One Year On: Cultural Competence of Australian Nursing Students Following International Service-Learning.

Background: The effective delivery of health care to the growing multicultural population within Australia is a challenge for the nursing profession. A breakdown in cross-cultural communication and understanding, which stems from the tendency of nurses to project their own culturally specific values and behaviors onto patients and colleagues from other countries, can contribute significantly to non-compliance in migrant populations and conflict in collegial relationships.

Method: The Inventory for Assessing the Process of Cultural Competence-Revised was administered to Australian undergraduate nursing students immediately before, immediately after, and 12 months after returning from international clinical placement.

Personal emergency alarms: do health outcomes differ for purchasers and nonpurchasers?

The objective of this study was to assess whether purchasing a personal alarm service makes a difference in a range of health outcomes for community dwelling older adults. The prospective cohort study involved 295 individuals for whom data on emergencies experienced at home were collected over a period of 12 months. Purchasers of alarms, compared to nonpurchasers, benefitted in terms of feeling more safe and secure and being more active around their home.

'We didn't have to dance around it': opt-out HIV testing among homeless and marginalised patients.

This study explored opt-out HIV testing in an Australian general practice. The aims were to: (1) determine the effect of the opt-out approach on the number of HIV tests performed; and (2) explore the acceptability of opt-out HIV testing from the healthcare providers' perspective. A prospective mixed-methods study of opt-out HIV testing over a 2-year period (March 2014-March 2016) was conducted.

Something has shifted: Nursing students' global perspective following international clinical placements.

Aims: To examine understandings of global health issues among nursing students following participation in an international clinical placement during their pre-registration university education.

Background: Universities use international clinical placements, especially in developing countries, to develop cultural awareness in students; however, little is known about the longer term influences on students' understandings of global nursing.

Design: A retrospective cross-sectional design was used, using an exploratory, descriptive qualitative approach.

Perceptions of Nursing and Physical Therapy Students Toward Peer-Led Interprofessional Education in Manual Handling.

Perceptions of first-semester BSN students (N = 220) who received education on patient moving and handling skills from either fourth-year physical therapy/physiotherapy student peer teachers (n = 8) or regular nurse educators were obtained via validated scales and focus groups. There was a significant increase in the mean scores of items concerning communication skills in both groups, with increased scores for all items in the peer-led group. The teaching skills of physical therapy/physiotherapy student peers were evaluated highly by the nursing students.

Motivations and Expectations of Undergraduate Nursing Students Undertaking International Clinical Placements.

Background: International clinical placements are common in preregistration nursing programs in Australian universities to enhance awareness of cultural needs and global health issues. Yet, little is known about the motivations and expectations of nursing students who choose to participate.

Method: Using a qualitative exploratory design, individual semistructured interviews were undertaken with 52 preregistration final-year nursing students from four Western Australian universities 2 weeks prior to departure to the developing countries of Tanzania, Thailand, the Philippines, Cambodia, and India.

A comprehensive theoretical framework for the implementation and evaluation of opt-out HIV testing.

Opt-out HIV testing (in which patients are offered HIV testing as a default) is a potentially powerful strategy for increasing the number of people who know their HIV status and thus limiting viral transmission. Like any change in clinical practice, implementation of opt-out HIV testing in a health service requires a change management strategy, which should have theoretical support. This paper considers the application of three theories to the implementation and evaluation of an opt-out HIV testing programme: Behavioural Economics, the Health Belief Model and Normalisation Process Theory.

Exploring risk profiles and emergency frequency of purchasers and non-purchasers of personal emergency alarms: a prospective cohort study.

Background: Personal alarms support independent living and have the potential to reduce serious consequences after a fall or during a medical emergency. While some Australian states have government funded personal alarm programs, others do not; but user-pays services are available. Although several studies have examined the profiles of alarm users, little is known about the risk profile of non-users.

Australian health care providers' views on opt-out HIV testing.

Background: Opt-out HIV testing is a novel concept in Australia. In the opt-out approach, health care providers (HCPs) routinely test patients for HIV unless they explicitly decline or defer. Opt-out HIV testing is only performed with the patients' consent, but pre-test counselling is abbreviated.

Health-care providers' experiences with opt-out HIV testing: a systematic review.

HIV is now a manageable chronic disease with a good prognosis, but early detection and referral for treatment are vital. In opt-out HIV testing, patients are informed that they will be tested unless they decline. This qualitative systematic review explored the experiences, attitudes, barriers, and facilitators of opt-out HIV testing from a health-care provider (HCP) perspective.

Comparing effectiveness of generic and disease-specific self-management interventions for people with diabetes in a practice context.

Background: The effectiveness of self-management interventions has been demonstrated. However, the benefits of generic vs. disease-specific programs are unclear, and their efficacy within a practice setting has yet to be fully explored.

An exploration of nursing research perceptions of registered nurses engaging in research activities at a metropolitan hospital in Western Australia.

Aim: To explore perceptions about nursing research of registered nurses (RNs) who were engaged in research activities at a metropolitan hospital in Western Australia.

