Third dengue strain 'may cause deaths'

13 February 2009

A third dengue fever strain has emerged in north Queensland, making it likely there will be deaths.

USA: 'Take a Deep Breath...'

13 February 2009

Some doctors are pushing sedation-free colon exams. Really.

Roxon: GP Super Clinic for Blue Mountains

13 February 2009

The Rudd Government has signed a contract with Balance! Healthcare to run the $5 million Blue Mountains GP Super Clinic.

Canada: Private insurance makes health care worse

13 February 2009

Australian experience proves the idea would lead only to disaster.

Govt: Healing Foundation for Stolen Generations

13 February 2009

The Australian Government has appointed eminent Australians, Professor Lowitja O’Donoghue and Mr Gregory Phillips, to establish a Foundation to address trauma and healing in Indigenous communities, with a strong focus on the unique needs of Stolen Generations.

Roxon media statement: Record high bulk billing for over-65s

13 February 2009

GP bulk-billing for over-65s reached record highs in the last quarter of 2008, with 88.5 per cent of Medicare services bulk-billed.

Animals not forgotten in Vic recovery effort

13 February 2009

Aside from the tragic loss of human life and property, the plight of pets and wildlife caught up the Victorian blazes has upset many Australians.

UK: Nurses spend a million hours a week on admin

13 February 2009

Nurses spend more than "a million hours" every week on paperwork that could be done by a ward clerk.

Crises bring opportunities for health reform (perhaps): Stephen Leeder

13 February 2009

Stephen Leeder, Professor of Public Health at the University of Sydney, analyses the opportunities for health reform.

Cost cutting measure will compromise health care: AMA

13 February 2009

Doctors say patient care will be compromised if the West Australian Government introduces cost cutting measures outlined in a Health Department report. A discussion paper sent to the ABC reveals the department is considering reducing staff overtime by 25 per cent, and cutting agency staff, to help meet the government's three per cent efficiency drive.

Bushfires 'highlight need for national skin bank'

12 February 2009

Plastic surgeons say the Victorian bushfires have emphasised the need for a national skin bank.

Medibank considers private emergency clinics

12 February 2009

Australia's largest private health insurer is considering opening its own emergency clinics.

TAS: Community urged to weigh in on forced mental illness treatment

12 February 2009

A parliamentary committee has heard that the community needs to debate when it is OK to force treatment on a person with mental illness.

WA: Overtime, maintenance targeted for health cuts

12 February 2009

The Health Department is considering cutting staff overtime by 25%, and reducing spending on maintenance and repairs, to meet the government's proposed three per cent efficiency cuts.

Tennessee USA: UT nursing program deserves funding

12 February 2009

There is a nursing shortage in Tennessee and across the nation. That is bad enough as baby boomers begin hitting retirement age, increasing their health care needs, and as Congress prepares to wrestle with the health care issue on a national level.

Killer outbreak: Nursing home residents in hospital

12 February 2009

Three people remain in hospital after a gastro outbreak at a nursing home killed one resident and left another 57 people ill on the New South Wales north coast.

WA: Hospital details online

12 February 2009

West Australians will be the first in the country to be able to check how many beds are available in public hospitals and how long patients are waiting to be seen in emergency departments.

Multiple embryo sick contest

11 February 2009

In a nation where bigger is better, fertility doctors have been shoving more and more embryos into desperate women in a sick contest to improve the image of their clinics. Using a sperm donor, the single mother of six sought out the same Californian IVF specialist to implant another six - two of which divided, resulting in eight babies.

Northern Ireland: Plan to axe over 700 nursing jobs slammed

11 February 2009

Plans to cut more than 700 nursing posts as part of a health service efficiency drive have been met with stiff opposition from the Royal College of Nursing and within the Assembly.

Australian Government's Cancer Learning website

11 February 2009

The website provides information on Learning activities, Educational programs and Professional development. Learning activities cover a wide range of issues relating to the health professionals role in cancer care as well as information relating to specific populations.

'Red tape' discouraging new doctors

11 February 2009

The Australian Medical Association says tighter regulations brought in since the Jayant Patel saga in Bundaberg are discouraging good doctors from practising in Queensland.

