International News

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. 

US: Nursing excellence makes a difference to patients

26 January 2010: Studies have shown that Magnet Recognition Program (MRP) organizations have better patient outcomes, higher nurse to patient ratios, lower nurse turnover, higher rates of nurses with advanced degrees or professional certifications, and happier nurses, which generally translates to happier and more satisfied patients. Happier nurses improve satisfaction results, which must be regularly measured and benchmarked at MRP hospitals.

GERMANY: Rejuvenating the old immune system

26 January 2010: By comparing the immune responses of both, young and old mice, to bacterial infection they found that the number of macrophages, one of the major cell populations involved in the elimination of infecting bacteria, decreases rapidly in aged mice. This decline in the number of fighters and the associated weakness of the immune defense may be responsible for the age-associated increase in susceptibility to infections.

UK: Nurse gave patients drugs and removed call bells for an 'easy night'

26 January 2010: A senior care home nurse gave elderly residents powerful sedatives and put call bells out of their reach so she could have an "easy night". Ila Haskings, 63, also put extra incontinence pads on residents so she would not have to change their sheets and regularly slept on shift for up to seven hours, the Nursing and Midwifery Council heard.

US: Teaching to turmoil: Missoula nurse’s class turns to treating Haitians

25 January 2010: When Michele Sare, 55, landed in Leogane, Haiti, on Jan. 12, she planned to teach a public health class at the local nursing school. Less than an hour after her arrival, her plans – and Haitians’ whole world – changed. Sare, a registered nurse and founder of Nurses for Nurses International, spent the next seven days leading a small group of nurses in caring for residents after the earthquake that devastated Haiti. The caregivers saw hundreds of patients over the next few days.

US: Are you a nurse? Do you speak Haitian Creole?

25 January 2010:While there are now reportedly plenty of doctors helping out in Haiti, the need for nurses who speak Haitian Creole "is off the chart in demand," according to Partners in Health (www.pih.org), an organization that has been doing health care work in Haiti for more than two decades.

UK: Doctors develop life-saving, low-cost ventilators for emergency, rural and military use

25 January 2010: A group of UK anaesthetists have designed and tested three prototype low-cost ventilators that could provide vital support during major healthcare emergencies involving large numbers of patients or casualties. The devices, detailed in a paper published online by Anaesthesia, could also be used where resources are limited, such as in developing countries, remote locations or by the military.

US: Groundbreaking Johns Hopkins nurse tells her story

25 January 2010: Gertrude Hodges, class of 1959, the first African American to graduate from the Johns Hopkins Hospital Training School for Nurses in Baltimore, is sharing her history and stories with young black nurses.

HAITI: Canadian plane goes to Haiti bearing relief workers, 35,000 kg of aid

24 January 2010: As a nurse of Haitian descent, Marie Leblanc's volunteer stint in Haiti will be bittersweet as she knows she will be able to help many people desperately in need, but her help will have come too late for her 18-month-old cousin.

HAITI: Haiti nursing home still waiting on food deliveries for frail elderly patients

24 January 2010: The staff of a nursing home that crumbled in Haiti's Jan. 12 earthquake gave the last of its food to the elderly patients Sunday, and caregivers said they didn't know when or how the next meal would come. "There's a lack of organization," said Jean Schubert, a volunteer security guard who brought cookies from his house to help feed the old people Saturday night.

US: LMH nurse aiding in Haiti relief

24 January 2010: As soon as the 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck Haiti, Karin Feltman’s friends started asking when she would go to help. A 13-year veteran of Lawrence Memorial Hospital’s emergency room, Feltman has served on medical mission trips in Mississippi, Kenya, Honduras and Mali. “All we can do at this point is relieve as much suffering as possible and give them as much hope as we can,” Feltman said.

US: Vitamin D supplementation can reduce falls in nursing care facilities

24 January 2010: Giving people living in nursing facilities vitamin D can reduce the rate of falls, according to a new Cochrane Review. This finding comes from a study of many different interventions used in different situations. In hospitals, multifactorial interventions and supervised exercise programs also showed benefit.

