International News
US: Words used to describe substance-use patients can alter attitudes, contribute to stigma
13 January 2010: Changing the words used to describe someone struggling with alcoholism or drug addiction may significantly alter the attitudes of health care professionals, even those who specialize in addiction treatment. Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers have found that health professionals' answers to survey questions about a hypothetical patient varied depending on whether he was described as a "substance abuser" or as "having a substance use disorder." Their study will appear in the International Journal of Drug Policy and has been released online.
US: TGen-Scottsdale Healthcare researchers make breakthrough in lung cancer
13 January 2010: MicroRNAs are key to identifying patients resistant to 'first-line' chemotherapy. Researchers for TGen Clinical Research Services at Scottsdale Healthcare (TCRS) have identified a way to predict which patients with small-cell lung cancer may be resistant to first-line chemotherapy.
ITALY: Nursing students twice as likely to smoke as the general population
13 January 2010: Public health experts are calling for urgent steps to reduce the number of healthcare professionals who smoke, after a survey of over 800 new nursing students found that more than half were current or former smokers. The Italian study, published in the January issue of the Journal of Advanced Nursing, surveyed 812 students who were just starting their University course. They found that 44% of them were still smoking – twice as many as in the general population – and a further 12% were former smokers. Three-quarters of the smoking students had at least one parent who smoked and almost half had at least one brother or sister who smoked.
US: California nurses volunteer for Haiti relief
13 January 2010: At least 350 registered from the California Nurses Association and national nursing organizations have volunteered to travel to Haiti and provide support to the thousands injured in Tuesday's massive earthquake.
US: Lower-skilled jobs might be more desirable in next decade
13 January 2010: While nursing has traditionally required intensive training, a home-care or home-health aide does not even need a college degree, according to Deborah Larsen, the director of the OSU School of Allied Medical Professions, which trains students to provide home-physical and occupational therapy.
US: Hospitals and nursing homes contaminating New York's water supply with drugs
13 January 2010: Hospitals and nursing homes are flushing everything from hormones to painkillers, putting the drinking water of New York's residents at risk, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s office said Tuesday.
US: How a good night's sleep can aid new graduate nurse retention
12 January 2010: Most healthcare executives have heard the bad news about new graduate nurse retention. Around 60% of new grads leave their first job within the first year. An alarming proportion leave nursing altogether. Nurses leave their first job largely as a result of the incredibly hard transition from nursing school to being a real-life practicing nurse.
EUROPE: Swine flu 'a false pandemic' to sell vaccines, expert says
12 January 2010: Claims swine flu is a "false pandemic" and "a campaign of panic" being used to create a huge market for vaccines are "historically and medically inaccurate", Australia's top medical official says. Wolfgang Wodarg, head of health at the Council of Europe, has claimed major firms organised a "campaign of panic" to put pressure on the World Health Organisation (WHO) to declare a pandemic, UK tabloid The Sun reports.
INT: Plastic baby bottles ‘harmful’
11 January 2010: The chemical bisphenol-A (BPA) used to make plastic baby bottles is harmful, according to experts. British scientists have announced that there is "compelling" evidence that the chemical is linked to breast cancer, sex hormone imbalances and has adverse health risks to babies.
PHILIPPINES: 2 of 90 nursing examinees in HK pass board
11 January 2010: Only two of 90 examinees of the nursing licensure examination held in Hong Kong on December 12 and 13 passed, the Board of Nursing of the Professional Regulation Commission said Monday.
US: Overmedication in the Nursing Home
11 January 2010: Within three months of admission, a team of University of South Florida researchers determined, 71 percent of Medicaid residents in Florida nursing homes were receiving a psychoactive medication — an antidepressant or anti-psychotic, say, or dementia drugs — even though most were not taking such drugs in the months before they moved in and didn’t have psychiatric diagnoses.
US: Nursing homes overuse antipsychotics
11 January 2009: In 2006, a year after the FDA issued mortality warnings about prescribing antipsychotic drugs for the elderly, nearly 30% of nursing home residents received the medication -- despite the fact that a third of them had no indication for the drugs, a study revealed.
US: Considering the evidence in health care
11 January 2009: Taking a more strongly evidence-based approach to medicine would help the US healthcare system recover its ranking among other nations and improve quality, access, efficiency, equity and healthy lives, according to a report published in the International Journal of Public Policy this month.
GENEVA: WHO: Some 13,000 dead worldwide from H1N1
8 January 2010: More than 200 countries have reported confirmed H1N1 flu deaths of more than 12,799, officials of the World Health Organization in Switzerland say.
US: More from the week: Chlamydia, breast cancer, Hispanics in nursing homes
9 January 2010: One might think that frequently screening and treating teenage girls for chlamydia would cut back on just how common the disease is in that age group. Not so.
