NMJG : Portal directing nursing and midwifery graduates to jobs

Health employers are being encouraged to advertise graduate-suitable positions on an online jobs board for new nursing and midwifery graduates looking for work in the health workforce.

The Nursing and Midwifery Graduate Jobs Information Portal (NMGJ) was launched by Health Workforce Australia (HWA) in January 2012 to address concerns that many new graduates were having difficulty finding positions in the health workforce at the end of their training. The website, which targets Australian-trained new nurses and midwives from the 2012 cohort, directs users to graduate-suitable job opportunities advertised in public and private hospitals, aged care, primary health care and general community care sectors.

A total of 2175 graduates had registered with the portal up to 1 December 2012. Both private and public sector employers can advertise their graduate-suitable jobs for free on the website.

Employers can register through HWA via www.nmgj.org.au or by emailing: graduatejobs@hwa.gov.au

Inventory of Innovation (Health Workforce Australia)

An online community is sharing examples of inspiring health workforce innovation occurring across Australia on a new website set up by Health Workforce Australia (HWA). Launched on 17 December,Health Workforce Innovation in Australia - a National Inventory showcases how individuals and organisations are driving change across the health, higher education and training sectors.

The website acts as a showcase for Australia-wide innovation in a one-stop location. It will also provide a platform for users to interact with contributors if they are interested in applying an innovation in their own setting and would like further information.

Contributors can submit their examples of innovation around 5 topic areas from the National Health Workforce Innovation and Reform Strategic Framework for Action 2011-2015. The topics are workforce reform and delivery; capacity and skills; leadership; workforce planning; and policy, funding and regulation. Currently, there are 264 contributions featured on the website.

Contributors to the website can edit their information at any time, keeping users updated through a progress icon. Registered users can share, email, print examples, save particular contributions to their own personal collection, search for accounts by topic area, target group and state and territory, and praise a particular innovation by clicking on an applaud button.

Examples of innovation are continually being accepted. To register or make a submission, go to www.hwainventory.net.au

Further information

New clinical guidelines for lung cancer treatment

New clinical practice guidelines for the treatment of lung cancer have been published in an electronic "wiki" format to assist doctors and their patients to make informed treatment choices based on the most current research available.

Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Treatment of Lung Cancer, commissioned and co-funded by Cancer Australia and developed by Cancer Council Australia, revise the treatment section of the 2004 "Clinical practice guidelines for the prevention, diagnosis and management of lung cancer". The evidence base for the treatment of lung cancer has grown almost exponentially since the 2004 printed guidelines and it continues to grow with emerging research.

The guidelines are available online on Cancer Council Australia's Cancer Guidelines Wiki: http://wiki.cancer.org.au

Healthcare in Focus 2012 : Health of NSW on par at home and internationally

Health Minister Jillian Skinner said a new report released by the Bureau of Health Information demonstrates that the NSW health care system compares well in Australia and internationally.

The Healthcare in Focus 2012 report compares NSW with states across Australia as well as 10 other countries.

"It is heartening to see that the hard-work of our state's doctors, nurses, allied health professionals and hospital staff is paying off and ensuring our health care system is on par and in some cases better than those across the globe," Mrs Skinner said. "Another encouraging element of the report shows that the majority of NSW patients rate their experience in the health system positively."

Other highlights of the report include: · Fewer years of life were lost to heart disease than almost all other comparative countries; · NSW has one of the lowest rates of potential years of life lost to cancer; · Rates of sepsis infection in NSW are about 40% lower than the average across the country; · Fewer years of life were lost to stroke in NSW than in almost all other comparative countries.

Vaccination uptake among people with chronic respiratory disease (AIHW)

Research has shown that vaccinations against influenza and pneumococcal infection can benefit people with obstructive airways disease, which includes asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Vaccination uptake among people with chronic respiratory disease reviews the limited information available in Australia on how many people with asthma and COPD have the vaccination, and finds that the uptake rate is not as high as would be expected if recommendations were being followed. It presents a range of data improvement options that would enhance our ability to monitor vaccination uptake in this and other at-risk population groups.

