Course Information and Enrolment Phone: 02 9745 7500 Toll free 1800 265 534 Fax: 02 9745 7501 Email: csc@nursing.edu.au
Customised Education and Consultative Service Phone: 02 9745 7500 Fax: 02 9745 7501 Email: cecs@nursing.edu.au
Grants and Scholarships Phone: 02 9745 7560 Email: grants@nursing.edu.au
Library Phone: 02 9745 7536 Fax: 02 9745 7503 Email: library@nursing.edu.au
Membership Services Phone: 02 9745 7569 Fax: 02 9745 7501 Email: members@nursing.edu.au
The College of Nursing ACN 000 106 829 Locked Bag 3030 Burwood NSW 1805 Australia Tel +61 2 9745 7500 Fax +61 2 9745 7501 Web www.nursing.edu.au
Please direct all enquiries and submissions to the editor, email: editor@nursing.edu.au The mention of a product or service, person or company in this publication does not indicate the publisher’s endorsement. The views expressed on this website do not necessarily represent the opinion of the publisher, its agents, officers or employees.
Site design by John Thrift design and publishing
The College of Nursing acknowledges the traditional owners of Australia, particularly the Dharug People and the Wangal Clan on whose land the College is located.
Local news
WEEK COMMENCING 03 MAY 2009
New online resource to support young women with ovarian cancer
May 2009
Almost 250 women under 50 years of age are diagnosed with ovarian cancer in Australia each year and will receive treatment that can result in early menopause and loss of fertility. This February saw Australia’s first ovarian cancer awareness day – Teal Ribbon Day.
DoHA: Design of new national registration and accreditation scheme
8 May 2009
The Ministerial Council has today reached a national consensus on how the new National Registration and Accreditation Scheme for the Health Professions will work. This will deliver improvements to the safety and quality of Australia’s health services through a modernised national regulatory system for health practitioners.
Turnbell: pre-budget interview
8 May 2009
Turnbull interview with Leon Delaney (Radio 2SM) – budget, private health insurance, Kevin Rudd spending like Paris Hilton, emissions trading scheme.
Roxon rebuff strains national network ROI
7 May 2009
Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon has ignored calls from the telecommunications industry to integrate hospitals and healthcare networks into the National Broadband Network (NBN).
Go-ahead for Peter MacCallum cancer centre in Parkville
7 May 2009
Victorian cancer patients can expect a $1 billion state-of-the-art cancer centre at Parkville to be given the go-ahead. The jointly funded cancer hospital and research centre is expected to revolutionise treatment but it was a notable omission from the State Budget on Tuesday.
Warming - it's a health hazard
7 May 2009
'Climate change will affect, in profoundly adverse ways, some of the most fundamental determinants of health: food, air, water," the director-general of the World Health Organisation, Margaret Chan, says.
Doctor-patient relationship 'at risk'
6 May 2009
A plan giving Medicare bureaucrats access to private patient records will send a shiver down the public's spine, a parliamentary inquiry has been told.
Health’s funding problem continues
6 May 2009
Doctors estimate in the eastern cluster which takes in Orange, Molong, Eugowra and Canowindra, 40 beds occupied by aged nursing care patients are being paid for at the moment by NSW Health through GWAHS.
Run on flu drug, stocks to be rationed
6 May 2009
The run on the anti-viral drug Tamiflu generated by the swine flu outbreak has forced the manufacturer to ration its dwindling stocks. The Health Minister, Nicola Roxon, announced yesterday that because of the drain on stocks, Roche, the maker of Tamiflu, would temporarily limit supplies of the drug to doctors and hospitals for confirmed cases of influenza.
Angst in health care as budget passes by
6 May 2009
Several weeks ago, a budget leak, possibly strategic from a Government keen to manage expectations, revealed that the government contribution to 100 drugs on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme would be slashed.
Power failure lasting 36 hours cripples hospital care
6 May 2009
Doctors at more than 100 hospitals in the state could not access patient records or vital test results for up to 36 hours last weekend after a power failure crippled NSW Health's computerised database.
$90 million investment in an e-healthy future
5 May 2009
A $90 million investment in e-health capacity and infrastructure will take Canberra's health care system into the future, ACT Health Minister, Katy Gallagher, said today.
Roxon: New hand hygiene initiative aims to reduce infections
5 May 2009
A new hand hygiene initiative has been launched today in a bid to reduce the antibiotic-resistant ‘superbug’ patient infections in hospitals. The National Hand Hygiene Initiative coincides with the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Save lives: Clean your hands Day.
Transition care: Helping older Victorians regain their independence
5 May 2009
More than 4,320 older Victorian residents have benefited from the Australian Government’s $293.2 million Transition Care Program since November 2007. This program allows older people to move from hospitals and back into their own homes instead of prematurely entering aged care homes.
Renewed calls for junk food ad ban on kids’ TV
5 May 2009
A coalition of parent, health and consumer groups have renewed calls for tougher advertising regulations, after releasing figures suggesting Australian children encounter about 2200 junk food advertisements on television per year.
Breast is best for Queenslanders
5 May 2009
Most Queensland mums know breast is best, but only half of those who start out breastfeeding continue for the recommended time, health experts say. Figures show that 95 per cent of Queensland mothers begin to breastfeed their babies, exceeding the national recommendation of 80 per cent, but just 33 per cent continue until their babies are 12 months' old.
Gallagher to boost health funding in debut Budget
5 May 2009
The ACT Government will increase health funding by $119 million in today's Budget even though it is expected to announce a big deficit.
