June 1, 2004... Traditionally regarded as a disease of the western wealthy, heart disease and stroke are taking hold in developing countries, where they are afflicting the young, according to a new report. The Race Against Time Report, prepared by...

Take your professional development seriously.(Intensive Care/Cardiothoracic/Education)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Registering authorities and the professional nursing groups are urging nurses to take their own professional development seriously. For nurses, this means assessing their own performance and identifying where they need to develop further...

The art of midwifery.(Intensive Care/Cardiothoracic/Education)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... To many, being a midwife and being an artist are vastly different jobs, but not according to Flinders Medical Centre (FMC) clinical midwife Amanda Pearce. 'You have to be creative and intuitive in both,' Ms Pearce said. 'As a midwife you want...

The Health of Indigenous Australians.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
June 1, 2004... The Health of Indigenous Australians Neil Thompson (ed.) Oxford University Press, $60.95 ISBN 0 19 551220 0 The Health of Indigenous Australians examines the current poor health status of Indigenous Australians and considers how this came...

Post-coma unresponsiveness (vegetative state): a clinical framework for diagnosis.(National Health and Medical Research Council)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Post-coma unresponsiveness (vegetative state): A clinical framework for diagnosis National Health and Medical Research Council Australian Government ISBN Print 1 86496 252 6 / ISBN Online 1 86496 258 5 The National Health and Medical...

Determining education needs in critical care.(Intensive Care/Cardiothoracic/Education)
June 1, 2004... Critical care nurses are taking a leadership role in education by establishing guidelines for critical care courses in Australia. At present, a range of educational programs at graduate certificate, graduate diploma and masters level...

Indigenous heart disease worse.(Intensive Care/Cardiothoracic/Education)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... The latest statistics from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare indicate the incidence of heart disease, stroke and vascular disease among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is getting worse. Cardiovascular disease...

$70,000 for Indigenous students.(Intensive Care/Cardiothoracic/Education)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... James Cook University (JCU) has received a $70,000 donation to enable Indigenous nursing students to pursue postgraduate studies at the university. Carolyn Dixon, a psychiatric-mental health nurse who donated the funds in memory of her mother...

Calendar.(Calendar)
June 1, 2004... 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 Childbirth education training programs Programs at...

Get talking!(Ged)(Column)
June 1, 2004... I have a regular taxi driver. His name is Omid and he rims me to and from the airport at regular intervals. During our trips I talk to him incessantly about nursing and health, often venting my frustrations, and he listens patiently. ...