The learning curve of COVID-19 and organ donation: Potential missed opportunities in the COVID era.

Background: Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, positive COVID-19 status often disqualified potential organ donors due to perceived risks, despite limited evidence. Subsequent studies have clarified that the COVID-19 status of donors, particularly when incidental and not the cause of death, does not adversely affect non-lung transplant outcomes. This study quantifies the potential loss of eligible organ donors and the corresponding impact on organ availability during the initial phase of the pandemic.

Tensions in the personal world of the nurse family carer: A phenomenological approach.

The incidence of chronic illness is growing globally. As a result, there are fiscal and social implications for health delivery. Alongside the increased burden on health resources is the expectation that someone within the family will assume the responsibility of carer for those who are chronically ill.

Miscarriage in Australia: The geographical inequity of healthcare services.

Complications in early pregnancy can lead to pregnancy loss (miscarriage) and ultimately the presentation of a woman to their local emergency department (ED). Miscarriage is a common occurrence, with one in six pregnancies resulting in pregnancy loss.(1) Unfortunately medical and nursing care does not change the likelihood of a threatened miscarriage progressing to pregnancy loss; this is a highly emotional and stressful time for the woman and her family.

The accreditation of nursing education in Australia.

This paper aims to explore and discuss the role that ANMAC and the accreditation standards play in pre-registration nursing education nationally. The context of the discussion is situated in the continuum of events that mark the accreditation of nursing education in Australia. The National Registration and Accreditation Scheme has given rise to significant challenges related to the accreditation of nursing programs of education in Australia.

Peeling the onion: understanding others' lived experience.

Society and some healthcare professionals often marginalise pregnant women who take illicit substances. Midwives who care for these women are often viewed as working on the edge of society. This research aimed to examine the lived experiences of midwives who care for pregnant women who take illicit drugs.

Role clarity and clinical governance: keeping irish hospitals efficient and effective.

The notion of role clarity, and its impact on clinical governance, has not been previously considered within academic literature. The purpose of this research article was to add to theoretical knowledge surrounding the clinical governance and the effect that role clarity has on governance operationally. The context of Irish health care and Irish hospital boards is used to explore this phenomenon.

Patients' perceptions of bedside handoff: the need for a culture of always.

Current literature on patients' perceptions of bedside handoff describes studies using qualitative, anecdotal, and/or indirect measurement. This study identifies patients' perceptions of the bedside handoff through direct and quantitative measurement. The statistically significant findings from a survey of 103 medical surgical adult patients demonstrate that registered nurse bedside handoff has a positive effect on patient perceptions of safety, understanding, and satisfaction.

Self-management activities in diabetes care: a systematic review.

Objective: To identify the range of self-management activities people diagnosed with diabetes engage in to manage their disease, the frequency of use, and whether self-management practices change over time.

Methods: A systematic review of the literature was undertaken. Thirty-two studies identified through electronic databases met the inclusion criteria and were included in the review.

Midwives experiences of establishing partnerships: working with pregnant women who use illicit drugs.

Objective: To present the interpreted experiences of midwives who choose to work with pregnant women who also use illicit drugs.

Design: Twelve (n=12) Australian midwives were interviewed. Each interview was audio-taped, de-identified and transcribed.

Hermeneutic phenomenology: a methodology of choice for midwives.

Hermeneutic phenomenology has been used widely by researchers to understand lived experiences. This methodology asserts that individual people are as unique as their life stories. The practice of midwifery is underpinned by a philosophy that values women and the uniqueness of their child-bearing journey.

Exploring Heideggerian hermeneutic phenomenology: a perfect fit for midwifery research.

Background: Heideggerian hermeneutic phenomenology has been used widely to understand the meaning of lived experiences in health research. For midwifery scholars this approach enables deep understanding of women's and midwives' lived experiences of specific phenomena. However, for beginning researchers this is not a methodology for the faint hearted.

From EN to BN to RN: an exploration and analysis of the literature.

The nursing profession has experienced significant change over the last 100 years. Consequently, the workforce of the 21st century is a diverse entity that is edging toward the specialization of nurses in a specific clinical setting. In such an environment, a common knowledge base is demanded of nurses - a factor that has affected the development of second level, or enrolled nurses (ENs).

