International News
UK: Nursing and midwifery review recommends ward sisters get more power
2 March 2010: The role of ward sister must be returned to a visible position of hospital authority as part of an overhaul of nursing and midwifery, a long-awaited review recommends. The Prime Minister’s Commission on the Future of Nursing and Midwifery in England states that nurses must be “placed centre-stage” in the NHS to address the needs of the growing elderly population and those with chronic conditions.
UK: RCN calls for politicians to implement 'milestone' nursing report
2 March 2010: The Royal College of Nursing says political leaders must act urgently to ensure the recommendations in a “milestone” report on the future of nursing become reality. The final report of the Prime Minister’s Commission on the Future of Nursing and Midwifery – titled Front Line Care – was published today. It sets out 20 recommendations on how the nursing and midwifery professions should be developed and supported.
US: Angie the Anti-Theist: Mother stands by decision to graphically document abortion live on the internet
2 March 2010: An American woman who documented her abortion live on the internet [after taking RU-486] says she stands by her decision despite being threatened and labelled a "whore".
INDIA: Australians caught up in 'Dr Horror' kidney racket
2 March 2010: Australia has been dragged into an investigation of an Indian medic known as ''Dr Horror'' who is accused of running illegal clinics that duped poor labourers into selling their kidneys and then peddled them to wealthy clients.
US: Joe the Nurse explores RNs' Haiti disaster fatigue, while waiting for tsunami
1 March 2010: The nurse on TV bravely showed a TV crew around her temporary workplace in Haiti. She was Haitian-American, from Brooklyn, and she was proud to be able to help. Then she listed the supplies they did not have, and the people who were dying. At one point, a reporter was describing how the ‘doctors' were saving lives when one of the women in the shot took him aside and said, ‘None of these people are doctors. We are all nurses!'
US: Old age, from youth’s narrow prism
1 March 2010: I asked her why she had come to the nursing home, and she described the recent passing of her husband after 73 years of marriage. I was overwhelmed by the thought of her loss, and wanted to offer some words of comfort. I leaned in close and spoke. “I’m so sorry,” I told her. “What has it been like for you losing your husband after so many years of marriage?” She paused for a moment and then replied: “Heaven.”
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.
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.
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
Local News
WEEK COMMENCING 27 FEBRUARY 2010
Rudd set to fight states on health
3 March 2010: The states will be asked to surrender a slice of their GST revenue so it can be given directly to a new national health network that will fund hospitals directly.
Medicare staff using medical records to spy
2 March 2010: Patient confidentiality is an absolute in the doctors' creed. You're supposed to be able to tell your GP or specialist what's wrong with you without the fear that he or she will leak it to someone else. That's the rule that's been broken on average a hundred times a year inside the national database at Medicare.
Cannabis use in under 15s linked to psychosis
2 March 2010: Using cannabis for the first time under the age of 15 is linked to an increased risk of hallucinations or delusions, a new study has found. However, the findings are still not definite.
Medicare privacy breaches 'only the beginning'
2 March 2010: Dr Juanita Fernando, the chair of the health sub-committee at the Australian Privacy Foundation, says Medicare's assurances may be of little comfort to people whose privacy has been breached.
AMA gives federal health takeover the tick
2 March 2010: The Australian Medical Association says public hospitals have been subject to "cost shifting and blame gaming" for too long under the direction of the Northern Territory Government.
When a dream can only stay a dream
2 March 2010: Thirteen-year-old Brendan Rose of Doonside fears for his future. He was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when he was four and his life has not been the same since. "I'm scared that when I'm 20 I may have problems with my eyesight or kidneys," Brendan said. "Many people think that `managing' type 1 diabetes means that I am able to `control' this condition. Unfortunately, this is not possible.''
RCNA: Nursing is high on Australian government agenda
1 March 2010: Now is an exciting time for professionals in international nurses' jobs in Australia. This is the view of Debra Cerasa, chief executive officer of the Royal College Of Nursing, Australia (RCNA), who said that the demands and needs of the sector are well represented and respected on the government's agenda of health reform. The organisation has unveiled plans to allow free membership to first year undergraduates studying towards a nursing degree or diploma, as well as anyone taking a master's in nursing or midwifery.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to seize control of hospital funding from states
2 March 2010: Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will move to seize control of hospital funding from the states in a provocative reform of the nation's health system to be announced this week. States will have one month to sign up to the plan crafted by Mr Rudd and Health Minister Nicola Roxon. If they refuse there will be a showdown after Easter.
Clinical councils to advise on funding
2 March 2010: For the first time, hospital staff will have a legal right to see budgets, have a say in how money is spent and be closely involved in crucial decision making on how hospitals operate.
Medicare privacy breaches shake e-health legislation
2 March 2010: Rvelations that Medicare Australia has investigated 1058 employees for possible unauthorised access to client records in the past three years may rock a Senate inquiry into the controversial Healthcare Identifiers Bill.
Medicare snoops caught by secret database
2 March 2010: More than one in six Medicare Australia employees is suspected of having spied on confidential client records in the past financial year.
Kevin Rudd to seize control of hospital funding from states
2 March 2010: Kevin Rudd will move to seize control of hospital funding from the states in a provocative reform of the nation's health system to be announced this week. The states will no longer be given any federal money to run their public hospital system. Instead the Federal Government will directly fund regional health authorities, who will be in charge of running public hospitals in their regions.
Health cash linked to results
2 March 2010: The states will be given about a month to consider a new funding model for public health, with the Rudd government expected to unveil the plan within days as part of a renewed policy offensive.
Investing in the aged care workforce – $9.5 million for nursing scholarships
2 March 2010: Minister for Ageing, Justine Elliot announced that $9.5 million in nursing scholarships are being made available to train or upskill up to 680 people as part of the Government's investment in the aged care workforce.
PM sidelines states on healthcare
1 March 2010: Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will move to seize control of hospital funding from states in a provocative reform of the nation's health system to be announced this week. The states will no longer be given any federal money to run their public hospitals. Instead, Mr Rudd will directly fund regional health authorities, which will be in charge of running public hospitals in their regions.
AMA slams NSW hospital councils plan
1 March 2010: A NSW government plan to set up clinical advisory councils in public hospitals fails to involve medical staff in the decision-making process, doctors say.
Senate to examine eHealth ID number
1 March 2010: The Rudd Government has referred its controversial Healthcare Identifiers Bill – which seeks to attach a unique ID number to all Australians – to a Senate committee for examination, but given the public just one week to respond.
Pertussis vaccine at birth
1 March 2010: Giving acellular pertussis vaccine at birth and four weeks of age provides significant immune protection against pertussis antigens by two months of age without reducing subsequent pertussis antibody responses, a study from the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance of
Vaccine Preventable Diseases in Sydney has found (Pediatric Infectious Diseases 29: 209-15)
