By pre-school children are already thinking about the career they will have when they grow up, and ruling out jobs that do not fit with their gender. We need to get in early to get rid of stereotypes.
Having recently completed a 50-year career in nursing and health research and development I am often asked to talk to newly graduating students. At one such event recently, I shared with them some examples…
In mental health, a new approach to rehabilitating patients back into the community is gaining ground. Known as “the recovery movement,” it has been championed by American academics such as Bill Anthony…
New medical technologies and treatments over the past few decades have led to remarkable improvements in treating older patients. The annual death rate for an 80-year-old male in 2011 was just 5.6%, compared…
When we think of nurses, we generally think of someone with high social motivation and a strong desire to help people. The nurturing, altruistically motivated individual – probably female – plays strongly…
A shortage of qualified nursing staff and rising health costs have led to an increase in the employment of unregulated nursing workers. In 2012, the average weekly salary for full-time nursing professionals…
What would Florence Nightingale make of present-day healthcare? Like anyone else, she would probably find much to admire – even much to be in awe of – but just as much of which to disapprove and despair…
We started the week with a new proposal by the Grattan Institute to shake up the hospital workforce and allow nurses to take on more roles traditionally performed by doctors. But should registered nurses…
Hospitals where nurses are qualified to bachelor’s degree level and have lower patient-to-nurse ratios have lower mortality rates. In a cross-European study published in The Lancet, researchers found every…
As I get out and about in the health service I never cease to be amazed by the quality of care that is provided every day. When we get it wrong, the implications can be catastrophic – and we need to understand…
It is no secret that mental health services are in a sorry state. Last year saw lots of stories about the increased pressures being placed on treating people in the community and on beds in mental health…
Nurse practitioners provide a level of health services beyond that of registered nurses. They diagnose and treat health conditions, order and interpret blood and radiology tests, and prescribe medications…
It’s not always easy to talk to someone who is dying. Conversations about future plans and wishes may appear insensitive and fuelled with great pain and distress when it’s somebody we love. For some, not…
Senior nurses warned this week that the number of patients looked after by nurses has become dangerously high in some hospitals. Quoting research from the University of Southampton, the Safe Staffing Alliance…
With Australia’s population growing, living longer, and experiencing more disease and disability, there’s no doubt demand for health services will increase. But how are we going to pay for it? With this…
As the baby boomers approach older age, the number of Australians aged over 65 is projected to rise from around 14% to 24% by 2056. Given that not even a massive influx of immigrants would reverse this…
Life expectancy in [Australia](http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4102.0Main+Features10Mar+2011](http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4102.0Main+Features10Mar+2011) is at an all-time…
The dispute between the Australian Nursing Federation and Victoria’s Baillieu government is expected to be resolved today. Nurses ceased industrial action two weeks ago. For the Victorian community it…
We’re fortunate to live in a society where robust evidence forms the basis of the information health-care professionals provide to patients – and home birth should be no exception. But the evidence about…
Ongoing industrial action by Victoria’s nurses has focused public attention on acute health-care services, and provided an opportunity to examine the way those services should best be supported, funded…
Director, Center for Community Child Health Royal Children's Hospital; Professor, Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne; Theme Director Population Health, Murdoch Children's Research Institute