Australian Nursing Journal articles from October 2003

Australian Nursing Journal archives from October 2003

Nurses' votes will ensure politicians deliver health reform.( )(Editorial)
October 1, 2003... The Australian Health Care Agreements have now been signed by all state and territory health ministers without the inclusion of any recommendations for reform. The recommendations for reform generated by the nine working groups established...

Hooray for district nurses!( )(Letter to the Editor)
October 1, 2003... I have just finished reading Ged's article 'Calling in the reinforcements' (ANJ September 2003, p.40) and want to thank her for taking the time to acknowledge the vital role district nurses play in the health of the community. I am aware...

Cultural guidelines urgently needed.( )(Letter to the Editor)
October 1, 2003... I recently moved to Australia and am enrolled in a new graduate program. My nursing degree focused heavily on culture--we learned the importance of being culturally appropriate in order to enhance communication and the active cooperation of the...

Be proactive.( )(Letter to the Editor)
October 1, 2003... As a nursing educator, I was a little alarmed when I read the letter in the September ANJ from an unhappy nursing student 'Learning to write essays?' (p.3). I can completely understand the plight of this student: trying to juggle a heavy...

Article helps understanding.(Letter to the Editor)
October 1, 2003... As a retired nurse, who is no longer an ANF member, I did not realise how much I missed the ANJ until the August edition was passed on to me by a colleague. I read it avidly and wish to congratulate you on the 'Clinical Update', Care of...

Network.(Calendar)
October 1, 2003... Ballarat College of Advanced Education, Diploma of Applied Science (Nursing) Inaugural year 1986-9188 reunion 1 November 2003. Contact Paul Smith by 1 October Ph: (03) 9728 1120 Email: pcsmithrn@hotmail.com. Charles Sturt University,...

Nurses show strong support for Medicare.(news)
October 1, 2003... [FED] Nurses overwhelmingly support Medicare and its universal principles, according to a recent survey by the Australian Nursing Journal. The June survey of nurses' attitudes toward Medicare found 94% of nurses support the universal...

Federal office welcomes new staff.(news)(Yvonne Kelley and Fiona Armstrong appointed)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... [FED] Yvonne Kelley and Fiona Armstrong have joined the ANF Federal Office staff as ANJ editor and associate editor respectively. Yvonne began her career as a teacher and worked at the ANF Vic Branch as the media and public relations...

Aged care survey shows need for change.(news)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... [TAS] An ANF survey of nurses working in aged care has found they are working more than six hours of unpaid overtime per week and are paid 11% less than their colleagues in Tasmania's public and private hospitals. Almost 90% of nurses...

Nursing a hot job prospect.(news)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Nursing job prospects are expected to be very good over the next decade. with demand for the profession remaining high, according to research published in Australian Jobs Review. Nurses, teachers, accountants and GP's are expected to have the...

Working women the answer to labour shortage.(news)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Australian women aged 25-54 are the nations' most under-utilised labour source, according to research by Curtin University's Women's Economic Policy Analysis Unit. The authors say large numbers of women in this age group are out of the...

ACT appoints chief nurse.(news)(Jenny Beutel)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Professor Jenny Beutel has been appointed chief nurse to ACT Health's executive team. Ms Beutel was formerly director of nursing at Royal North Shore Hospital. ACT Health Minister Simon Corbell said the position strengthened the territory's...

Nursing student debts damaging health.(news)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... A new study into nursing student debt in New Zealand has found high education costs are forcing many nurses to move overseas in search of higher wages and others to leave the profession altogether. The survey by the New Zealand Nurses...

Registration fees rise in Victoria.(news)(nursing registration and accreditation fees)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Annual registration fees for nurses in Victoria have risen to $80 annually, an increase of $33 from last year. The Nurses Board of Victoria said the fees were necessary because the workload at the Board had increased considerably in recent...

Workplace minister angers nurses.(news)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... [FED] Nurses around the country have been outraged at the federal workplace relations minister's suggestion that nurses working in rural areas should be paid less than their colleagues in the city. When questioned about his opposition...

Aged care nurses take a stand.(New South Wales)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Nurses working in residential aged care in NSW have voted to accept an interim pay rise of 6% while they await a decision by the NSW Industrial Relations Commission on their pay claim. Nurses are claiming an additional 21.5% to bring them...

