Early diagnosis and implementation of care strategies are among the benefits a specialist in dementia care can deliver, along with valuable support for clients, families and health professionals.  "Having a dedicated person in this role who fully understands and is ...

Can a person in a vegetative state get married? And if not, why not?  A recent interesting case involved a woman who was denied the right to marry her fiancé because he was in a persistent vegetative state (PVS) and ...

As childhood obesity affects more and more families, nurses must prepare to help parents address the problem.  Australian children are dying from obesity and, according to a Sydney nurse specialist, it’s impossible to know the extent of the problem. For ...

Advocates say much more could be done to protect healthcare workers from needlesticks and other sharps injuries.  Needlestick and sharps injuries have been a focus of National Safe Work Australia Month. The injuries can come with the risk of serious ...

Criteria-led discharge is still a developing system but it’s already helping nurses move patients out of surgical wards more quickly.  The effectiveness of criteria-led discharge is being evaluated within a gastrointestinal surgical ward. Flinders Medical Centre has adopted the approach ...

Case of teen with Hodgkin’s raises question of whether a life is always best served by trying to save it.  Medical treatment, even if life-saving, cannot be forced upon an adult. For underaged children, however, such decisions can be made ...

A nurse/midwife is undertaking a study to help midwives improve their support for women who experience miscarriage or stillbirth.  Louise Harper, clinical nurse specialist at Genea in Port Macquarie and resource midwife on the area hospital’s miscarriage and stillbirth program, ...

PCA chief Yvonne Luxford sets the record straight as the sector comes into the spotlight.  Palliative care was launched onto the world stage on October 12 for World Hospice and Palliative Care Day, an event dedicated to celebrating and supporting ...

Study also finds two-thirds of admissions into residential aged care are permanent.  According to a recent report, a majority of the hospitalisations that occur amongst older Australians are for people who still live in their own homes – and most ...

Study compares effectiveness of two well-known treatments.  GPs are being called to participate in a world-first study exploring the treatment of depression in older people who live with chronic health conditions. The project, partially funded by beyondblue, is the first ...