Rollout of nurse and midwife to patient ratios in Western Australia welcomed by ANF
After years of campaigning for safe staffing levels, nurse-to-patient ratios will be rolled out across Western Australia in October. WA’s North Metropolitan Health Service (NMHS) will begin implementing nurse and midwife to patient ratios across its general medical and general surgical wards. This first phase of the staged implementation will commence at the NMHS at […]
Unions call for more practical details on right to disconnect
Unions are seeking more practical details around the new right to disconnect laws which come into effect at the end of this month. The right to disconnect award terms are currently being developed by the Fair Work Commission and due to come into effect on 26 August 2024. The new workplace right to disconnect passed […]
Online calculator assesses personal long COVID risk
An online COVID-19 risk calculator that helps determine a person’s risk of developing long COVID is now available and may help encourage health prevention measures. “While many adults don’t see COVID-19 as a big issue now, many are concerned about getting long COVID. “The chance of suffering long COVID increases with every bout of COVID-19 […]
Link between kneecap shape and osteoarthritis
The shape of a person’s kneecap could be an indicator of whether they’re more at risk of developing osteoarthritis, research shows. Yet the reason is not well understood, according to researchers from the Australian National University (ANU), who were left surprised by the findings. The ANU team set out to explore whether kneecap shape may […]
Saving lives: Nurse and midwife to patient ratios
Australian nurses and midwives have been trailblazers in fighting for and securing nurse/midwife to patient ratios.
Government initiatives to strengthen nursing workforce in primary care
Peak nursing bodies have welcomed initiatives to bolster the workforce in primary care, including the national program to increase student nursing placements in primary care. The federal government announced $4.2 million for the National Nurse Clinical Placements Program (NNCPP) in the 2023-24 Budget. Federal Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care Ged Kearney, a RN […]
Nurses on the frontline of Australia’s AIDS crisis
A new book chronicles the role nurses played during the AIDS pandemic after the emergence of HIV, and how unions drove infection control policy, including universal precautions. “HIV and AIDS devastated communities across Australia in the 1980s and 1990s. Bringing together stories from across the country, historian Geraldine Fela documents the extraordinary care, compassion and […]
NSW nurse makes badminton debut at Paris Olympics
Registered nurse Tiffany Ho admits she is an underdog as she heads off to Paris to compete in the badminton singles at her first Olympic Games. “For me, where I sit in the ranking, I’m in the bottom half. So, everyone will be tough, but that’s the exciting bit. It’s always going to be a […]
Reducing the noise in ICU
Western Australian research is aiming to decrease noise levels in intensive care units (ICUs) by implementing improvements in acoustic design. Up to 50% of patients in ICUs experience sleep disturbance due to noise which can hinder recovery and negatively impact their health. Staff report noise levels negatively impact their work performance, patient connection and job satisfaction. […]
Moral distress tool for midwifery practice
Moral distress occurs when individuals experience a compromise to their moral beliefs. While validated tools exist to assess moral distress in various health professions, none are specifically tailored for midwifery in the Australian healthcare system. Midwife, clinical educator and researcher Wendy Foster and her colleagues conducted a series of studies, including a pilot study The […]