credit: Katie Tegtmeyer

Nurse In Australia is pleased to announce the new Nursing Stories pages!

If you have something to share, we’d love to hear from you!

Pages will be updated regularly, so check back soon for new additions.

Categories:

Our Christmas Cringeworthy Competition had some fantastic entries, see the winning entries over at Things that make Nurses Cringe!

Thanks also to NurseStuff.com.au for supplying nursing gear (as featured in each prize pack) such as:

• Silicone FOB Watches
• Silicone Watch Bands
• Neurological Torches
• Coloured Scissors
• Retractable ID Reels

The innovative nurseStuff™ brand brings colour, innovation and practicality to Nursing equipment and is backed with a 100% refund or replacement guarantee.

We’ve all been through it from time to time – nurses and nursing students alike – situations that just make you cringe!

Check out some of the entries of Nursing situations that made people cringe over at the nursing stories pages.

credit: cogdogblog

** Guest Post by Richard Williams of Rich Nurse Poor Nurse

Nurse “Webinars” in 2010

I have been nursing for 21 years now and for the past ten years I have been working in Patient Transport here in Bathurst. In Patient Transport I get to visit a lot or rural and metropolitan hospitals. I notice that they all have one thing in common…the nurses are always very busy and health dollars have never been tighter. I have been thinking about how hard it must be for nurses to:

1. Find the time to attend educational in-services on their wards,
2. Get released from work or funded to attend conferences or seminars (domestically or internationally) to be able to keep abreast of the latest information pertaining to nursing or their specialty area.

I believe that I have a possible solution to this problem. I recently presented a paper at a conference and I felt very privileged to firstly have my paper accepted and secondly to be able to attend the interstate conference. I did my presentation on PowerPoint and it was well received and I had requests from the audience to forward on my findings.

I am now aware of relatively new technology that would enable a nurse anywhere in the world to view my presentation either live and be able to ask me questions and interact with me or view it on playback after it was recorded. This is if I turned my PowerPoint presentation into what is called a “webinar”. A webinar is a presentation eg PowerPoint that is broadcast over the internet where people can register and join in and view it at a scheduled time and can interact with the presenter and ask questions. If they miss the live version they can view it online and play it back like a video file. (read more…)

For those who are already Nurses in Australia, you would be aware that Australia uses a system of Independent Registration for each State or Territory where you work.

This means that your registration is only valid for that particular State, and you need to seek registration in other places if you intend to work there.

All this is changing as of 1st July 2010, when the first national registration and accreditation system comes into effect throughout Australia.

The Council of Australian Governments has signed off on an Intergovernmental Agreement on the Australian health workforce, which includes the following ten health professions: chiropractors; dental care practitioners; medical practitioners; nurses and midwives; optometrists; osteopaths; pharmacists; physiotherapists; podiatrists; and psychologists.

This means that registration will be valid Australia Wide, and a single Nursing & Midwifery Board will function to oversee the following:

• Registration of nursing and midwifery practitioners;
• Development of nursing and midwifery profession standards;
• Handling of notifications and complaints in relation to the profession; and
• Assessment of overseas trained practitioners who wish to practise in Australia.

More information can be found on the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) website, and minutes from the latest meetings related to Nursing and Midwifery can be found on the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia website.

credit: Kyle May

An Ipswich MP has suggested that obese people who are unwilling to change their lifestyle should have to wait longer for medical treatment.

From the article at Queensland Times:

Jo-Ann Miller, Labor MP for Bundamba, said people who were living on a “Macca’s” diet were placing an intolerable strain on Queensland Health.

Ms Miller has called on her own government to do more to educate Queenslanders about how to eat healthily and manage their own weight.

But she believes patients whose health problems have been caused by being overweight or by smoking – but refuse to change their habits – should be pushed to the bottom of the queue for medical treatment.

“If things keep going how they are, there won’t be a choice but to get tough,” Mrs Miller said.

“Every person in this country must realise that their health is their responsibility and that in future years we just might be facing a situation where a rationing of health services may become a reality,” Mrs Miller said.”

An interesting call, and one that I believe is not completely without merit. The figures speak for themselves – obesity and obesity related problems account for a huge percentage of hospital presentations, equating to billions of dollars in costs to the taxpayer.
(read more…)