ANF delegates gather at ACTU congress.
October 1, 2003... [FED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Caption: ANF delegates joined 900 other unionists at the ACTU triennal congress in Melbourne in September. An agenda for change and a sense of common purpose in building a better society underpinned four...

Aged care staff cuts will have serious impact.(news)
October 1, 2003... [QLD] Staff cuts in Queensland nursing homes will have a serious impact on nurses and residents, according to QNU Secretary Gay Hawksworth. The RSL has announced reductions in nursing hours of between four and 11 fulltime equivalent...

Midwives to cut caesareans.(news)
October 1, 2003... Midwife-only births will be reintroduced at a Sydney hospital in an effort to reduce caesarean rates and keep COSTS down. The model of care, to be trialled at hospitals in Sydney's northern region, will involve women seeing one midwife...

Psychosocial guide for people with cancer.(news)
October 1, 2003... A new set of guidelines to improve outcomes and quality of life for Australian cancer patients and their families has been released. The clinical practice guidelines for the psychosocial care of adults with cancer are a collaborative effort of...

Swimming to better health.(news)
October 1, 2003... Swimming in saltwater pools could dramatically reduce the incidence of renal failure, rheumatic fever, and hearing loss in Indigenous communities, according to a WA study published in the British Medical Journal, Saltwater pools were associated...

Midwives tell their stories.(news)
October 1, 2003... The Australian College of Midwives Inc and northern and central Victorian maternal and child health nurses are seeking humorous, confronting, passionate and inspiring stories about the work of midwives and maternal and child health nurses for...

Nurses graduate in Broome.(news)
October 1, 2003... [WA] The first group of nurses has recently graduated from the WA University of Notre Dame, Broome campus. The nine nurses, including two Indigenous students, are the first to graduate from file campus. Broome Campus head of nursing...

The life of an exceptional nurse.(VIC)
October 1, 2003... [VIC] A new biography covers the remarkable life of Wilma Young (nee Oram, 1916-2001), one of the nurses who survived the 1942 sinking of the Vyner Brooke during WWII and held as a prisoner of war until 1945. Wilma entered nursing against...

Poorest electorates miss out on bulk billing.(FED)
October 1, 2003... [FED] Federal electorates with the lowest incomes also have the lowest rates of Medicare bulk billing, according to new analysis by the Australian Consumers' Association (ACA). This new research comes at a time when bulk billing rates...

Drug errors action.(news)
October 1, 2003... A new national project involving 100 hospitals will attempt to halve the 140,000 drug errors that occur each year. The head of the Australian Council for Safety and Quality in Health Care, Professor Bruce Barraclough, said drug errors account...

Are your feet healthy?(news)
October 1, 2003... Australasian Podiatry Council members will be asking: 'Are your feet fit?' during Foot Health Week from 12-18 October. President of the Australasian Podiatry Council Carol Mioduchowski says fit feet are essential to maintaining health and...

Tell your story.(news)
October 1, 2003... Nurses are being asked to be ambassadors for their profession by telling their story for the Campaign for the Future of Nursing and Midwifery. A Johnson & Johnson initiative, the Campaign aims to help address the critical shortage of nurses and...

Nurses can help wishes come true.(news)
October 1, 2003... The Starlight Children's Foundation is encouraging nurses to refer patients to its Wishgranting program. The Foundation only takes referrals from medical professionals, granting wishes to children who are critically, chronically or seriously...

Mental Health Week 2003.(news)
October 1, 2003... The theme for the 2003 Mental Health Week from 5-11 October is Mental health: What do you know? The additional message is Social and emotional wallbeing. For more information about activities and events in your state visit:...

Maltese nursing survey has familiar ring.(world)
October 1, 2003... Nurses and midwives working in the Maltese public sector axe experiencing problems familiar to nurses in Australia. A survey by the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses (MUMN) has found that 95% of nurses and midwives working in the public...

Alarms fail to warn nurses and patients die.(world)
October 1, 2003... Two patients died at a Los Angeles hospital when audio alarms on new monitors did not alert nurses that they needed help. The patients were both found too late to be resuscitated. The first patient, a 33-year-old woman, died one week after...

Ratios recruit nurses.(world)
October 1, 2003... Recently implemented nurse to patient ratios in Kaiser Permanente's Californian hospitals have enabled the hospitals to attract 1,000 new nurses despite the nursing shortage. Nurse turnover has also dropped from 14% annually in 2001 to as low...

