Australian Nursing Journal articles from September 2002

Australian Nursing Journal archives from September 2002

Outback nursing takes on a new dimension. (Editorial).
September 1, 2002... This edition of the journal celebrates the Year of the Outback. I began my own nursing career in the outback. After completing my general nursing and midwifery certificates, I worked in a small hospital on the Eyre Peninsula in SA. The town...

Keep talking to us Ged.(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2002... I totally identified with God Cowin's confessions about her return to a full clinical shift on a ward ('Confessions of a clinical educator', ANJ, August 2002, p. 40). I did a re-entry course at Deakin University and returned to part time...

Time nurses improved their own quality of life.(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2002... How many times as a nurse have you heard people say, 'I could never do your job'? 'I used to take this as a compliment and feel that I was part of a very special and unique profession. Lately, I wonder if what is really meant is 'I would never...

Opening the door on forensic nursing.(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2002... I would like to share with readers a few things that have been happening in the area of prison nursing in SA. Increasingly over the last few years the workload, responsibility and skill level needed in this field have increased...

Some theatres are friendly and fun.(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2002... Re: The unnamed nurse who endured such a negative environment when working in an operating theatre ('Unfriendly environments discourage newcomers', ANJ, July 2002, p.4). I was upset to read there are perioperative nurses out here who would...

Acknowledging the gay RNs out there.(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2002... I have been reading with interest the recent articles (and the letters in response) regarding men in nursing. I currently work as an RN in Melbourne and have also worked in Brisbane and I'm proud to say that not only am I a man working as an...

Most perioperative nurses are highly professional people.(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2002... I was sad and ashamed to read of a nurse' traumatic experiences during a rotation to the operating suite ('Unfriendly environments discourage newcomers, ANJ, July 2002, p.4). Sad because it is yet another example of horizontal violence within...

Move on or move out and take bad habits with you.(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2002... I refer to an article that appeared in the July ANJ ('Unfriendly environments discourage newcomers', p.4) outlining an unfortunate experience in the operating suite. I can fully believe this occurred; that it still occurs is also not a...

Carers' title causes community confusion.(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2002... A practice which is becoming increasingly common in nursing circles is leading to considerable confusion in the community. This is the use of the term 'carer' to describe paid care-givers, for example, in aged care facilities and hospitals. ...

Nurses still treated like handmaidens. (NSW).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Nurses face more responsibility but doctors still treat them as 'haudmaidens', the New South Wales Industrial Relations Commission (IRC) heard in July. The full bench of the IRC is hearing a test case brought by the NSW Nurses' Association...

Aged care work bans target RCS paperwork. (VIC).(Resident Classification Scale)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... ANF Vic Branch members working in the private aged care sector voted to ban work on all Resident Classification Scale (RCS) documentation from 10 July in support of their enterprise bargaining (EB) claim. The move, by nurses, assistants in...

HIV rates increase. (VIC).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Safe sex fatigue is largely to blame for an increase In Victoria's increasing HIV rate, the State's Department of Health said after figures showed 218 new HIV cases were reported in 2001, up by 56% since 1999. Victorian Health Minister...

Adelaide reclaims breastfeeding record. (SA).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Adelaide regained its world record for simultaneous breastfeeding when 767 babies were fed in a cinema on 1 August. The event was part of Breastfest 2002, which celebrated World breastfeeding week and launched the Breastfeeding in public...

Nurses supporting nurses. (FED).(East Timor Nurses Association)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... The East Timor Nurses Association (ETNA) will be able to visit nurses working in remote regions of East Timor after taking delivery in July of a four-wheel drive vehicle provided by nurses in Australia. Money for the vehicle was raised by...

NSWNA General Secretary retires. (NSW).(Sandra Moait retires from the NSW Nurses' Association)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Sandra Moait retired from her position as Secretary of the NSW Nurses' Association (NSWNA, ANF NSW) at the end of August after nearly eight years in charge. Ms Moait joined the NSWNA in 1976 as the Association's first organiser. She has...

$6000 re-entry scholarships available. (Briefs).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Do you know any rural or remote area nurses who are no longer registered or enrolled but want to re-enter the workforce? The Federal Remote and Rural Nurse Re-entry and Upskilling Scheme has $6000 scholarships available for nurses taking...

Meningococcal guidelines online. (Briefs).(Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... The Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care guidelines for the early clinical and public, health management of meningococcal disease are now available. The guidelines aim to assist primary, care practitioners with the emergency...

Gender wage gap increases.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... A number of obstacles need to be overcome before the Federal Government can honour its commitment to introduce retractable needles, Federal Health Minister Senator Kay Patterson told a Senates estimate committee in June. Senator Patterson said...

Academic post marks union first in Australia. (SA).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... The ANF SA Branch became the first union in Australia to have an academic joint appointment when it announced the creation of a new senior lecturer position for professional services at its annual branch delegates' conference in August. ...

