Q&A: Wound Clinical Nurse Consultant Hayley Ryan on tackling a ‘hidden epidemic’

This year’s Wound Awareness Week (4-10 September) is ‘Let’s get wound care RIGHT! The RIGHT diagnosis and the RIGHT treatment at the RIGHT time’. It points to the fact that so many wounds can be healed with appropriate care, especially from experienced wound care nurses, and the value of wound-specific education from many other health […]
Study: What would help retention of early career nurses in regional and rural areas?

What would help improve the job satisfaction and retention of early career nurses working across regional and rural Australia? It’s a question often contemplated by Heidi Rose, a clinical nurse based at Mount Gambier, and University of South Australia academics Dr Gemma Skaczkowski and Associate Professor Kate Gunn. So, they asked them. The study aimed […]
Survey on withdrawal effects from stopping antidepressants

Australians who have ceased, or are trying to stop, taking antidepressants are being asked to share their experiences in an online survey. University of Adelaide researchers are taking a closer look at the problems some people experience when stopping antidepressants, with the aim of using the research to improve services and supports for patients. One […]
Nurse, midwife and student contributors needed to share health and wellbeing experiences

Do you want to contribute to a service that supports and promotes the health and wellbeing of those who care for others: nurses and midwives? Do you want to write regularly for us and/or become a health and wellbeing ambassador? The new National Nurse and Midwife Health Service (NNMHS) is looking for contributors to share […]
Nuclear weapons, AUKUS and health

Nuclear weapons have been used twice in warfare, targeting the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. More than 210,000 civilians died by the end of that year. Many more died and suffered long term injuries in the years following these blasts. Nuclear weapons available today can be many times more powerful than those used […]
‘Our time’: Prime Minister announces Voice to Parliament referendum date

Australians will cast their vote at a landmark referendum to decide whether to enshrine an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament in the Constitution on Saturday, 14 October, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese officially confirmed this morning at a community rally in Adelaide. Launching the six-week campaign, the PM labelled the referendum a “once-in-a-generation […]
Scope of practice review set to ‘unleash’ nurses’ full potential

For too long, nurses and other health professionals haven’t been able to work to their full scope of practice. Now, the federal government wants to unlock their potential, with a new workforce review, launched last week, set to examine how to enable health practitioners to work to the full-extent of their skills and training, thus […]
New models of nursing care would provide solutions to ageing population, peaks argue

Australia’s population is forecast to pass 40 million by 2063, with the number of people aged over 65 set to double, while the number of Australians over 85 will triple, the government’s 2023 Intergenerational Report, released yesterday, has revealed. By 2062-63, the life expectancy of Australians is predicted to rise to 87 years for men, […]
NSW nurses protest against coal seam gas mine plans at Pilliga Forest

For several years, Gomeroi people in Coonabarabran and Narrabri have been fighting energy giant Santos’ proposed Narrabri Gas Project, which would see 850 coal seam gas (CSG) wells drilled in the iconic Pilliga Forest to extract gas. Known as fracking, the process involves drilling into the earth and directing a high-pressure mix of water, sand […]
Queensland midwives rally following unsafe workload audit

In an unprecedented action, Queensland midwives rallied outside Parliament House yesterday calling for urgent state government midwifery funding. It follows a recent audit of Queensland maternity inpatient wards which found single midwives are being left to care for up to 20 mothers and babies at a time. The Queensland Nurses and Midwives’ Union (QNMU, ANMF […]