Trailblazing Indigenous nurse and leader, Dr Lowitja O’Donoghue, passes away aged 91
Trailblazing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurse, leader, and rights activist, Dr Lowitja O’Donoghue, passed over the weekend, aged 91. A proud Yankunytjatjara woman, Dr O’Donoghue leaves behind a remarkable legacy of work underpinned by a fierce and unrelenting drive to improve the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Among her […]
Removing ENs from aged care would have detrimental effects on safe and high-quality care
What would happen if the number of enrolled nurses, or shifts, were reduced in a nursing home? According to the ANMF’s National Aged Care Survey 2023, released last October, such a move would create more work for registered nurses, increase workloads for AINs/PCAs/PCWs, and result in serious detrimental effects in the provision of safe and […]
Forty years on, Medicare is at a crossroads
Forty years on, Medicare is at a crossroads
What do nurse practitioners think about registered nurse (RN) prescribing?
While acknowledging that Registered Nurse (RN) prescribing offers an opportunity to potentially improve patient access to medicines and enhance healthcare system efficiency, many nurse practitioners remain equally concerned about how it will be implemented, possible role ambiguity, and patient safety, a recent study has revealed. The survey of 229 Australian nurse practitioners, about 10% of […]
Aged care nursing clinical placements program inspires next generation of nurses to join sector
Aged care nursing clinical placements program inspires next generation of nurses to join sector
Meet Nurse Blake, the accidental comedy sensation
In 2017, Blake Lynch, better known as Nurse Blake, was driving home after a gruelling shift in an intensive care unit when he experienced his first panic attack. The culprit, he later found out through therapy, was burnout and stress triggered by the demands of the high-acuity ward. As a way to cope, he began […]
Inside South Australia’s new virtual care service for women with symptoms of early pregnancy loss
Women in South Australia who are showing signs of early pregnancy loss can now conveniently access vital midwifery-led care and support through video consultations from the comfort and privacy of their own homes. The new virtual Women’s Assessment Service, run by the Women’s and Children’s Health Network (WCHN), enables women across the state experiencing symptoms […]
‘It’s the old people’: Why enrolled nurses (ENs) belong in aged care
Last year (2022), just two weeks out from Christmas, Tasmanian enrolled nurse Julie Wicks and dozens of her colleagues working across Southern Cross Care’s aged care facilities were asked to front up to a Monday morning meeting over Skype. Shock quickly spread after staff learned about plans to make all ENs redundant, meaning they wouldn’t […]
How I became Australia’s first authorised nurse practitioner
More than two decades ago, on 12 December 2000, Jane O’Connell became the first nurse practitioner to be authorised in Australia.
Federal Court ruling on telehealth and voluntary assisted dying a ‘blow to terminally ill people’
A federal court ruling this week confirming that telehealth consultations about voluntary assisted dying remain illegal will lead to further suffering for terminally ill people, advocacy group Go Gentle has argued. Go Gentle Australia’s CEO, Dr Linda Swan, said voluntary assisted dying, now legal across all Australian states, being considered suicide would exacerbate suffering and […]