Nurses call for urgent safe staffing action. (TAS).(Tasmanian nurses association news)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... ANF Tas Branch called on the re-elected Bacon Government to address safe staffing levels in the State's public hospitals as a major priority. The request in July came as Royal Hobart Hospital (RHH) management closed more beds and cancelled...

Improve your management skills.(Nursing Praxis Workshop)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Nurses seeking to improve their management skills can learn and practise different styles of communication, leadership methods, ways of influencing in the workplace, and working with diverse cultures at the Nursing Praxis Workshop on 6...

Depnet offers online depression support.(Lundbeck Institute)(www.depnet.com.au)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... The Lundbeck Institute, a non-profit making international education forum, has launched a new Australian support site for people affected by depression. Depnet offers extensive information and interactive support from qualified professionals,...

Calm under fire.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Four nurses evacuated 38 residents from the Merrylands Nursing Home in NSW in July after a car exploded into flames under the building. San San Tway, Doris Herrera, Jan Beard and Margaret Swift began moving residents on mattresses after a...

Award celebrates senior Australians.(Senior Australian of the year award 2003)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Do you know an outstanding older person; someone who makes a real difference in business, the community or public life? If so, tell the Federal Minister for Ageing, Kevin Andrews before 23 September and they could be eligible for the Senior...

Contact tracing explained.(Australasian Society for HIV Medicine publishes second edition of Australasian contact tracing manual)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... The Australasian Society for HIV Medicine has released the second edition of the Australasian contact tracing manual. The manual is a desktop reference for all health care professionals working with people with HIV, viral hepatitis, sexually...

Vale: Florence Syer (nee Trotter), 1916-2002. (FED).(Obituary)
September 1, 2002... Florence Syer, one of the WW2 nurses who endured 18 hours in the sea after the evacuation ship from Singapore was sunk and spent more than three years as a Japanese prisoner of war, died in Brisbane at the end of July aged 86. The story of...

Nurse shortage causes chaos. (WA).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Emergency departments in WA's teaching hospitals were in chaos in August because of patient overcrowding and lack of beds, according to ANF WA Branch Secretary Mark Olson. Mr Olson said patients were left in emergency department corridors...

Qld nurses gain AIRC hearing. (QLD).(Queensland Nurses' Union)(Australian Industrial Relations Commission)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... The Queensland Nurses' Union (QNU, ANF Qld) is continuing its Nurses: Worth looking after campaign by securing a hearing, in December, of their claims before the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC). The QNU requested the...

Centre tackles hospital infections. (VIC).(Victorian Nosocomial Infection Surveillance System Centre)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... The Victorian Government has launched a $3 million research centre designed to reduce the rate of hospital-acquired infections. The Victorian Nosocomial Infection Surveillance System (VICNISS) Centre will monitor infection rates for...

Australians reunited.(www.australiansreunited.com.au)(web site for nurses to stay in contact with collegues)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... A new website is offering nurses the chance to catch up with old colleagues and friends. Australians reunited has extended its scope from old school friends to include nearly every hospital and medical institution in the country. Nurses can...

School fee sweetener for overseas nurses.(children of overseas nurses to be offered free school education)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... The children of overseas nurses will be offered free school education in a bid to attract more foreign nurses to work in NSW hospitals. According to the NSW Department of Health, school fees will be paid as part of a package including help...

Youth forum will support young activists.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... The ACTU is puffing the final touches on its youth forum to be held on 10-11 October. The forum will support young unionists and focus on the recruitment of young non-members; pass on skills to young activists; and, rebadge the union movement...

Seeking nocturia feedback.(Caulfield General Medical Centre)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Caulfield General Medical Centre is seeking feedback on the new nocturia information sheet sent to residential care facilities earlier this year. The sheet details causes, assessment criteria and management options for nocturnal polyuria,...

Surgeon halts surgery over nurses' poor English.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... A UK orthopaedic surgeon halted surgery halfway through an operation in July because he said foreign' theatre nurses could not follow his instructions. David Nunn, from Guy's and St Thomas's Hospitals, in London, told The Telegraph he was...

Payment delays spark overtime ban.(nurses refuse to work overtime in South Africa)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Nurses working at health clinics in Soweto, South Africa, refused to work overtime at the end of July until they received months of outstanding overtime pay. The nurses - expected to work 33 hours of overtime each week in addition to their 40...

Ukrainian nurses demand better wages.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Hundreds of Ukrainian nurses joined their medical colleagues in Kiev in July in mass protests to demand better wages. The demonstrators held placards suggesting Ukrainian MPs and government workers should receive health workers' pay levels. The...

Nurse heads Unison health policy. (Briefs).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Unison, Britain's biggest public sector union, has appointed a nurse to lead its national policies on health issues. Karen Jennings, Unison's former head of nursing, has stepped up to become the union's national secretary for health. Ms...

UK scheme ditches triage and reduces waiting times. (World News).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... A new approach to organising a UK hospital's accident and emergency service, giving nurses more responsibility, has led to a dramatic reduction in waiting times. In a pilot scheme conducted at the Royal London Hospital in March, triage was...