EUR: Weight-loss pill banned in Europe

24 January 2010: Australia's most popular weight loss drug has been banned in Europe after studies found it increased the risk of heart attacks and stroke in patients. The European Medicines Agency suspended the licence of Reductil, used by obese patients to aid weight loss.

HAITI: Haiti elderly receive some medical care, need food

23 January 2010: Relief groups brought doctors and medication to the ruins of a city nursing home Saturday, the first time its dozens of elderly residents have received significant care since the Jan. 12 earthquake. Still, caregivers said the residents continue to face a critical food shortage.

HAITI: Race to save starving Haiti OAPs

23 January 2010: An aid group has pledged a month's worth of food for dozens of starving nursing home residents living in appalling conditions in Haiti's capital. Relief group World Vision said the food was ready to deliver and would arrive at the ruins of the Municipal home for the elderly within a couple of days.

US: Nursing students help with care of Haitian orphans

22 January 2010: When the orphans from Haiti came to Children's Hospital, they were met by legions of volunteers. Some of those volunteers were Pitt nursing students that were picked by Catholic Charities to be part of this unique and gracious effort. "Student nurses are perfect for that," nursing student Teresa Hagan said. "We have our clearances. We have pediatric rotations, we have psychiatric rotations."

US: Report: Hospital's violations led to waiting-room death

22 January 2010: In a 22-page report released yesterday, the state Department of Health detailed numerous policy violations that took place on Nov. 28, when Rivera suffered a heart attack and sat dead for more than 40 minutes, unnoticed by hospital personnel. During subsequent interviews, state investigators found that hospital staffers were unaware of protocols that require them to check on patients in the waiting room.

US: A nurse/journalist weighs in on disaster coverage by medical professionals

22 January 2010: Ethics, professionalism, accountability, a sense of duty; documenting events as they happen! These are the traits and skills most needed for ... journalists in a disaster zone. One striking feature has been the presence of physician "medical correspondents" like CNN's Sanjay Gupta, MD, and ABC's Richard Besser, MD. Gupta is the most widely recognizable because of his nomination by President Obama to be U.S. Surgeon General, and his weekly show on CNN.

Minnesota confronts fatal falls in nursing homes

22 January 2010: The [StarTribune] found that since 2002 more than 1,100 deaths were related to falls at Minnesota nursing homes. Less than 10 percent of those deaths were fully investigated by state regulators, leading some consumer advocates to question whether regulators were doing enough to reverse the trend, which has not shown signs of abating.

CAN: Severe swine flu patients can benefit from early treatment

22 January 2010: According to experts, severe swine flu or influenza A (H1N1) infection is connected with postponed treatment with antiviral drugs. This was brought out by researchers in Manitoba who succeeded in specifying factors involved in severe H1N1 infections.

US: Report finds staff errors key in counselor's death

22 January 2010: Twice, when an emergency-room nurse called out the name of Joaquin Rivera and he did not respond, she had no idea he'd already suffered a massive heart attack. The reason: The nurse did not venture beyond the waiting-room doorway and simply did not see him where he sat, unattended, for nearly an hour.

US: The at-home alternative to nursing home

22 January 2010: Nursing home care is expensive, and because few state residents can afford adequate private long-term care insurance, most will ultimately impoverish themselves trying to get care and become eligible for Medicaid. For many, Medicaid becomes their long-term care insurance policy.

HAITI: Desperate residents in Haitian nursing home finally start to get help, but not enough

22 January 2010: The nursing home where she lived is in ruins. So Merzelia Joseph stood up next to her bed in the open and urinated on the ground. "I'm so weak, I can't walk," said Joseph, a blue plastic rosary strung around her neck. "We are all very, very hungry. Somebody brought us some spaghetti today, but I am still hungry and we have nothing to drink."