The impact of nursing leadership and management on the control of HIV/AIDS: an ethnographic study.

This paper reports on an aspect of a larger ethnographic study that sought to investigate the impact of HIV/AIDS on the practice of primary care nurses in Jordan. Nursing leadership and the style of management adopted by senior nursing and medical administrators at the Ministry of Heath were identified as factors impacting on the practice of the nurses and their capacity to raise community awareness and contribute to the prevention and control of HIV/AIDS. The study was undertaken in three rural and three urban primary health care centres (PHCC).

The decision-making processes adopted by rurally located mandated professionals when child abuse or neglect is suspected.

The reporting of suspected child abuse and neglect is a mandated role of medical doctors, nurses, police and teachers in Victoria, Australia. This paper reports on a research study that sought to explicate how mandated professionals working in rural Victorian contexts identify a child/ren at risk and the decisions they make subsequently.

Critical discourse analysis: understanding change in maternity services.

This paper provides an example of the use of critical discourse analysis (CDA) in the area of maternity care policy and describes the process of CDA as an effective research method for understanding the influences of change in the context of Australian maternity services. CDA is a methodological approach that examines how discourse is formed and given power, as a result of how power is used, who uses it and the context within which this usage takes place. The application of CDA is described in this study for the purpose of examining key-stakeholder use of knowledge and power for the purpose of influencing the direction of the maternity services reform.

The struggle for contested boundaries in the move to collaborative care teams in Australian maternity care.

Background: the maternity services reforms announced by the Australian government herald a process of major change. The primary maternity care reforms requires maternity care professionals to work collaboratively as equals in contrast to the current system which is characterised by unequal relationships.

Aim: critical discourse analysis (CDA) using neoliberalism as an interpretive lens was employed to determine the positions of the respective maternity care professionals on the proposed reform and what purpose was served by their representations to the national review of maternity services.

Primary maternity care reform: whose influence is driving the change?

Background: in 2009 the Australian government announced a programme of reform that will change the way maternity services have traditionally been delivered. A shift to a primary maternity care model has occurred despite strong challenges from medicine and a general public that has embraced high technology in all aspects of life including childbirth.

Aim: a critical analysis was undertaken for the purpose of identifying discourses that have influenced the direction of the Australian maternity care reform agenda.

National review of maternity services 2008: women influencing change.

Background: In 2009 the Australian government announced a major program of reform with the move to primary maternity care. The reform agenda represents a dramatic change to maternity care provision in a society that has embraced technology across all aspects of life including childbirth.

Methods: A critical discourse analysis of selected submissions in the consultation process to the national review of maternity services 2008 was undertaken to identify the contributions of individual women, consumer groups and organisations representing the interests of women.

Shaping public opinion on the issue of childbirth; a critical analysis of articles published in an Australian newspaper.

Background: The Australian government has announced a major program of reform with the move to primary maternity care, a program of change that appears to be at odds with current general public perceptions regarding how maternity care is delivered.

Methods: A critical discourse analysis of articles published in 'The Age', a newspaper with national distribution, subsequent to the release of the discussion paper by the Australian Government in 2008 was undertaken. The purpose was to identify how Australian maternity services are portrayed and what purpose is served by this representation to the general public.

Member checking and Heideggerian phenomenology: a redundant component.

Although member-checking has long been accepted as the gold standard in quantitative research, it is not the pinnacle for expressing rigour in Heideggerian phenomenology because it contradicts many o the underpinning philosophies. Similarly, employing 'experts' to confirm findings conflicts with the values of interpretivism. In this paper, th authors argue that member-checking is frequently used to cover poor interview technique or a lack of understanding of the methodology chosen to underpin the study.

Understanding the context of providing HIV prevention and treatment in Papua New Guinea.

The HIV epidemic in Papua New Guinea is now described as a generalized epidemic; that is, more than 1% of people aged 15 to 49 years are infected with HIV. The individual behavior of people is not the single most important factor that places them at risk of infection and drives the spread of the epidemic. Rather, a diverse range of factors—biological, sociocultural, and political—makes people vulnerable to infection and dictates their access to care and treatment services.