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 ...

A keen eye, good record-keeping and some preventative steps can help control malnutrition.  Nurses are often the first point of contact when it comes to managing patients who are malnourished, so it is important to stay well informed. The silent epidemic ...

Nurses in the operating room should be conduits for communication and teamwork to help prevent errors, educators say. Education providers, including the Australian College of Nursing (ACN) and universities throughout the nation, are putting greater focus on non-technical skills in curriculums ...

Panel, survey say mums of infants are served heaping portions of misinformation on overfeeding.  Many Australian mothers hold perceptions that are unknowingly leading to the overfeeding of infants, a recent online survey by Luma Research for Aspen Nutritionals shows. The ...

Inaccurate, insensitive depictions of organ donation can have a real impact on a family’s decision.  Over the last few weeks, a number of incidents in the public sphere have highlighted the problem of callous, inaccurate and insensitive representation of organ donation. ...

Even in a seemingly obvious case of negligence, the accuser must provide appropriate evidence in order to win.  Not every act of harm is negligent, just as not every negligent act is harmful. An assessment relies on the context, the ...