Latest Nursing News

Public service unions have reacted angrily to a revised wage offer from the ACT government. Unions are demanding urgent talks with Chief Minister Katy Gallagher and Treasurer Andrew Barr about the proposal, which was put to unions on Monday night. Public servants rejected the government's first offer of 2 per cent in June.

A WA coroner investigating the death of six-month-old baby from meningitis has questioned whether nurses on helplines might be breaching their code of conduct. An inquest into the May 2011 death of Allegra Scafidas, which resumed in Perth yesterday, was told that under the nursing code of conduct nurses undertaking activities not within their scope of practice may compromise the safety of persons in their care.

An in-principle staffing agreement has been struck after lengthy negotiations between the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation and SA Health. Until now, staffing requirements for South Australian country hospitals have been averaged over a year, but it is now planned to assess staffing demands every four weeks.

CLOSING the paediatric ward at Modbury Hospital would prevent nurses from supporting local children, the nurses' union says. Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (SA) Union industrial manager Rob Bonner said members wanted the ward to remain open to ensure north-eastern families had an "adequate and local healthcare service".

New Zealand practice nurses, nurse practitioners and pharmacists will be able to access the General Medical Subsidy (GMS) before the end of the year. The government has announced the subsidy, previously only available to GPs treating children and people with community services cards not enrolled at their practices, will be extended to practice nurses, NPs and pharmacists.

ANN Hatchett and Linda Cropley are not your typical nurses. Apart from the usual duties such as checking blood pressure, dressing sores, giving nutritional advice and referring patients to doctors, these two women provide support for homeless people around Melbourne. Along with 29 others, they are the Royal District Nursing Service's Homeless Persons Program nurses.

A male nurse has been charged with raping a patient at a public hospital in southern Brisbane. The 40-year-old man has been charged with two counts of rape and three counts of sexual assault.

South Australia is the national leader in nursing and midwifery staffing and skills mix after securing a new in-principle agreement in its enterprise bargaining negotiations.

Nurses, midwives and allied health professionals have won a reprieve in their fight against the Federal Government’s proposed $2000 a year cap on tax deductibility for work-related self-education expenses.

NCAH is inviting Australian aged care nurses and carers to participate in the Aged Care Wages Survey. The Aged Care sector and the role of nurses and carers in it, has received a great deal of attention in recent years.  As the demand for aged care services grows, and the quality of aged care services is scrutinised, the role of nurses and carers in aged care is and will continue to be critical to the enhancement of the industry more broadly.