Clinical supervisors and cultural competence.

Objective: To investigate how clinical supervisors of junior doctors provide feedback and assessment on cultural competence, one of several professionalism skills outlined in the Australian Curriculum Framework for Junior Doctors.

Methods: Twenty clinical supervisors were recruited to a qualitative study in a regional hospital in Queensland, Australia. Data from semi-structured interviews (June-August 2011) were thematically analysed.

Australia's national men's health policy: masculinity matters.

Issue Addressed: The development of Australia's first national men's health policy provides an important opportunity for informed discussions of health and gender. It is therefore a concern that the stated policy appears to deliberately exclude hegemonic masculinity and other masculinities, despite evidence of their major influence on men's health-related values, beliefs, perspectives, attitudes, motivations and behaviour.

Methods: We provide an evidence-based critique of the proposed approach to a national men's health policy which raises important questions about whether the new policy can achieve its aims if it fails to acknowledge 'masculinity' as a key factor in Australian men's health.

Health literacy revisited: what do we mean and why does it matter?

'Health literacy' refers to accessing, understanding and using information to make health decisions. However, despite its introduction into the World Health Organization's Health Promotion Glossary, the term remains a confusing concept. We consider various definitions and measurements of health literacy in the international and Australian literature, and discuss the distinction between the broader concept of 'health literacy' (applicable to everyday life) and 'medical literacy' (related to individuals as patients within health care settings).

Giving young Emirati women a voice: participatory action research on physical activity.

International evidence on health promotion indicates the importance of regular physical activity for preventing and reducing the incidence of obesity and chronic diseases. This study investigated the relationship between physical activity and the social milieu of young Muslim women in the United Arab Emirates. This participatory action research project included semi-structured in-depth interviews and focus groups and yielded qualitative data.

Risk factors for chronic insomnia following hospitalization.

Aim: This paper reports a study whose purpose was to determine whether there is an increase in the incidence of chronic insomnia following hospitalization and, if so, to identify patients at risk.

Background: The consequences of difficulty sleeping in hospital have received scant attention from clinicians or researchers. Implicit in this lack of interest is the assumption that difficulty in sleeping is a transient reaction to hospitalization that will resolve on discharge, an assumption not empirically supported.

Raising the profile of public health ethics in Australia: time for debate.

This paper argues for greater dialogue on public health ethics. There has been little discussion in Australia about the significant ethical dilemmas in this field, and there is no agreed framework for analysing and responding to these challenges. We highlight concerns about the suitability of biomedical principles-based ethics for public health, and encourage public health professionals in this country to reflect on ethical challenges in public health research.

Reflexivity in nursing: where is the patient? Where is the nurse?

Drawing upon forty years of nursing experience, in this paper we are reflexive about four issues relative to nursing clinical practices: seeking technological solutions to health and ill-health; moving from the nurse-patient relationship to the patient-healer relationship; utilising critical pathways; and, supporting evidence-based nursing. We examine current nursing practices and ask probing questions to generate debate. Most of all, we encourage nurses to engage in reflexivity and not to lose sight of their selves (knowledge, expertise and skills), and their patients' voices and subjectivity, in their contribution to health care.

Agency nursing work in acute care settings: perceptions of hospital nursing managers and agency nurse providers.

There is a paucity of research in investigating agency nursing work from the perspectives of hospital nursing managers and agency nurse providers. This exploratory paper examines the hospital nursing managers' and agency nurse providers' perceptions and experiences of agency nursing work. Individual, in-depth interviews were conducted with three agency nurse providers and eight hospital nursing managers.

Agency-nursing work: perceptions and experiences of agency nurses.

This paper explores agency-nursing work from the perspective of agency nurses to gain in-depth understanding of their clinical practice, their relationships with the employing agency, hospitals and permanent nurses, and their professional status. For this study, individual interviews were conducted with ten agency nurses who were registered with one of three nursing agencies in Melbourne, Australia. Five major themes emerged from interview data: orientation, allocation of agency nurses, reasons for doing agency-nursing work, experiences with hospital staff, and professionalism.

Agency nursing in Melbourne, Australia: a telephone survey of hospital and agency managers.

Background: Agency nursing is a poorly understood and under-researched phenomenon. Despite the considerable costs and possible benefits of using agency nurses, little is known about the nature of agency nursing from different perspectives, including hospital and agency managers.

Aim: To describe the professional relationship between hospitals and nursing agencies, utilization trends of agency nurses, and institutional policies relating to the employment of agency nurses.