Media release

One21seventy (Indigenous mental health audit tool)

One21seventy provides a mental health clinical audit tool that is designed to improve the quality of care provided to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. One21seventy is a not-for-profit organisation set up by Menzies School of Health Research and the Lowitja Institute and now works with over 200 services across Australia. The One21seventy mental health clinical audit tool was first developed in with the support of beyondblue and has since been refined.

The tool supports mental health care provider's to measure and improve the quality of care:

* by measuring the quality of care services provide through data collection, analysis and reporting
* improving their overall systems for high quality care by setting goals and measuring progress
* understanding how they are performing on prevention and management of mental illness or mental health problems
* improving staff morale and motivation

To find out more about the One21seventy Mental Health audit tool please call 1800 082 474 or email one21seventy@menzies.edu.au

Cases Database (Bio Med Cantral)

Documenting a patient's case history to inform physicians how the patient has been evaluated and the subsequent progression of his or her disease is arguably the oldest method of communicating medical evidence. In the 21st century case reports play an equally important role.

Biomed Central have developed a valuable new resource the Cases Database, a continuously-updated, freely-accessible database of over 11,000 medical case reports from multiple publishers, including Springer, BMJ and PubMed Central.

By aggregating case reports together and facilitating comparison, Cases Database provides clinicians, researchers, regulators and patients a simple resource to explore content, and identify emerging trends

Commentary

Paying the Price: economic and social impact of eating disorders in Australia

Paying the Price: economic and social impact of eating disorders in Australia, Australia's first socioeconomic impact report on eating disorders, launched by the Butterfly Foundation this week, has highlighted the need to improve the level of service delivery to some of Australia's most vulnerable people. More than 913,000 people in Australia currently have an eating disorder, at a socioeconomic cost of $69.7 billion.

The report also estimated that the mortality rates are almost twice as high for people with eating disorders than in the general population, with up to 1,828 deaths from eating disorders in 2012 (515 males and 1,313 females).

"I commend the Butterfly Foundation on the publication of this important work, which I hope will be the foundation for a lot more work to come", said Adjunct Associate Professor Kim Ryan, CEO of the Australian College of Mental Health Nurses. "The Federal Government has committed just over $1.9 million to the Butterfly Foundation for its support and information services for people with an eating disorder, and I hope this funding continues. The Government's commitment to supporting those with an eating disorder is to be commended, but this report shows us there is still much more that needs to be done. We know that eating disorders are not well understood across both health and the broader community. Up-skilling health and mental health professionals in understanding and identifying eating disorders will be essential in addressing this unacceptable mortality rate and socioeconomic cost."

Guidelines for preventive activities in general practice (the red book)

The Guidelines for preventive activities in general practice 8th edition (the red book) is a synthesis of evidence-based guidelines from Australian and international sources and provides recommendations for everyday use in general practice. The red book provides a single entry point to common conditions seen in Australian general practice and offers practical advice on the kind of screening and services that should be provided to the general population.

Australia's mothers and babies 2010 (AIHW)

In 2010, 294,814 women gave birth to 299,563 babies in Australia, according to Australia's mothers and babies 2010. The average age of mothers has increased gradually, from 29.2 years in 2001 to 30.0 years in 2010. The caesarean section rate has shown an upward trend over the last 10 years, increasing from 25.4% nationally in 2001 to a peak of 31.6% in 2010.

Smoking while pregnant was reported by 14% of all mothers and by 37% of teenage mothers. About half of Indigenous mothers reported smoking during their pregnancy. Indigenous mothers were also generally younger than non-Indigenous mothers, with an average age of about 25 years.

Media release

Open-i : New NLM image search engine

The Open-i project aims to provide next generation information retrieval services for biomedical articles from the full text collections such as PubMed Central. It is unique in its ability to index both the text and images in the articles.

Open-i lets users retrieve not only the MEDLINE citation information, but also the outcome statements in the article and the most relevant figure from it. Further, it is possible to use the figure as a query component to find other relevant images or other visually similar images. Future stages aim to provide image region-of-interest (ROI)based querying. The initial number of images is projected to be around 600,000 and will scale to millions.