African unions slam UK HIV tests for health workers. (World News).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Plans to make HIV testing compulsory for foreign health workers aiming to work in Britain are 'discriminatory' and insulting to African nurses, Africa's nursing unions say. The UK Government was reported to be considering the mass HIV...

The right to say no to unreasonable hours. (Federal Industrial News).
September 1, 2002... The Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC) recently accepted in part a claim by the ACTU to create new award guidelines for reasonable working hours. The decision gives employees a new right to refuse to work overtime where it...

Enrolled nurses find their national voice. (This Working Life).(National Enrolled Nurse Association)
September 1, 2002... The National. Enrolled Nurse Association (NENA) has gone from strength to strength since its formation in 1995. Here, current NENA Secretary Maryanne Craker talks about her career, her work with NENA and her hopes for the future of the EN/RN...

Pressure care myths. (Research Update).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Oxygen and egg white, and methylated spirits were under the spotlight in 1984, when AJAN looked at the reasons underlying 20 charge sisters' pressure area care decisions at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. Researchers used questionnaires to...

Stress and job satisfaction. (Research Update).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... The heavy workload imposed on nursing staff is highly stressful and impacts on nurses' job satisfaction. This was the conclusion of a 1999 AJAN study looking at sources of stress in the nursing environment. Researchers surveyed 129...

Betrayal: public perceptions when nurses strike. (Research Update).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... In 1989, AJAN looked at the way Victorian teachers and nurses were perceived by the public during their first industrial disputes in 1965 and 1986, respectively. The authors said both disputes changed the image of the professions...

The Victorian Nurse Practitioner Poject. (Clinical Update).
September 1, 2002... Introduction The implementation of the nurse practitioner (NP) role in Victoria and other States and Territories in Australia stemmed from the recognition of the need to improve health service access; offer greater diversity in services;...

Celebrating the Year of the outback.
September 1, 2002... To help celebrate the 'Year of the outback', the Australian Nursing Journal is paying tribute to the estimated 3600 remote area nurses scattered from Tasmania's stormy coastline to the Kimberleys in WA and across the Torres Strait. Fiona...

Enrolled nurses and the NSW Nurses' Association. (Nursing Focus: Enrolled Nurses).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... The NSW Nurses' Association (NSWNA, ANF NSW) has had a long and productive relationship with ENs in NSW. ENs are included and play an equal and central role with all members in major activities of the NSWNA. For instance an EN sits on the...

Tasmanian ENs are not a dying breed. (Nursing Focus: Enrolled Nurses).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Enrolled nurses in Tasmania are no longer the dying breed we all thought we were going to be, with Northern Group Training in Launceston and TAPE in Hobart currently running EN training courses. The current intake, who commenced in May,...

Course recognises EN haemodialysis contribution. (Nursing Focus: Enrolled Nurses).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Six ENs working at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital (TEQH) haemodialysis unit in Adelaide have completed the hospital's inaugural EN renal course. ENs first started working in the haemodialysis unit in 2001 and the course was initiated last...

Conference tackles changes. (Nursing Focus: Enrolled Nurses).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... ANF Vic Branch is hosting the 11th annual EN RN Div 2 conference on 18 October. RN Division 2: Changes, challenges will explore opportunities and scope of practice for the RN Div 2; promote the role as an integral part of the health care...

Evidence-based practice at a distance. (Nursing Focus: Education).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... The Monash Institute of Health Services Research has extended its courses in evidence-based practice to include off-campus distributed learning in response to the growing demand for education in this area. Following the success of the...

Starter kit provides portfolio support. (Nursing Focus: Education).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Nurses and midwives at Whyalla Hospital and Health Services, SA, are the first to trial a new portfolio starter kit for demonstrating their professional competencies. The Portfolio starter kit for nurses and midwives was written by Dr...

Where are we going wrong with indigenous health? (Nursing Focus: Education).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Nurse educator Odette Best hopes her latest studies will help shed some light on ways to improve the health of indigenous Australians. Ms Best, who helped establish the new undergraduate course in indigenous health at the University of...

Nurses honoured by international society. (Nurses Focus: Education).(Sigma Theta Tau International)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Twenty nurses have become the newest Australian members of Sigma Theta Tau International, one of the world's most prestigious nursing societies. Sigma Theta Tau International, which works to improve the health of the world's population...

Calendar.
September 1, 2002... Graduate Certificate in Nursing (Health Services) by distance education in 2002 Nursing Services Management in Health, Financing Nursing and Health Services, Human Resources Management in Nursing Faculty of Nursing The University of Sydney...

In the heat of the night. (The Federal President Reports).
September 1, 2002... I worked night shift for many years. I had a system of working seven nights on and seven nights off. It suited me and the assistant nurse unit manager who worked the opposite nights. It was the days of permanent night shift workers, a bit of a...