US: Haiti survivor 'saved by first-aid iPhone app'

21 January 2010: An American filmmaker who was injured and trapped under rubble in the devastating Haiti earthquake credits a first-aid iPhone application with helping him get out alive after 65 hours.

US: Where the jobs are: Nurse Educator

21 January 2010: Health care is one field that hasn't gotten badly beaten in the brutal economy, and nurses have fared especially well. They had an unemployment rate of merely 1.4% in the fourth quarter of 2009. Nurse educators–nurses who teach nurses–are in particular demand, not just in schools but in jobs with companies that release new medical devices onto the market and need to train people to use them.

HAITI: HelpAge working in Haiti's nursing homes

21 January 2010: HelpAge International and its local partners in Haiti have been working in nursing homes in Port-au-Prince to assess the needs of older people and to distribute medical supplies.

US: Regis College reaches out to help in Haiti

21 January 2010: "The earthquake devastation is so great that, beyond immediate rescue operations and emergency medical treatment, long-term care and building a new infrastructure are expected to be going on for some time," said Hays. "The college does not know when our team may be called upon, but the group is ready to go. Right now Haiti is desperate for surgeons and orthopedists, and the need for nurses will be constant in the months ahead."

St. John among top 5 percent in nursing excellence

20 January 2010: In what was supposed to be a staff meeting about patient satisfaction, nurses at St. John Medical Center got a big surprise Wednesday — designation as one of the top 5 percent of hospitals in the country for nursing excellence and patient care.

CAN: Physician Assistants provide needed role in improving access and quality to care for Canadians

No date: Although relatively new to the Canadian civilian health care system, the Canadian Forces PAs have been providing outstanding care in adverse conditions for decades both domestically and internationally. The United States, the Netherlands, Scotland, England, and Australia have successfully utilized the Physician /Physician Assistant model in improving access to quality care. This same standard of training is provided to all PAs graduating from an accredited physician assistant program.

Local News

WEEK COMMENCING 23 JANUARY 2010

GPs to receive $6000 to go bush to help ease the rural medical crisis

27 January 2010: City doctors will be paid a $6000 training bonus to spend four weeks doing locum work in the bush. Up to 150 GPs will be trained to operate in small rural towns, where sometimes only one doctor is available. The scheme aims to relieve overworked rural doctors, many of whom find it almost impossible to take holidays.

Prime Minister told to tackle doctor drought

27 January 2010: Independent federal MP Bob Katter has demanded Kevin Rudd stop talking about health reform and act immediately to ease a shortage of doctors which he says is "killing" his electorate. Mr Katter, whose northwest Queensland electorate of Kennedy includes some of the most remote communities in the nation, said yesterday that the bush had been starved of doctors for years and the Prime Minister must act.

Elderly patients 'blocking' hospital beds

26 January 2010: The Federal Government has failed to give aged care providers enough incentives to provide sufficient beds, the Opposition says. Opposition health spokesman, Peter Dutton, says the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, previously promised to stop hospital beds being blocked by elderly people.

Abbott defends 'virgin' stance

26 January 2010: Tony Abbott has defended his controversial comments on sex and marriage even before the magazine containing the interview has hit newsstands. The opposition leader has told The Australian Women's Weekly, in an article to be published on Wednesday, that he would advise his daughters not to give away their virginity "lightly".

Ageing, growing population blamed for rise in costs

26 January 2010: The state's most senior health bureaucrat has denied her department has a culture of wasting money and is top heavy with highly paid executives, two days after it was revealed health threatened to soak up most of the state's budget within two decades.

Let the Feds pay for our health

26 January 2010: The Federal Government should take over all health funding and leave running the system to the states, South Australia's Health Minister John Hill says.

Mental health expert is Australian of the Year

25 January 2010: Leading youth mental health expert Professor Patrick McGorry has been named the Australian of the Year.

More cash into general practice: RACGP

25 January 2010: The federal government should invest more than half a billion dollars in GP infrastructure, introduce MBS items for preventative health and introduce a no-fault social insurance system, the RACGP says. In a budget submission to health minister Nicola Roxon, college president Dr Chris Mitchell calls for increases in prevocational and vocational training places, the number of GP training supervisors, and Indigenous registrars.

