News Articles
Last Updated: 24-07-2014
Female genital mutilation (FGM) is estimated to affect more than 125 million girls and women around the globe. A new website provides a platform for Australia’s nurses, midwives and other health professionals caring for those affected by FGM, w Read More...
Bullying app reaches out to remote health professionals
Last Updated: 24-07-2014
Bullying is not just limited to the school playground - it’s rife throughout workplaces, particularly in the health care sector. A new bullying app has been designed to help nurses and allied health care professionals regardless of where they w Read More...
Midwives pursuing career goals
Date of Posting: 01-07-2014
More midwives are treading their own path in Australia’s changing midwifery landscape. A unique Australian College of Midwives’ program is helping them shape their careers, writes Karen Keast. It’s like a career coach for midwi Read More...
Mental health care for older Australians
Last Updated: 17-06-2014
Depression and mental illness are not a normal part of ageing. A national charity is recommending mandatory mental health training for nurses and allied health professionals in the aged care and community support sectors to improve care for older peo Read More...
Having healthy conversations with patients
Last Updated: 04-06-2014
A unique New Zealand training program is changing the way nurses, GPs and allied health professionals communicate with their patients. These healthy conversations are enabling patients to drive their own behaviour change, writes Karen Keast. Bar Read More...
The Benefits Of Exercise For Cancer Patients
Last Updated: 22-05-2014
Survival from cancer following treatment is a major achievement in any one's book and in most cases, the top priority in a cancer survivor's life is to prevent the cancer from coming back. In the past cancer patients were usually told to r Read More...
Providing mental health care for people with an intellectual disability
Last Updated: 22-05-2014
People with an intellectual disability experience mental health problems at a rate up to three times’ higher than the general population yet the system is failing them. A unique guide now provides a national framework for action for frontline m Read More...
Get networking to advance your nursing career
Last Updated: 19-05-2014
Nurses are tapping into a unique networking opportunity to discuss local professional issues and advance their professional development. Karen Keast meets a young nurse leader striving to connect nurses through the initiative. At 23, Renee Calle Read More...
Date of Posting: 07-04-2014
What does it take to become a remote nurse practitioner? The path is filled with dust and logistical challenges but it’s also one of the most professionally and personally fulfilling journeys, writes Karen Keast. Working as a nurse practit Read More...
Date of Posting: 25-03-2014
How do privately practising midwives gain their prescriber number and script pad? The road to prescribing medication is no simple undertaking but worth the effort, writes Karen Keast. Midwife Daniel Evans is now equipped with a prescriber number Read More...
Nursing in trauma and disasters
Last Updated: 11-03-2014
The National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre is at the forefront of Australia’s disaster and trauma care. Karen Keast takes a look at the organisation providing clinical and academic leadership in the specialised fields of trauma and d Read More...
Last Updated: 07-03-2014
The Australian branch of the British Red Cross Society was formed in 1914 amid the outbreak of the First World War. One hundred years later, nurses and allied health professionals are still answering the organisation’s call to help others, writ Read More...
Mental health nurse credentialing
Date of Posting: 11-02-2014
The Australian College of Mental Health Nurses introduced its Credential for Practice Program 10 years ago. The program recognises the qualifications, skills and experience of about 1400 mental health nurses and is also working to strengthen the prof Read More...
Advocating for nurses and midwives
Date of Posting: 10-01-2014
There are a world of career opportunities for nurses - ranging from direct patient care to management, education and training, research and policy development. Then there’s advocacy, and caring for those who care, writes Karen Keast. When Read More...
Date of Posting: 03-12-2013
The beginning of a new year is often a good time to reassess your aspirations and career goals. But where do you start? These experts’ tips will set you on the journey to landing your dream job in the health sector, writes Karen Keast. Iva Read More...
Social media and patient privacy - a nurse leader's investigation
Date of Posting: 22-11-2013
Nurses and midwives are overwhelming embracing social media to share information but when does posting and tweeting breach patient privacy? One of Australia’s emerging nurse leaders put nurses’ use of social media under the microscope &nd Read More...
How to choose a nursing agency
Last Updated: 12-11-2013
Whether working full time, or just part time to supplement your income, Agency nursing gives nurses the flexibility to choose when and where they want to work their shifts. Not everyone has a "9 to 5" time table - least of all nurses - a Read More...
Date of Posting: 07-11-2013
The latest statistics on childbirth in Australia show of the 294,814 women who gave birth in 2010, just 1,345 gave birth at home. Home births in Australia are steeped in controversy but some of Australia’s leading midwives say a home birth offe Read More...
Date of Posting: 25-10-2013
Water is a life force in more ways than one - it covers more than 70 per cent of our earth and we drink it to survive. When it comes to using water for childbirth, water birth is still a contentious issue that divides healthcare professionals and org Read More...
How to become a nurse practitioner
Last Updated: 22-10-2013
A Nurse Practitioner Takes Nursing to The Next Level If you're looking for a diverse and exciting career opportunity in a dynamic and often demanding job role then you may want to consider a career as a Nurse Practitioner. As a relatively new Read More...
Last Updated: 22-10-2013
A Midwife's Role Is Special and Rewarding If you are searching for a career that's personally and financially rewarding and where no two days are ever the same, then you might want to consider becoming a midwife. It gives you the opportuni Read More...