US: Obamacare and the nursing shortage
7 January 2010: Last month, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching released a study on nursing education in the United States. In their research, they studied the nursing shortage in the country, and the extent of the problem is startling.
US: Educating Nurses: A Call for Radical Transformation
No date: With this text, Patricia Benner and colleagues have reset the agenda for nursing education and it could not have come at a more critically important moment. Through careful discovery and thoughtful comparison, the authors have identified key areas for improvement in the structure and process of preparing the next generation of nurses for the deceptively complex work of caring for people and their families. It is a landmark publication.
US: HIV-infected postmenopausal women at high risk for bone fractures
7 January 2010: According to a new study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM), postmenopausal HIV-infected women have a high prevalence of low bone mineral density and high bone turnover, placing them at high risk for future bone fractures.
Ranking 37th — Measuring the performance of the U.S. health care system
6 January 2010: Evidence that other countries perform better than the United States in ensuring the health of their populations is a sure prod to the reformist impulse. The World Health Report 2000, Health Systems: Improving Performance, ranked the U.S. health care system 37th in the world1 — a result that has been discussed frequently during the current debate on U.S. health care reform.
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Local News
WEEK COMMENCING 11 JANUARY 2010
Haiti earthquake 2010
Donate to the Haiti Earthquake Appeal or call 1800 811 700.
The Australian Red Cross has launched an appeal following a devastating 7.3 magnitude earthquake 15 kms off the Haitian coast at approximately 5.00 pm local time on 12 January 2010. Local and international Red Cross personnel staff and volunteers are providing relief in the most needed areas.
With a network of volunteers in 186 countries around the world, Red Cross is able to respond moments after a disaster occurs, even in locations as remote as Haiti. Because of how Red Cross works, with a local society in each country, Red Cross is able to respond immediately, with volunteers on the ground moments after an emergency occurs.
Tripling in sexual infection prompts demand for national testing
14 January 2010: Sexual health experts are demanding the Federal Government urgently fund a national screening program for chlamydia after figures showing infection rates have more than tripled in 10 years.
Lack of services traps disabled in hospitals
14 January 2010: People with disabilities are being forced to stay in hospital up to six months longer than necessary because of delays in accessing support services at home. One senior nurse at a major metropolitan hospital estimates up to 200 beds across Adelaide are being used by people with disabilities waiting to return home or go into a support facility.
Pesce: Feds must fund public health
14 January 2010: Australia's public hospitals are national treasures but they are under enormous pressure. They symbolise the commitment of governments and the medical profession to provide quality health services in a fair society. This is something Kevin Rudd picked up and ran with ahead of the 2007 federal election. He sought the prime ministership on the back of a promise to fix our public hospitals. Now that he is seeking a second term in that office later this year, it is high time he delivered on that promise.
Demand for health study surges
14 January 2010: Health has been revealed as the most popular field of study for potential tertiary students this year, but there are not enough training places available to meet the surge. The first figures released to The Advertiser by the South Australian Tertiary Admissions Centre show 24,952 university applicants have selected a stream of health studies as a preference for tertiary education - about 5000 more than last year's first-round preferences.
Private cures for public woes
13 January 2010: The Prime Minister promised in 2007 to take control of the public hospitals if their performance didn't improve. We're yet to see that improvement: in fact, average national waiting times for elective surgery rose in 2009 from 34 to 36 days. Despite this, federal control of public hospitals seems a long way off. Yet there is a simple solution that doesn't require major reform.
E-prescribing tender cancelled
13 January 2010: Nine months after a tender aimed at resolving key management arrangements for new national electronic prescribing systems closed for consideration, the federal Health Department has quietly advised bidders by letter that the project has been canned. Department officials say the call for a consultancy to develop an e-prescribing and dispensing "benefits realisation and implementation plan" has been overtaken by recent events.
Patient deterioration to raise red flag
13 January 2010: A new system of detecting signs of patient deterioration is being rolled out in hospitals across NSW, in what the state government calls a world first. The Between The Flags patient safety system has adapted the red and yellow theme of surf life saving warnings for use in NSW hospitals, allowing staff to better monitor at-risk patients.
Cancer centre needs support
12 January 2010: Ballarat MHR Catherine King is urging the community to support an application for a $55 million cancer centre to be built in Ballarat.
Treasurer told back off being a bully
12 January 2010: The Australian Medical Association has warned the WA Treasurer Troy Buswell not to interfere with the work of the newly appointed Health chief. The former Director General of the W-A Country Health Service, Kim Snowball, has been appointed the Acting head of the Health Department.
