Volunteering and specialising are two things Vicki Evans thinks are important for a nurse’s development. Evans is a clinical nurse consultant and the vice-president of the World Federation of Neuroscience Nurses. “Some of my proudest moments have been helping nurses ...
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Nurse practitioners face barriers to providing best care in rural areas
Rural nurse practitioners are facing a number of hurdles when it comes to being able to deliver the best care possible. This is the opinion of a new study looking into extended scopes of practice in rural settings, carried out ...
More »Proud Aussie nurse talks about heading up prestigious US nursing school
Patricia Davidson is a "proud Aussie nurse". She has been an RN since 1980 and has clinical, teaching and practice expertise in cardiovascular science and the care of vulnerable populations. Starting her career at Wollongong hospital, Davidson is now flying ...
More »Women in leadership: How do you get there?
Healthcare is one of the few industries dominated by female employees, yet in these industries CEO roles are only held by women 37.6 per cent of the time and key management positions are held by women 48.2 per cent of the ...
More »Keeping it in the family: mother, daughter graduate with nursing degrees
“How would you have gone if you had taken your mum to uni, Conor?” recent nursing graduate and mother Lorella McLatchey asks me. As I ponder this, I imagine sitting at the uni bar while my mother stares at me disapprovingly, ...
More »Patients happy with ‘very good’ care in emergency departments
Almost 16,000 NSW emergency department patients were surveyed about their experiences during 2017–18, with 88 per cent or nearly nine in 10 patients rating their experience as ‘very good’ (59 per cent) or ‘good’ (29 per cent). This is down slightly from ...
More »New gerontology framework to ensure skills for nurses
In the wake of the aged care royal commission and a perceived skills shortage in the sector, the University of Wollongong, in partnership with the Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute, has released the Gerontological Nursing Competencies (GNCs) framework. The framework ...
More »Rock ‘n’ roll, push ‘n’ pull: avoiding nurse and patient injuries
Studies show that an average nurse lifts 1.8 tonnes per 12-hour shift, re-positions patients around 69 times a shift and often perform 4 transfers per day. That is a lot of lifting, pushing and pulling and can leave nurses battered ...
More »Keeping our nurses engaged: combatting an ageing workforce
“My kids will kill me for this,” Dan Levitt told the nurses in the crowd at his Australian Healthcare Week talk. “DAY-OH” he sings. The tickled crowd responds in kind. “DAYYYY-OOOHHH,” he continues and goes on to complete the attempt ...
More »How to survive clinical placements: Tips from a student nurse
The nursing clinical placement is an essential part of the nursing degree and is an opportunity to solidify clinical knowledge and get real life exposure to clinical settings. For almost all students, the transition from university-based learning to the real ...
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