Last Updated: 22-10-2013
If You're Interested In Food A Career As A Dietitian Could Be For You If you enjoy working with people and have an interest in the science of food and eating as part of a healthy lifestyle, then you might want to consider a career as a dietiti Read More...
How nurses and pharmacists can manage polypharmacy in older patients
Last Updated: 22-10-2013
Statistics show around one in three unplanned hospital admissions for older Australians are related to issues with their medicines – and half are preventable. A new educational program targeting health professionals, particularly nurses and pha Read More...
Midwifery courses give birth to a new career
Last Updated: 22-10-2013
Whether you’re a registered nurse with a desire to move into midwifery, a secondary student or someone with life experience setting your sights on a career in midwifery, there’s a course to suit, writes Karen Keast. It is Caron Spurway Read More...
How allied health professionals can work in the UK
Last Updated: 22-10-2013
Emma Wilson loves working in the United Kingdom. The 28-year-old physiotherapist, who was born in Brisbane and raised in Canberra, is working as a locum through agency Medacs Healthcare (Australia) at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital in Read More...
How dietitians can nourish our mental health
Last Updated: 22-10-2013
Nutrition is linked to our physical health and also our mental health. A pioneering group of Australian dietitians working in the field of mental health have created role statements designed to showcase the vital role dietitians play when it comes to Read More...
Taking the leap into remote nursing
Last Updated: 22-10-2013
What do you need to be able to thrive in remote nursing? The key lies in equipping yourself with an open mind and a sense of adventure, writes Karen Keast. Natalie Birt wakes up to sunshine every day in outback Australia. The 41-year-old regist Read More...
Last Updated: 22-10-2013
The area of disaster health has come a long way since Australia’s first major international response to the tsunami that wiped out the western coastal areas of Aceh in 2004. While still in its infancy, there is a growing number of health profes Read More...
Last Updated: 22-10-2013
What is physiotherapy? Through the use of evidence based, natural methods such as exercise, adapted equipment, education, motivation and advocacy, physiotherapy seeks to rehabilitate and improve the physical well being of patients with from moveme Read More...
The move into midwifery prescribing
Last Updated: 22-10-2013
Recent changes to the way maternity services are provided in Australia have opened the doors to midwives being able to prescribe PBS medicines. As Karen Keast discovered, midwives are heading back to university to gain the necessary qualification in Read More...
How nurses can care for the mental health of people with chronic disease
Last Updated: 22-10-2013
There is no health without mental health - that’s the view of the World Health Organisation. Now, the Australian College of Mental Health Nurses is launching online CPD aimed at improving the knowledge and skills of nurses to identify and Read More...
Home nursing - a new career horizon
Last Updated: 22-10-2013
Home nursing is dusting off its old-fashioned image to showcase itself as a diverse, modern career that embraces cutting-edge technology and offers a wealth of job opportunities, writes Karen Keast. Home nursing is proving to be a new career front Read More...
Improving resilience in OR nursing
Last Updated: 22-10-2013
Resilience. It’s often described as the power within. But what forges resilience and how do you improve resilience in the demanding clinical environment of OR nursing? According to one researcher, the answer may lie in five main qualities, writ Read More...
Australia's chief nurse Dr Rosemary Bryant: My career as a nurse leader
Last Updated: 22-10-2013
How do you become a nurse leader on a national and international scale? Karen Keast profiles the illustrious career of Australia’s preeminent nurse leader Dr Rosemary Bryant. Rosemary Bryant was a teenager contemplating a career post-schoo Read More...
How nurses can nourish themselves through shift work hours
Last Updated: 22-10-2013
Research shows job stress and shift work is contributing to obesity among nurses in America. While there is no known study linking obesity to shift work in Australia, nurses can take proactive steps to keep the extra kilos at bay and ensure they stay Read More...
What makes a good nurse great?
Last Updated: 22-10-2013
It’s a question not many nurses ask themselves but understanding what makes a good nurse great can make all the difference to your nursing career, writes Karen Keast. There are a range of well-known qualities and skills that make a good nu Read More...
What makes a good midwife great?
Last Updated: 22-10-2013
What do you need to not only be a good midwife but to excel in your midwifery career? The key lies in getting back to partnerships with women and perhaps, most importantly, to take courage writes Karen Keast. The word midwife is derived from Mid Read More...
A life changing journey to Cambodia
Last Updated: 22-10-2013
Recently returned occupational therapist Rita Harrison describes the opportunity to work in Cambodia as a life changing experience. “I love working with children, I love travelling and I love being challenged, so when it came time for me to Read More...
Bereavement guidelines for mental health professionals
Last Updated: 22-10-2013
These Guidelines will help your service develop and implement a bereavement policy that will lead to improved support for family and friends when someone with a mental illness dies by suicide. Research tells us that people bereaved by suicide may Read More...
Managing Aged Care Nurse Stress
Last Updated: 22-10-2013
Working with the aged can be very rewarding and enjoyable but it can also take its toll on the health of nurses. As well as making sure that residents are eating properly, taking their medication, exercising, and getting a good night's sleep, Read More...
