Medicare Urgent Care Clinics seeing more than 10,000 patients each week
More than 250,000 Australians have visited the federal government’s network of 58 Medicare Urgent Care Clinics for care from a doctor or a nurse, easing the burden of busy hospital emergency departments. A key election commitment, the rollout began in June 2023, with the final clinics opening late last year. According to the government, almost […]
Exercise caution when taking nutritional advice from social media influencers, study finds
Researchers say Australians should think twice about taking dietary and nutritional advice from social media after a national audit of influencer posts revealed nearly half contained inaccurate information. Deakin University’s Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition (IPAN) examined nearly 700 Instagram posts by influencers and brands with more than 100,000 followers, finding 45% included false […]
Greater evidence reduces reliability of ChatGPT when used for health questions, study finds
Asking a health-related question to ChatGPT? Well, you might be at risk, after a new study found that the more evidence the Artificial Intelligence (AI) platform is given, the less reliable it becomes, with the accuracy of its responses plunging to as low as 28%. Scientists from CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, and the University […]
Aged Care nurses visit Parliament to call out providers
Around 60 aged care nurses and carers from across the country have travelled to Canberra to address the ongoing failures by providers to comply with the federal government’s key aged care reforms. The group is standing together to call out providers, many of whom are proving they can’t be trusted to lift the standard of […]
New sleep regime to help insomnia
For shift workers with a chronically mistimed body-clock, getting a good night’s sleep can be an endless battle. Australian researchers are moving a step closer to discovering how to personalise a sleep regime and readjust the body-clock to help treat some types of insomnia, shift work disorder and other forms of body clock disruption such […]
Q&A: Australian College of Nurse Practitioners President Melanie Dunstan
Nursing has opened numerous doors for Melanie Dunstan throughout her career. But it was becoming a nurse practitioner that truly enabled her to deliver the greatest amount of care to clients, particularly reducing delays and increasing access to healthcare. As the current president of the Australian College of Nurse Practitioners, she remains committed to advocating […]
Young female shift workers hold multiple jobs to make ends meet
A total of 7% of the shift workforce held multiple jobs simultaneously in 2023 – a 25-year high with the majority being young females. All major industries have experienced an unprecedented rise in the number of shift workers working multiple jobs, including 7% of healthcare workers, the data from shift work management platform Deputy found. […]
Organ donation saves 1,396 Australians, but consent rates remain low
Thanks to the generosity of 513 donors, and their families who ticked off donation, 1,396 Australians received a life-saving organ transplant last year, the 2023 Australian Donation and Transplantation Activity Report has revealed. With a 13% increase in deceased organ donation, and a 14% increase in the number of people who received a transplant from […]
Wage case recognises historic undervalued work of aged care nurses
The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) has welcomed the Fair Work Commission’s (FWC) further recognition that the work of aged care workers has been historically undervalued in its Stage 3 decision for the aged care industry work value case announced today. The FWC has concluded that, for ‘work value reasons’, award rates for direct […]
‘Drama queen’: Two-thirds of women experience bias and discrimination in Australia’s health system
Two out of three women experience bias and discrimination within Australia’s health system, a new report has revealed. The findings, emerging from the first End Gender Bias survey, were released today by Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care, Ged Kearney, at the 2024 National Women’s Health Summit at Parliament House in Canberra. “The results […]