"Look, we probably need to get you into this environment and see how you respond to it before you can actually make a decision yourself whether or not this is for you," they said to nurse Adam Spicer after his ...
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Skilling up: the postgrad edge
In comparison to other disciplines, Australian nursing has only come relatively lately to academia. Traditionally, academic qualifications were not viewed as necessary for nurses. The movement of nursing education to the tertiary sector has seen many changes from the ...
More »The struggle for legitimacy: nursing in Australia
At the recent ACN National Nursing Forum Georgina Willetts gave the key note speech on nursing's past, present and future. Willetts joined the profession aged 17 because she "didn’t want to go to university," and had no aspirations of leadership or pursuing a ...
More »How one nurse’s experience of family violence shaped her career
Sarah* is a survivor of multigenerational family violence. She grew up in what she describes as a “dysfunctional home”. Her mother was an alcoholic who was emotionally abusive. And at age 20, her uncle sexually assaulted her. Sarah is not ...
More »Can working in aged care produce better nurses?
Research by academics at Western Sydney University has found that nursing undergrads who work in aged care while completing their studies are learning valuable skills and enter the profession ahead of their graduate peers. The research surveyed new graduate nurses ...
More »What temporarily losing her vision taught one nurse about the profession
HESTA award winner Veronique Murphy, an associate nurse unit manager at Alfred Health, was recently invited by Deakin University to be a guest speaker at the School of Nursing and Midwifery’s awards night. Below is an edited transcript of the ...
More »Defusing challenging behaviours in the nursing industry
Nurses are more likely to suffer violence at work than police and prison officers.1 A US study also found that nurses and health care workers suffered almost 70 per cent of all workplace violence injuries and were nearly five times ...
More »Home and Away, Crocodile Dundee and nurses? Australia’s new big export
Australia and Scotland have longstanding cultural links and the Scots have given Australia many important historical figures. Sir George Hoist Reid for example, was the fourth prime minister of Australia. Peter Dodds McCormick, the composer of the national anthem 'Advance ...
More »On the sauce: Are nurses drinking too much?
Australia is a country that likes a drink. Recently deceased former prime minister Bob Hawke was lauded for his larrikin persona and prowess at the bar. And, like many other countries, our national holidays often centre around getting on the ...
More »‘World must hear their voices’: WHO director-general sends message of support to nurses
A day after attending the G20 Summit in Osaka, at which world leaders pledged to strengthen health systems, the director-general of the World Health Organization made a surprise visit to a peak nursing conference to express his support for nurses worldwide. ...
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