Nurses turn to unions.(world)
October 1, 2003... American nurses and other health professionals are joining unions at record pace in order to lead the charge for solving health-care problems, according to the Service Employees international Union. In most cases, their top reasons for joining...

Nightclub clinics?(world)
October 1, 2003... Nurses could hold clinics in nightclubs to screen for sexually transmitted infections, a UK select committee into sexual health has suggested. The radical measure was suggested after the committee found sexual health services were in crisis and...

Polio out of Angola.(world)
October 1, 2003... No cases of polio have been found in Angola since September 2001, following a nationwide immunisation campaign. Using cars, bicycles, canoes, motorcycles, helicopters and travelling by foot, tens of thousands of vaccinators reached more than...

Women doctors 'break bad news best'.(world)
October 1, 2003... Female doctors are better than their male counterparts at breaking bad news to patients, a study has suggested. Mock consultations using actors were videotaped by psychologists from the universities of Coventry, Warwick and Leicester. They...

Rewarding opportunity to become a mentor.(professional)
October 1, 2003... Nurturing nursing students and providing a supportive environment is vital to improving the recruitment and retention of nurses in rural areas. The federal government has funded the Australian Association for Rural Nurses (AARN), in...

Taking legal industrial action: what is legal industrial action and how it determined? In response to requests from readers, ANF Federal Industrial Officer Nick Blake explains the ins and outs of legal industrial action under the Workplace Relations Act.(industrial)
October 1, 2003... The Workplace Relations Act 1996 (the Act) defines industrial action as 'the performance of work in a manner different from that which is customarily performed, or the adoption of a practice in relation to work, the result of which is a...

Giving and receiving in Calcutta: looking to round off her travels in India by undertaking volunteer work, Adelaide RN Fiona Bascur happened upon Calcutta Rescue. It became the highlight of her travels!(working life)
October 1, 2003... 'My introduction to Calcutta Rescue was purely accidental, but it became one of the highlights of a year spent in India. I had already done a stint of voluntary work in rural India for two months and followed this by eight months of backpacking...

Throw out devices after use.(research)
October 1, 2003... The reuse of single use devices (SUDs) remains common practice in Australian hospitals, exposing patients to unnecessary risks, the Medical Journal of Australia suggests. A 1994 survey of Australia's public and private hospitals showed 68%...

Dying a good death?(research)
October 1, 2003... Terminally ill people who voluntarily choose to refuse diet and fluids appear to die a 'good' death within two weeks of taking their decision, according to a survey of Oregon hospice nurses published in the New England Journal of Medicine. ...

Health system needs overhaul.(research)
October 1, 2003... A report by the University of Adelaide nursing department says the health system is unable to cope with growing demands, and the horizontal career structure for the profession is outdated. Published in the Journal of Advanced Nursing, the...

Nurses' practice not evidence based.(research)
October 1, 2003... Recent analysis of research reviews for the Joanna Briggs Institute has revealed a significant lack of evidence to support a large proportion of nursing interventions and activities. Authors who analysed the 22 systematic reviews, Andrea...

Fit feet: the foundation of health and fitness.(clinical update)
October 1, 2003... Introduction Fit feet are a foundation of health and wellbeing, keeping Australians mobile and enabling them to undertake the weight bearing activity that strengthens their bones and the physical activity that helps to prevent illness and...

Health: a blueprint for change: as Australia approaches a federal election in 2004, nurses and other health care professionals are determined that health will be the major issue. Significant reform of the health sector is regarded as urgent, and it seems the community is warming to the debate.
October 1, 2003... Health is being billed as the major issue of the 2004 federal election, with many in the health care industry and the community deeply concerned about what is seen to be a crisis in health care in Australia. The major areas of concern are...

Mental health innovation in emergency.(Focus: postgraduate education and emergency nursing)
October 1, 2003... A postgraduate nursing student has led a revolution in patient care in the St Vincent's emergency and trauma departments by integrating mental health nurses with emergency care teams. A Masters student at the University of Technology,...

Two year nursing degree in Tasmania.(Focus: postgraduate education and emergency nursing)
October 1, 2003... A new two-year nursing degree is being offered by the University of Tasmania (UTAS) to boost numbers of graduate nurses in an effort to address the national nursing shortage. The two year degree will enable students to utilise their summer...