Mobile doctors for the ACT?

25 January 2010: This morning, Adam Shirley had a chat to Dr Paul Jones, ACT Branch President of the Australian Medical Association about the Government's plan for home doctor visits for the aged. 

Stanhope: Proposals invited for GP aged day service

25 January 2010: The ACT Government is inviting proposals for a new GP Aged Day Service to improve access to general practitioners for elderly Canberra residents, Chief Minister and Acting Health Minister, Jon Stanhope, announced today.

Health spending to swamp budgets

25 January 2010: Kevin Rudd has warned that the states are being ''overwhelmed'' by rising health costs as he gears up for an election fight over an overhaul of hospital funding.

Bid to cut waiting lists

25 January 2010: The Federal Government could cut 89,000 people from elective surgery waiting lists in a year by adopting a Queensland model which contracts private hospitals to treat public patients, Catholic Health Australia says.

Australia's PM warns of massive health care costs

25 January 2010: Australia's prime minister, Kevin Rudd has warned that the government faces massive hikes in health costs.

Hospital labours under nurse baby boom

25 January 2010: There is a baby boom of a different kind at the Alice Springs Hospital. Twenty nurses are currently on maternity leave and another 10 are set to join them soon.

Agencies plug into eHealth systems

No date: The Minister for Health, Nicola Roxon, has visited the offices of Medicare Australia in Canberra to see for herself how a new, secure eHealth system would work for health care patients and professionals.

Roxon flags bigger role for private hospitals

25 January 2010: Private hospitals could be paid by the Rudd government to take public patients and boost competition between the two sectors, Health Minister Nicola Roxon said today.

Health to make state budgets sicker

25 January 2010: Kevin Rudd says health spending is shaping up as a major challenge for state and federal governments. He says he is now consulting on what to do about it but the Opposition wants action, as chief political correspondent, Lyndal Curtis, reports.

Kevin Rudd in alert on health spend

25 January 2010: Kevin Rudd has declared 2010 a year of "major health reform", warning that health spending alone will outstrip state tax revenues within two decades. "If current spending and revenue trends continue, Treasury projects that the total health spending of all states will exceed 100 per cent of their tax revenues, excluding the GST, by around 2045-46, and possibly earlier in some states. That is why 2010 must be and will be a year of major health reform."

Health district takes on more nurse graduates

25 January 2010: There has been a 20 per cent increase in the number of graduate registered nurses joining the Gold Coast Health District this year. Training in new areas such as special-care nursery and medical imaging will be offered to 117 graduates.

Gladstone health services slammed

25 January 2010: The Capricornia representative for the Australian Medical Association Queensland, Dr Kim Bulwinkel, has slammed the level of health services available in the Gladstone region. Dr Bulwinkel said “the current report card is all crosses”. He said there was a lack of “common sense, practical sense or strategic sense” in planning health services for the Central Queensland region.

Roxon pushes role of private hospitals

25 January 2010: There is "enormous potential" for the private sector to play a greater role in the nation's health system in the future, Health Minister Nicola Roxon says.

'The drill slipped and my life changed completely'

25 January 2010: Helen Kerner trusted her "nice, clean-cut" neurosurgeon when he said he had performed the delicate spinal operation she required 1500 times before. The 60-year-old was confused when she woke up incontinent, still in pain, with no feeling in her legs or pelvis, and upset when he tried to discharge her from hospital two days into recovery.

Top End gets first McGrath breast care nurse

24 January 2010: The  first McGrath Foundation breast care nurse in the Territory has devoted her life to caring for others. Jennie Copley was announced as the nurse while Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon was in Darwin last week. The mother of four and grandmother of two said she has worked in the field of nursing since she was 17.

Red tape restricting growth drug for children

23 January 2010: Excessively strict interpretation of rules governing the prescription of human growth hormone is compromising the care of children with medical conditions that make them abnormally short, specialists say.

