Nurses say consultants’ idea to shuffle workforce roles isn’t the answer for overworked staff. Public hospitals could save up to $430 million a year by making better matches between workers and their work, a new report states. Co-authors Grattan Institute ...
More »Industry & Reform
A model of assimilation
Clinical professor Fiona Stoker, chief nurse and midwifery officer for Tasmania, discusses embedding the infrastructure for simulation-based learning. The Tasmanian health and education sector has made significant investments in simulation equipment and infrastructure over the last five years to support ...
More »Make time for quality
Studies show the benefits to patients of time spent under a nurse’s care after surgery. Increased pressure on administrative systems to cut costs and improve business efficiency has hospitals whipping out patients hours after surgery – which isn’t necessarily in ...
More »Cheaper, yet better
It may sound paradoxical, but ‘boutique’ continuity of care through midwives costs public hospitals less. Women who see the same midwife through the course of their pregnancy not only encounter fewer interventions at birth but cost less to the public ...
More »That’s a bully for you
In order to combat the large and growing problem of power abuse, organisations must understand its many forms. For more than 30 years, Melanie Stephens has worked as a nurse. She has moved around Australia working in different hospitals and ...
More »Medicare co-payment on the table
Health minister’s first policy speech calls for debate on controversial measure. Minister for health Peter Dutton has fuelled talks of the introduction of a GP co-payment, during a major speech on the Coalition’s healthcare agenda. In the first of several ...
More »Towards a better health system
The Australian College of Nursing’s submission to Treasury provides many ways to help the profession meet consumer needs. On January 31, the Australian College of Nursing (ACN), along with other Australian professional organisations, submitted its Federal pre-Budget Submission 2014–2015 to ...
More »Top of mind
Frances Hughes, Queensland Health chief nursing and midwifery officer, believes a new year calls for a new perspective. “This year, I’d like to see a number of improvements realised for nursing and midwifery within the health sector. I’d like ...
More »It’s still a woman’s world
For men drawn to nursing, following the call means ignoring the many voices insisting they don’t belong; that’s just one reason recruiting more males will require a culture shift. It won’t come as a surprise to most readers that in ...
More »A prescription for future care
It is essential that we expand the role of nurses in the delivery of primary healthcare if we are to meet Australia’s future health needs. Our healthcare system is under threat. Our ageing population and the way we live are ...
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