The nursing department at Murdoch University recently received an innovation honour at the 2018 Australian Awards for University Teaching. Awarded for their e-portfolio, the team's platform prepares Murdoch graduates for professional practice by allowing them to construct, explore and discuss real-world problems in ...
More »Author Archives: Conor Burke
Cancer cases are up, but so are survival rates
A report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) shows that the number of cancer cases is likely to rise to 145,000 this year, three times the rates reported in 1982. However, the report also shows that five-year ...
More »Complex questions: thinking about compassionate care
For Dr Anne O’Callaghan it started 10 or 15 years ago when complications occurred after her cancer surgery. “I couldn't get anybody to hear that I was worried about my paralysed legs and my pain,” she tells me. "And I think ...
More »Spick and span: new cleaning framework reduces hospital infections
A trial of new cleaning guidelines used in Australian hospitals has significantly reduced major healthcare-associated infections. Trialled over 11 hospitals, cleaning practices improved from 55 to 76 per cent in bathroom areas and from 64 to 86 per cent in ...
More »Nurses satisfied overall: new workplace survey
A survey of primary healthcare nurses has found that 46.2 per cent believe they could be doing more at work, and when they've asked for more responsibility, 27.9 per cent report that managers didn’t approve the request. These are just ...
More »Nurse fatigue and its effect on patient safety
How many hours do you work a day, and how much sleep do you think you get a night? According to Dr Ann Rogers, it probably isn't enough. And if that's the case, your patients are at risk. Studies have shown ...
More »Meet ikki: a patient’s best friend
Ikki can take a patient’s temperature, it can sing to a patient, and it can let a patient know when to take their medicine and if they are taking the right medicine. Ikki is your friend. Ikki is also a ...
More »Take it easy: mindfulness experts talk about stress reduction
Nurse retention is a constant battle in healthcare. It has been estimated that to replace one registered nurse, it can cost anywhere between $17,728 and $104,686. The high stress environment can affect every nurse differently. Some will experience negative outcomes, ...
More »Should we move to single occupancy hospital rooms?
Quiet and private, or isolated and hard to manage. These are the flipsides in the increasing argument for and against single occupancy hospital rooms. There is a growing trend internationally for single occupancy rooms, but the dearth of literature in ...
More »On the front line, twice: conversation with a defence nurse
“We'd always get the cocky doctor who wouldn't listen and so the nurses would try a few times and then you'd go, no, let him hang,” Jo Ikin jokes. “They'd learn by their mistakes. Obviously, we'd never put a patient at risk, ...
More »