A day in the life of a NICU Nurse
For Melissah Burnett, a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) Nurse with more than 25 years of experience in the area, the appeal of neonatal nursing is about her young infant patients and their families. “It all comes back to the babies, and the families, they really are the centre of my care,” Melissah says. According […]
New group practice model promises better care for women of Castlemaine
A shift to a midwifery group practice model in regional Victoria will provide continuity of care and help deliver a better birthing experience for local families, according to Castlemaine health. After an extensive review of operations, planning, ongoing consultation with key stakeholders and consumer groups, a midwifery-led model was developed encompassing a remote, on-call group […]
More Birthing on Country services needed to improve health outcomes for Indigenous mothers and babies
More Birthing on Country services needed to improve health outcomes for Indigenous mothers and babies
CPD demystified
Finding CPD activities is not normally a challenge for me, as I love gaining new knowledge. For some though, keeping up with CPD can be an arduous task, and for those with dual registration, there can be confusion around how to meet CPD requirements for both. I hope to clarify this here. What is continuing […]
Homebirths as safe as hospital births
Homebirths in a well-integrated midwife setting are as safe as hospital births for low-risk pregnant women, a large international study shows. Canadian researchers found low-risk pregnant women who intended to give birth at home had no increased risk of perinatal or neonatal death than those who gave birth at hospital. “More women in well-resourced countries […]
Nurse still in the profession after 65 years
It is hard to imagine nowadays but when Pamela Butler trained as a nurse in the 1950s part of her education involved scaling, cleaning and filleting a whole fish before cooking it for teachers to taste and score. The then 17-year-old undertook her training at the Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children at Camperdown, now The […]
Q&A with a male midwife
According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), men made up just 1.6%, or 448, of the 28,211 employed registered midwives in 2015. The ANMJ spoke to New South Wales-based Clinical Midwifery Educator (CME) Daniel Evans about why he chose to pursue the non-traditional career path for men and what he loves about […]
NSW midwives highlight dangerous maternity shortages
Midwives from NSW rallied today to highlight shortages within their maternity wards. NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association (NSWNMA) members from Royal Prince Alfred, Royal North Shore, Wollongong, Liverpool, Blacktown, Nepean Lismore, John Hunter, Tweed and Tamworth Hospitals have backed an open letter to the NSW Minister for Health, Brad Hazzard, urging the NSW Government to implement […]
Dramatic drop in hand hygiene compliance
Healthcare worker compliance with national hand hygiene guidelines falls from more than 90 to 30% when they are not being observed, latest research shows. The national mandatory hand hygiene program was introduced in Australian hospitals eight years ago and requires a 70% compliance rate The University of NSW (UNSW) study monitored human and automated methods […]
Midwives safely select for water birth
Midwives are choosing the appropriate women to labour and birth in water, Western Australian research shows. The Curtin University and King Edward Memorial Hospital research found 80% of WA women who planned to give birth in water experienced a normal, uncomplicated vaginal birth. A total of 502 women at WA’s sole tertiary public maternity hospital, […]