More information

NSW Aboriginal Health Plan 2013-2023

The NSW Government will overhaul the way Aboriginal health care is delivered through a 10-year plan to improve health services and outcomes for the state's Aboriginal people.

Minister for Healthy Lifestyles and Western New South Wales, Kevin Humphries, last week launched the NSW Aboriginal Health Plan 2013-2023, which outlines a vision, goal and strategic direction for the NSW health system to meet the challenge of closing the health gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people. "Through this plan we will reform the way Aboriginal health services are delivered to Aboriginal people and ensure services meet the needs of local communities," Mr Humphries said.

Minister for Health, Jillian Skinner, said the NSW Aboriginal Health Plan 2013-2023 will provide strategic direction to the NSW Ministry of Health as to how Aboriginal health should be organised, funded and delivered over the next 10 years.

Media release

The health of Aboriginal people of NSW: Report of the Chief Health Officer 2012

The health of Aboriginal people of NSW: Report of the Chief Health Officer 2012 focuses on Aboriginal health in NSW. It presents population health and health service delivery data in the areas of: life expectancy and child mortality; mothers, babies and child health; risk and protective factors for health; and burden of ill-health.

The Report provides trend data comparing the health of Aboriginal people to that of non-Aboriginal people, to show where improvements have been made, and where ongoing disparities still exist or have widened.

Incontinence in Australia (AIHW)

Incontinence in Australia: prevalence, experience and cost reports on the number of people who experienced severe incontinence in 2009, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics' Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers. It also presents information on prevalence rates and how much was spent on incontinence (excluding residential aged care costs) in 2008-09.

Media release

Questions of life and death : a new report into the value of health libraries and information services

Health Libraries Inc and the Australian Library and Information Association have produced a joint report, Questions of life and death, describing the value of health library and information services in Australia. The report is based on surveys carried out in August/September 2012, with responses from 250 library staff and users across the nation.

The report shows how people use health library and information services and the impact this has on their work and study. Library and information service users were asked how they believed their use of the service over the last year had helped them.

Cancer in Australia (AIHW)

Cancer in Australia: an overview 2012

Cancer in Australia: an overview, 2012 presents the latest available information on incidence, mortality, survival, prevalence, burden of cancer, hospitalisations and national cancer screening programs. It is estimated that the most commonly diagnosed cancers in 2012 will be prostate cancer, bowel cancer and breast cancer. For all cancers combined, the incidence rate increased by 12% from 1991 to 2009, but the mortality rate decreased and survival improved over time. Cancer outcomes differ by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status, remoteness area and socioeconomic status.


Cancer in Australia: in brief 2012

Cancer in Australia: in brief 2012 presents key points and trends from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare's latest biennial report about cancer in Australia, Cancer in Australia: an overview, 2012.

Media Release

Best practice governance framework for allied health education and training (HETI)

Best practice governance framework for allied health education and training has been developed by The Health Education and Training Institute (HETI) following a review of existing accreditation, policy frameworks and current evidence to support the development of allied health capabilities in the delivery of person-centred care through the creation of learning organisations and promotion of a culture of lifelong learning. The guidelines are based on a set of key overarching principles of education and training.

The Health Professionals Workforce Plan 2012-2022 (NSW Health)

The Health Professionals Workforce Plan 2012-2022 provides a high level overview of the strategies that need to be implemented to ensure that NSW can train, recruit and retain doctors, nurses, midwives, oral health practitioners and allied health professionals in order to continue to provide a quality health service to the people of NSW. The Plan identifies who is responsible for the development and delivery of initiatives, recognising that there are many organisations that contribute to the successful provision of health services across NSW Health.

Diabetes among young Australians (AIHW)

Diabetes among young Australians is the first report from the National Centre for Monitoring Diabetes to examine the management and impact of diabetes in youth in Australia. Diabetes affects a considerable number of young people: in 2010, about 31,300 Australians aged 0-30 years with diabetes were registered with the National Diabetes Service Scheme. Most (79%) had Type 1 diabetes. This report explores how young Australians with diabetes are managing their condition, their use of health services and the diabetes-related health problems they experience.