Dead baby's parents ignored advice: QC
5 May 5, 2009
The parents of a nine-month-old girl who died from septicemia were responsible for their baby's death because they shunned conventional medical treatment for her eczema in favour of homeopathic remedies, a court heard yesterday.
Australian stockpiles of anti-viral drug Tamiflu are out of date
3 May 2009
The Federal Government has admitted it is about to replace 1.9 million doses of anti-flu vaccines because the drugs will soon be out of date.
Health Budget looking sick
3 May 2009
Reporter Alexandra Kirk was on to what's known in the trade as a "Budget nasty". She revealed that a little-known 2008 Budget line item, which came under the seemingly innocuous heading of "economic efficiencies", would in fact lead to a rationing of cancer drugs. That rationing was due to begin on July 1. Kirk revealed that under the changes, pharmacists would have to bear the cost of expensive surplus cancer drugs such as Herceptin used to treat breast cancer and MabThera used to treat blood cancer.
AMA casts doubt on hospital paper scrap plan
3 May 2009
The Australian Medical Association (AMA) has cast doubt on plans for all of New South Wales' public hospitals to scrap paper records by the end of the year.
Cancer drugs get $600m boost in budget
3 May 2009
The federal government will allocate $600 million in the upcoming budget towards subsidising expensive bowel, breast and kidney cancer drugs. Health Minister Nicola Roxon says that from July, the bowel cancer drug Avastin will be subsidised under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. Listing the drugs will mean new patients suffering advanced bowel cancer will pay about $33 for Avastin instead of more than $2,000.
80 in Australia tested for swine flu
3 May 2009
There are 80 people awaiting test results for swine flu in Australia, with no confirmed cases, the federal Health Department says. As of 6pm (AEST) on Saturday, 48 people were awaiting results for swine flu tests in NSW, the department's figures released on Sunday morning show.
The hijacking of medical education
2 April 2009
A physician and cardiologist from Warragul in Victoria, has sent in the following comments regarding his inclusion on the Crikey Register of Influence: It is an inadequate way of investigating medical corruption but it may at least start a discussion on this vital topic. The problem is that the medical education agenda has been hijacked by vested interests, particularly the pharmaceutical industry but in other cases it may be equipment or prosthesis manufacturers.
International news
UK: Cash to end mixed sex hospital facilities
6 May 2009
Thousands of pounds have been given to Devon health officials to help eliminate mixed-sex hospital accommodation. They will use the money to ensure men and women in hospitals no longer share sleeping areas, bathrooms or toilets while being cared for.
US: Illusionist to launch magic trick-based education curriculum for students with special needs
5 May 2009
In Summer 2009, illusionist Kevin Spencer will launch Hocus Focus, an experiential-based educational approach centered on the art of magic tricks, designed to foster growth and development in students with special needs. Spencer is also the creator of Healing of Magic, a proven magic trick-based therapy for physical and psychosocial rehabilitation.
UK: NHS security alarms will help find and protect lone workers
5 May 2009
Tens of thousands of NHS staff will be given personal security alarms to improve their safety and help prosecute those who abuse them.
US: High demand for nursing teachers in Q.C.
5 May 2009
The nursing profession continues to be in demand as an aging workforce nears retirement. One study suggests that Iowa will need to replace a quarter of its current staffing by 2020. But there aren't enough teachers to train them.
Nearly 5,000 children for every nurse
5 May 2009
Jess Streeting, 42, is the head of the school health team in Westminster - and embodies the new breed of school nurse. She's a far cry from the matronly Strepsil-giving, nit-checker of old. Although Streeting and her team of 18 school nurses do run clinics and drop-in centres that deal with bugs and injuries, some of their most common issues include teenage pregnancies, childhood obesity, and "risk-taking behaviour" such as knife crime.
Germany: For aged Turks in Berlin, nursing facility is now home
3 May 2009
Gonul Argin left the songs and games of the spring festival behind her and rolled out onto the building's central courtyard in her wheelchair. She was not alone there either. 'Chatting with fellow sufferers is my favourite activity here,' said Argin, who is 65. In 1970, she arrived as a 'guest worker' in what was then West Germany and earned a living as a charwoman at first. Now she lives in Berlin - in the first and only Turkish nursing home in Germany.
US: Community colleges challenge hierarchy with 4-year degrees
2 May 2009
Expanding community colleges argue that they are fulfilling a need, providing four-year degrees to working people who often lack the money or the time to travel to a university. But some of those universities are fighting back, saying the community colleges are involved in “mission creep” that may distract them from their traditional mission and lead to watered-down bachelor’s degrees.
US: Single gene defect can cause stroke, other artery diseases
1 May 2009
For the first time, scientists have discovered a single gene defect that causes thoracic aortic aneurysms and dissections as well as early onset coronary artery disease, ischemic stroke and Moyamoya disease.
Home health-care devices help patients stay out of the hospital
1 May 2009
Various technologies enable patients to exchange health information with caregivers. Patients can use a Health system to videoconference with health-care professionals and receive videos about diet and exercise. Patients can also attach a blood pressure cuff or other devices using a Bluetooth wireless link and relay vital signs to a nurse.
NEWS PORTALS
The College’s mission is to lead the development of the profession in line with the changing needs of the community, trends in health service delivery and the aspirations of nursing professionals themselves.
DISCLAIMER
The mention of a product or service, person or company on this website does not indicate The College of Nursing’s endorsement.
The views expressed on linked websites do not necessarily represent the opinion of The College of Nursing, its agents, officers or employees.
The College of Nursing does not take responsibility for the accuracy of information or any opinion expressed on any websites to which links are provided. For more information, please email: feedback@nursing.edu.au