Call change saves lives.(Focus: postgraduate education and emergency nursing)
October 1, 2003... Allowing nurses and other ward staff to call for hospital cardiac arrest teams would save lives, according to a new study in the Medical Journal of Australia. A trial conducted at the Austin and Repatriation Medical Centre in Melbourne found...

Boost in mental health nurses.(Focus: postgraduate education and emergency nursing)
October 1, 2003... Increased funding from NSW Health has enabled the University of New England (UNE) to offer postgraduate studies in mental health nursing, According to the World Health Organisation and the Mental Health Council of Australia, the incidence of...

Increase in regional nursing places.(Focus: postgraduate education and emergency nursing)
October 1, 2003... Southern Cross University will offer 20 nursing places at their Coffs Harbour campus in 2004, and hopes to increase this to 60 by 2006. The program will offer students work placements and guaranteed jobs after graduation at Port Macquarie...

Rural and remote scholarship.(Focus: postgraduate education and emergency nursing)
October 1, 2003... Scholarships are available for nurses working in rural and remote areas to attend conferences as presenters or delegates. Provided by the federal government, these scholarships are available to both RNs and ENs. Information from RCNA. Email:...

Research boost in Vic.(Focus: postgraduate education and emergency nursing)
October 1, 2003... The Victorian Department of Human Services has announced funding for two new nursing research projects. The Victorian Centre for Nursing Practice Research will study occupational violence in nursing, and the RMIT Department of Nursing and...

Nurses critical to improvements in emergency care.(Focus: postgraduate education and emergency nursing)
October 1, 2003... Nurses are critical to generating change and improvements in patient care, the National Institute of Clinical Studies (NICS) Emergency Department Collaborative (EDC) has found. 'Nurses are the construct in the workforce, providing...

Advanced practice emergency nurses could save lives.(Focus: postgraduate education and emergency nursing)
October 1, 2003... An advanced nursing practice role could achieve the goal of early treatment for complications, according to researchers at Central Queensland University. Nursing lecturer Lynn Jamieson from Central Queensland University (CQU) suggests...

Impressive results.(Focus: postgraduate education and emergency nursing)
October 1, 2003... Western Australia Armadale Hospital became one of just seven Emergency Department Collaborative sites around the country to achieve a greater than 50% improvement in the time to pain relief. Importantly, the hospital continues to sustain...

Care coordination: a new role for emergency nurses.(Focus: postgraduate education and emergency nursing)
October 1, 2003... The Angliss Hospital in outer eastern Melbourne has introduced the concept of care coordination in its emergency department with great effect. Care coordinator Katrina Hall explains the program. Care coordination at the Angliss Hospital has...

Emergency nursing care.
October 1, 2003... Gary Jones, Ruth Endacott and Robert Crouch (eds.) Greenwich Medical Media Lid $93.50 ISBN 1 841 100 811 Visit: wwwblackwellpublishing.com Written for qualified nurses and students specialising in emergency nursing, this book...

Therapeutic Guidelines: Cardiovascular, version 4.
October 1, 2003... Therapeutic Guidelines Limited ISSN 1327-9513 Visit: www.tg.com.au The fourth version of this popular resource has been extensively revised. As well as including new content on syncope and pulmonary hypertension, major revisions...

Taiwanese nurses enhance cultural understanding.(Focus: postgraduate education and emergency nursing)
October 1, 2003... Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is aiming to enhance cross-cultural understanding by enrolling almost 20 research students from Taiwan in its School of Nursing. Many of the students come from the National Taipei College of...

Ensuring patient safety in emergency departments: a national nursing concern.(Focus: postgraduate education and emergency nursing)
October 1, 2003... The capacity of emergency nurses to provide safe, high quality care is being increasingly eroded by the poorly resourced conditions in which they work. Stories from the field as well as from other more definitive sources indicate that if...

Research into violence.(Focus: postgraduate education and emergency nursing)
October 1, 2003... A research project into bullying among nurses and another investigating child-to-mother violence will share $180,000 funding from the Australian Research Council. Both projects will be conducted by the University of Western Sydney (UWS) and...

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

Breaking the sadness spiral.(Ged)
October 1, 2003... A friend asked me once how on earth nurses cope with all the sadness around them. 'I'd be full of it', he said, 'It would send me crazy.' I thought about this. You see, I have often wondered what people mean when they say they are 'full of...

Carry on nursing.(Ged)
October 1, 2003... PLEASE SOMEONE... HELP ME! HOLD ON A MINUTE MATE! WE GOT HERE FIRST. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]