Reunited in the burns unit: Nurse walks out of fire

11 February 2009

"IT WAS loud, and it was hot and lonely." Sherrill Carta's tale is one of the good-news survivor stories from this tragedy. But separated from her husband in smoke and flame at the height of the Kinglake fire, she was not to know that.

Nurse Pat is a quiet achiever: RCNA $10K grant

11 February 2009

“I want the focus to be on ‘the work’ and not on me,” she insists as she pores over the papers that have just delivered this grandmother and great-grandmother, who works in Goondiwindi, a $10,000 nursing scholarship. It will marry her work in trauma and healing with foot care in aged care facilities across the state.

Good grief, no wonder there are so few studies on GMOs

9 February 2009

Judy Carman, Ph.D. is director of the Institute of Health and Environmental Research, Inc., a non-profit research institute based in Australia focusing on the safety of genetically modified food, says very little safety testing is done on genetically modified foods, and when it is done, it is done in a minimal way by the biotechnology companies. Dr. Carman says that more extensive testing of GM foods is needed to ensure they are safe.

Mental health workers told to stay away from disaster zone

11 February 11, 2009

Psychologists and other mental health workers have been told to resist the urge to independently travel to parts of Victoria devastated by bushfires to conduct debriefing or counselling sessions with victims and emergency workers.

Northern Ireland: Concern over 722 nursing job cuts

10 February 2009

Proposals to cut 722 nursing jobs across Northern Ireland are deeply concerning, the Royal College of Nurses has said. The posts are under threat as part of wider plans to cut almost 2,500 health service jobs over the next three years.

Year at Afghan military hospital gives nurse new perspective

BEVERLY, USA — As a nurse for the United States Air Force, Lt. Col. Joanne Ruggeri has taken care of American soldiers around the world. But over the last year, she used her medical skills for a new and challenging mission that was much different from what she was used to. As part of a 15-unit training team, she's been teaching nurses in Afghanistan to, well, be better nurses.

Why we choose nursing

9 February 2009

No one can deny that nursing is hard work. The hours are long and irregular, and the work often is grueling — physically, mentally and emotionally. So why are so many men and women flocking to nursing schools, eager to get their start in the profession? And why do so many veteran nurses rave about their wonderful jobs?

Marijuana may raise testicular cancer risk

10 February 10, 2009 12:00am

Marijuana use may increase the risk of developing an extremely aggressive form testicular cancer, scientists have said in a study published this week. A study of 369 American men aged between 18 to 44 with testicular cancer and 979 men in the same age bracket without the disease found that current marijuana users were 70 percent more likely to develop it compared to nonusers.

USA: Chief of the Army Nurse Corps Plans to Transform Army Nursing

9 February 9, 2009

Maj. Gen. Patricia D. Horoho, RN, the new chief of the Army Nurse Corps, has ambitious plans to transform Army nursing using lessons learned from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the best of military nursing research, and the latest advances in the nursing profession.

World health chiefs meet over ancient killer disease

9 February 2009

World health experts are meeting in Brisbane in a bid to eradicate one of the world's most effective killers. But malaria, which has been around for 50,000 years and kills more than one million people every year, won't go quietly.

Year at Afghan military hospital gives nurse new perspective

BEVERLY, USA — As a nurse for the United States Air Force, Lt. Col. Joanne Ruggeri has taken care of American soldiers around the world. But over the last year, she used her medical skills for a new and challenging mission that was much different from what she was used to. As part of a 15-unit training team, she's been teaching nurses in Afghanistan to, well, be better nurses.

Elliot: Older Australians – Heatwave Response

6 February 2009

The Australian Government has reminded older Australians and nursing home operators to prepare for the upcoming heatwave. Minister for Ageing, Mrs Justine Elliot detailed the Australian Government’s response to the recent heatwave in Victoria and South Australia – and the expected one in NSW and the ACT.

Children as young as one being diagnosed as obese

7 February 2009

Kids as young as one are being diagnosed as obese, and one hospital is treating youngsters twice the size they should be.

Nurses seek expanded role

7 February 2009

There are other models for nurses working in GP clinics than those promoted by the peak doctors' lobby, writes Health editor Adam Cresswell.

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