Beware of cling wrap, Choice says
12 January 2010: Beware of that cling wrap. Consumer group Choice suggests we start avoiding plastic packaging for fear it could be potentially hazardous. Of concern are materials containing polycarbonate – used to make food storage containers and bottles – and epoxy resins, used to line tin cans, Choice said. Both have the potential to release bisphenol A, which has been linked to increased risk of heart disease and diabetes.
Boys 'mutilated in circumcision ritual'
11 January 2010: Three teenage Aboriginal boys have been left mutilated after an initiation ceremony circumcision in the Northern Territory was conducted by elders suspected of being drunk, a report says.
History, Law, and Policy as a Foundation for Health Care Delivery for Australian Indigenous Children
Online 2 December 2009: This article identifies significant historical and contemporary issues, programs, and progress to better understand the current policy in Australia relating to Aboriginal child health and well-being. A legislative perspective gives context to contemporary issues based on legally sanctioned historical practices specifically designed to make Aboriginal peoples disappear, particularly through the control and assimilation of Indigenous children. Pediatric Clinics of North America
Volume 56, Issue 6, December 2009, Pages 1561-1576.
Paying the cost of fighting obesity
12 January 2010: Taiwan aims to be the first national government to introduce a junk food tax. A bill drafted by its Bureau of Health Promotion is due to be submitted to parliament this year; if approved it would come into effect next year.
Roxon deal on cataract payments
11 January 2010: Health Minister Nicola Roxon's compromise deal with eye surgeons over cataract surgery will increase the taxpayer-funded rebate but freeze indexation on Medicare payments for two years. The furore over Medicare payments for eye surgery followed reports that some doctors were securing $28,000 daily for the work and top opthamologists were being paid $1.5 million a year by Medicare.
Probe into prostheses inserts urged
10 January 2010: Surgeons are using knee and hip prostheses that are not only less reliable but more expensive, in what has been described as a "hidden scandal".
AMA sends SOS to retired doctors
10 January 2010: Retired doctors could be lured back to public hospitals because there are not enough experienced clinicians available to teach medical graduates wanting to specialise as surgeons, obstetricians and cardiologists.
Patients turning to the black market for drugs
10 January 2010: People are becoming unwitting drug addicts because doctors are over-prescribing powerful painkillers, a State Government claims. Western Australia's Mental Health Minister and former GP Graham Jacobs said about 15,000 West Australians were addicted to potent opioids such as oxycodone.
Neighbourly love wanted during heatwave
9 January 2010: With Adelaide sweltering above 40 Celsius degrees on Saturday and Melbourne expected to reach 41C by Monday, doctors and paramedics are urging everyone to check in on their neighbours for signs of heat exhaustion and dehydration.
Victorians urged to keep cool
9 January 2010: Doctors are urging Victorians to stay cool and take cover as the state faces a heat wave in coming days. Australian Medical Association Victoria President Dr Harry Hemley said Victorians may need to modify their routines during the heat wave to avoid heat exhaustion and dehydration.
Roxon: $53M health precinct for Queensland
8 January 2010: Residents in Brisbane's north now have access to a wider range of community-based health services being rolled out through the new $53 million health precinct in North Lakes.
Roxon: Super clinic boosts chronic disease care
8 January 2010: The Redcliffe (Qld) GP Super Clinic to be built on the grounds of the Redcliffe Hospital is being planned to ensure more support for people with chronic disease who live in and around Redcliffe.
Industry concerned over nursing pay cut
8 January 2010: There is concern experienced nurses in the Riverina may leave the industry because of a pay cut.
Australia is a nation full of binge drinkers, new research shows
8 January 2010: Alcohol sales would plummet by more than half if people drank according to safe guidelines, industry research indicates. Figures from industry research group Roy Morgan, show the 17 per cent of drinkers who consume more than 22 drinks a week account for 53 per cent of all alcohol sales by volume.
Changes to obstetric safety net are fair, despite foul cries
8 January 2010: The National Association of Specialist Obstetricians and Gynaecologists recently issued this media release warning that expectant mothers are facing an “expensive surprise” thanks to Federal Budget cuts to the obstetric safety net which took effect on January 1. The Association is worried, it says, that “women and their families are not fully aware” of the cutbacks.
Inquiry call for swine flu vaccine rollout
7 January 2010: The opposition has called for a review of the federal government's handling of the swine flu vaccination program after it emerged taxpayers may have to foot the bill for the vaccine, despite only a quarter of it so far being shipped to doctors.
More evidence anti-depressants don't work for mild, moderate cases
6 January 2009: There's further evidence that anti-depressant drugs don't work for people with mild or moderate depression. A study published in the latest Journal of the American Medical Association reviews two decades of anti-depressant trials.
