The emergence of nurse practitioners in Australia has profoundly changed the nursing profession, Flynn Murphy reports. An article published in the British Medical Journal begins with the question: “Nurse or minor medical practitioner?” It continues: “There is a real risk of ...

Midwives urge government to relook at legislation. The government's maternity reforms are "doomed to fail" as a result of obstetricians refusing to enter into collaborative arrangements with midwives. This is according to the Australian College of Midwives (ACM), which said ...

The death of a baby during delivery demonstrates the need for collaborative arrangements between doctors and midwives. Coroner John Hutton last month handed down his findings of an inquest into the newborn’s death following a birth intervention at Gold Coast’s ...

Midwives fear doctors will have final say on women’s choice, writes Annie May. Midwives are fuming over new laws that will give doctors a veto over women’s choice, calling for them to be scrapped once parliament returns. From 1 November, ...

By Professor Glenn Gardner FRCNA, Clinical Chair, Queensland University of Technology These are interesting times for nurse practitioners, health service researchers, and legislators. For nurse practitioners there is at last some movement to align state and federal legislation that will ...