Media release

More nursing research from the Journal of Advanced Nursing

Publishers of the Journal of Advanced Nursing, Wiley, have developed a new Online Open method of publishing where authors may opt to make articles in their journal freely available to all without subscription. The first 6 articles to employ this option cover an interesting range of nursing topics

Health-related quality of life and post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms in accident and emergency attenders suffering from psychosocial crises: a longitudinal study

Systematic review of the management of incontinence and promotion of continence in older people in care homes: descriptive studies with urinary incontinence as primary focus.

Experiences of drug use and ageing: health, quality of life, relationship and service implications

Critical thinking dispositions among newly graduated nurses

Ginger compress therapy for adults with osteoarthritis

Nursing Services Delivery Theory: an open system approach

New and evolving nursing roles (Free articles from the Journal of Advanced Nursing)

New and Evolving Nursing Roles is the latest free virtual issue from the Journal of Advanced Nursing. Articles in this issue include:

Time to clarify - the value of advanced practice nursing roles in health care

Clinical nurse research consultant: a clinical and academic role to advance practice and the discipline of nursing

Nurse prescribing roles in acute care: an evaluative case study

..... plus lots more.

This virtual issue is the latest in a series of virtual issues available from the JAN site. Others available are :

Virtual Issue: Cancer Care
Virtual Issue: Older People and Stroke
Virtual Issue: Dementia
Virtual Issue: Self- Care
Virtual Issue: Healthy Lifestyles
Virtual Issue: Diabetes
Virtual Issue: End of Life Care
Virtual Issue: Methodology
Virtual Issue: Workforce

New "quick and easy" reference guides for health professionals treating young people with depression

Following the development of NHMRC-approved Clinical Practice Guidelines for Depression in Adolescents and Young Adults in 2011, beyondblue has produced several "quick and easy" reference guides for busy health professionals.

beyondblue CEO Kate Carnell AO said busy people such as doctors and psychologists don't have time to search a thick document for the information they need when they have a young person with depression sitting in their clinic and needing help. "Health professionals told us that the beyondblue Clinical Practice Guidelines are an excellent resource for in-depth research, but for use on a day-to-day basis, they wanted the information in a more succinct and easily-accessible format. As a result, beyondblue developed these new resources to provide them with a summary of the main points in the Clinical Practice Guidelines to which they can refer quickly during a consultation with a young person," she said. The new guides are :

- Depression in young people - Executive Summary: A guide for primary care health professionals
- Assessment and management of depression in young people: A guide for primary care health professionals
- Engaging young people in health care: A guide for primary care health professionals
- Depression in young people: A desktop guide for primary care health professionals

http://www.beyondblue.org.au/index.aspx?link_id=6.1247 Download the guidelines and the companion guides that support the guidelines

Literacy program may spread nation-wide

Pilot of the Aboriginal Adult Literacy
 Program in Wilcannia

A new foundation to support adult literacy in Indigenous communities will oversee the expansion of a successful program that has been running in Wilcannia. The Literacy for Life Foundation has been set up by construction company Brookfield Multiplex, and will start work early next year.

This year, 16 adults in Wilcannia graduated from Yes, I Can, an adult literacy project that started in Cuba.

The Wilcannia Local Aboriginal Land Council's chief executive, Jack Beetson, will work with the foundation, and he says the key objective will be to push for that project to be rolled out nationally. "It's not only important in Wilcannia, this is about doing something first of all in New South Wales, but then taking it out nationally, that's why there's a need to set up the foundation to be the body that attempts to roll this out on a national basis, ultimately," Mr Beetson said.

Literacy for Life: Brookfield Multiplex to establish Foundation to boost Aboriginal literacy

Literacy program may spread nation-wide (ABC)

Mental health report card welcomed, but rural issues ignored

ALTHOUGH the first Mental Health Report Card has been praised and welcomed by the Western NSW Local Health District, there is some regret that rural issues in NSW weren't addressed.