Is this the beginning of the end for big families?

23 January 2010: One healthy baby and a happy relationship – that's what Australian women want. But, disturbingly, many women keep drinking and smoking through pregnancy, ignoring crucial health warnings about the harm they may be causing their unborn babies.

Home births: deadly or desirable?

23 January 2010: After six hospital births, Hahndorf mother Melissa Read decided to bring her seventh child, Ayla, into the world at home. “Doctors had told me home births were incredibly risky but I did a lot of research and the midwives understood what I was talking about and how I felt,” Ms Read said.

Mental health body blasts Australian Medical Association call

23 January 2010: The nation's peak mental health body has taken issue with a call by the Australian Medical Association for the federal government to fund more psychiatric hospital beds, saying the pitch misrepresents the sector's real needs.

Lack of sleep akin to behaviour disorder

22 January 2010: What's the difference between a child who's overtired and one with a behaviour disorder? Not a lot, says sleep specialist Dr Chris Seton, recalling a US experiment in which 50 children with ADHD were put together in a hall with 50 sleep deprived children – and sleep physicians and ADHD experts were asked to tell them apart.

Australian doctors caution against body-piercing

22 January 2010: The Australian Medical Association (AMA) has warned of the health risks associated with body-piercing. AMA Vice President, Dr Steve Hambleton, today launched an AMA youth health brochure that provides advice about the risks associated with piercing including the factors and questions people should consider before having a body piercing.

SA specialists to staff NT cancer treatment unit

22 January 2010: The Federal Health Minister, Nicola Roxon, says cancer specialists from Adelaide will help staff Darwin's new oncology unit.

Feds: Quick action to stop strep throat

22 January 2010: Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Minister for Health and Ageing Nicola Roxon and Minister for Indigenous Health Warren Snowdon today announced the establishment of RHDAustralia, an Australian Government-funded body to help combat a potentially fatal heart disease that affects young Indigenous Australians. Rheumatic Heart Disease begins with strep throat, a common bacterial infection of the throat, but if left untreated can develop into Acute Rheumatic Fever and go on to damage the valves of the heart, and ultimately be fatal.

The pitfalls of fee-for-service healthcare

22 January 2010: Has fee-for-service medicine and healthcare more broadly passed its use by date? “Yes and no” is the suggestion of this brief report from The Canadian Health Services Research Foundation, published as part of its myth-busting series. The commonly held belief that most doctors prefer fee-for-service is a myth, it says. While the report is framed very much within the Canadian context, many of its arguments sound very familiar.

PM opens NT's first cancer treatment centre

22 January 2010: The Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, has officially opened a new oncology unit in Darwin, which will mean cancer patients will no longer have to travel interstate to get treatment.

Elliott: 2009–10 aged care approvals round commences

22 January 2010: Minister for Ageing Justine Elliot, today announced that more than 12,000 new aged care places throughout Australia, worth more than $477 million in annual funding, will be on offer as part of the 2009-10 Aged Care Approvals Round (ACAR).

Does Australia's health system need to get worse before it can get better?

21 January 2010: Indeed, in most countries, they have been trying for decades. But a recent economic jolt reminded us just how tenuous our prosperity is and has given us a new sense of urgency. But will this renewed impetus, perhaps embodied in Obama´s efforts, allow health reform to succeed in Australia, the USA and elsewhere? Will we be able to reduce costs and improve efficiency? What will the future of our health look like?

AMAQ targets financial wastage in OZ

21 January 2010: To target the financial waste taking place in the public health system a campaign has been launched by the Australian Medical Association Queensland (AMAQ). According to the AMAQ president Dr Mason Stevenson every year, about $4 billion is wasted because of replication and administrative faults.

Ageing population will worsen wastage in health

21 January 2010: Billions of dollars are wasted throughout Australia’s health system each year according to the Queensland division of the Australian Medical Association (AMA) – and the ageing population will only exacerbate the problem.

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