The report; A Contributing Life: The 2012 Report Card on Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, was launched on Tuesday by the National Mental Health Commission (NRMC).

It recommended reducing the early death of Australians with severe mental illness and improving their physical health; increasing access to home-based visits to support families and children; providing local interventions to prevent suicide; and minimising the use of seclusion and restraint.

Director of mental health at the Western NSW Local Health District, Dr Russell Roberts welcomed the report but said it was with regret the mental health issues of rural NSW and Australia wasn't addressed.

http://www.dailyliberal.com.au/story/1154197/mental-health-report-card-welcomed-but-rural-issued-ignored/

CSIRO report extols benefits of fast broadband for outback health

The CSIRO says Australia will be a world leader in providing telehealth through the high speed national broadband network. Caring for the last 3%: telehealth potential and broadband implications for remote Australia, a CSIRO report presented at the 2nd International Conference on Global Telehealth 26-28 November 2012 in Sydney says specialist consultations will mean early diagnoses and better management of chronic diseases, like diabetes, for the 3% of the population who live in remote areas.

Lead author Dr Sarah Dods says precise surgery will never be possible because of the one-second delay on the satellite, but she says Australia's tele-consultations will help close the health gap for Indigenous people. "We're going to be one of the first countries in the world that has national broadband," she said. "Telehealth and health outcomes have been talked about since the early days of the national broadband network being discussed. It's a real point of difference for Australia where we are, very much, leading the world."

CSIRO report extols benefits of fast broadband for outback health(ABC)

International profiles of health care systems

International Profiles of Health Care Systems: Australia, Canada, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Japan, Iceland, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States has been published by the Commonwealth Fund.

Each overview covers health insurance, public and private financing, health system organisation, quality of care, health disparities, efficiency and integration, care coordination, use of health information technology, use of evidence-based practice, cost containment, and recent reforms and innovations. Summary tables compare overall results on such factors as health care spending, hospital utilisation, patient safety, disease prevention and public views.

In addition, summary tables provide data on a number of key health system characteristics and performance indicators, including overall health care spending, hospital spending and utilization, health care access, patient safety, care coordination, chronic care management, disease prevention, capacity for quality improvement, and public views.

Ward rounds in medicine - best practice guidelines

Ward rounds in medicine: principles for best practice has recently been published by the Royal College of Physicians with the Royal College of Nursing. It sets out core recommendations and principles for best practice for conducting medical ward rounds, including their structure, preparation and scheduling, as well as patient participation and protection, nursing involvement, the use of safety checklists and discharge planning.

It calls for the multidisciplinary team - doctors, nurses, pharmacists, therapists and allied health professionals - to be given dedicated time to participate, with clarity about individual roles and responsibilities during and after ward rounds.

Common drug reduces depression in diabetics

People living with diabetes may be able to reduce the risk of developing depression and other mood disorders by including a common medication in the management of their condition. The major 12-year study based on a Taiwanese adult population cohort has shown the onset of diabetes increases the risk of mood disorders, mainly depression, by more than two and a half times. However the study, by researchers from Monash University and the National Health Research Institutes Taiwan, also found when metformin is included in the treatment of diabetes, the incidence of mood disorders was reduced by more than 50%.

Metformin is the most commonly used medication for type 2 diabetes. Taken orally, it helps control blood sugar levels. Lead author, Emeritus Professor Mark Wahlqvist said the increasing prevalence of diabetes is revealing complications beyond the well-known ones affecting the cardiovascular system, the eyes, peripheral nerves and feet.

Hospital separations due to injury and poisoning: Australia 2009-10 (AIHW)

Hospital separations due to injury and poisoning: Australia 2009-10 is the 8th in a series on hospitalisations due to injury and poisoning in Australia, and covers the financial year 2009-10. A total of 421,065 injury cases required hospitalisation during the 12 months (242,478 males and 178,586 females). Overall rates of injury were higher among people aged 65 and over, and lower in children aged 0-14. The leading causes of hospitalised injury were unintentional falls (38% of cases), followed by transport accidents (13%).

Media release