Background: In order to improve RNs' research engagement and promote evidence-based practice, Nurse Research Consultants (NRCs) were appointed jointly by the study hospital and a local university. This joint appointment commenced in 2004 in the hospital's emergency department.

Client satisfaction as a driver of quality improvement in services for older people: a Western Australian case study.

This paper aims to describe a practical example of the use of adapted versions of a resident satisfaction questionnaire for quality improvement purposes in a large aged care service organisation. Residential care and home care questionnaires each covered 11 aspects, the 'housing' questionnaire nine. Each aspect included Likert scale-type satisfaction questions.

Physical activity preferences of older home care clients.

Background: Physical activity contributes to an older person's health and well-being by maintaining strength, balance and mobility, all of which are important for older people who wish to remain living in their home for as long as possible. It is therefore essential that community nurses and those working with home care clients promote being physically active. To do this effectively requires an understanding of the type of physical activity older home care clients prefer to engage in.

A Systematic Review of Physical Activity Programs for Older People Receiving Home Care Services.

The proportion of older people living in our communities is rising and, to live independently, some require assistance from home care services. Physical activity can improve and maintain function, strength, and balance, which are important for those receiving home care. This study reviewed the evidence on physical activity/exercise interventions trialed with older people receiving a home care service.

Developing and Testing the Standard of Practice and Evaluation of Critical-Care-Nursing Tool (SPECT) for Critical Care Nursing Practice.

Background: Nurses working in critical care often undertake specialty education. There are no uniform practice outcomes for critical care programs, and consumer input to practice standards has been lacking.

Methods: A structured multiphase project was undertaken to develop practice standards and an assessment tool informed by critical care nursing stakeholders as well as patients and families-the Standards of Practice and Evaluation of Critical-Care-Nursing Tool (SPECT).

Development of Australian clinical practice outcome standards for graduates of critical care nurse education.

Aims And Objectives: To develop critical care nurse education practice standards.

Background: Critical care specialist education for registered nurses in Australia is provided at graduate level. Considerable variation exists across courses with no framework to guide practice outcomes or evidence supporting the level of qualification.

Older people's perceived causes of and strategies for dealing with social isolation.

Objective: To explicate lay theories relating to social isolation and to identify instances of positive deviance to inform future efforts to encourage older people to participate in protective behaviors.

Method: Twelve focus groups and 20 individual interviews were conducted with Australians aged 40 years and older. Data were collected in metropolitan and regional areas.

A comparison of the home-care and healthcare service use and costs of older Australians randomised to receive a restorative or a conventional home-care service.

Restorative home-care services, or re-ablement home-care services as they are now known in the UK, aim to assist older individuals who are experiencing difficulties in everyday living to optimise their functioning and reduce their need for ongoing home care. Until recently, the effectiveness of restorative home-care services had only been investigated in terms of singular outcomes such as length of home-care episode, admission to hospital and quality of life. This paper reports on a more complex and perhaps more significant measure--the use and cost of the home-care and healthcare services received over the 2-year period following service commencement.

Effectiveness of a lifestyle exercise program for older people receiving a restorative home care service: a pragmatic randomized controlled trial.

Background: Restorative home care services are short-term and aimed at maximizing a person's ability to live independently. They are multidimensional and often include an exercise program to improve strength, mobility, and balance. The aim of this study was to determine whether a lifestyle exercise program would be undertaken more often and result in greater functional gains than the current structured exercise program delivered as part of a restorative home care service for older adults.

Effectiveness of a lifestyle exercise program for older people receiving a restorative home care service: study protocol for a pragmatic randomised controlled trial.

Background: Restorative home care services help older people maximise their independence using a multi-dimensional approach. They usually include an exercise program designed to improve the older person's strength, balance and function. The types of programs currently offered require allocation of time during the day to complete specific exercises.

Attributes for effective nurse management within the health services of Western Australia, Singapore and Tanzania.

Objective: To identify the perceptions of nurse managers in Western Australia, Singapore and Tanzania regarding desirable attributes for effective management of their health services, and to identify and discuss the implications for health-management education provided by Australian universities.

Methods: Nurse managers completed a questionnaire covering four key dimensions: personality characteristics, knowledge and learning, skills, and beliefs and values. Each of 75 items were rated as to their effect on management effectiveness, according to a 5-point Likert scale.

Responding to a diagnosis of localized prostate cancer: men's experiences of normal distress during the first 3 postdiagnostic months.

Background: Men experience localized prostate cancer (PCa) as aversive and distressing. Little research has studied the distress men experience as a normal response to PCa, or how they manage this distress during the early stages of the illness.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to explore the experience of men diagnosed with localized PCa during their first postdiagnostic year.

A randomised controlled trial of the Home Independence Program, an Australian restorative home-care programme for older adults.

A randomised controlled trial was conducted to test the effectiveness of the Home Independence Program (HIP), a restorative home-care programme for older adults, in reducing the need for ongoing services. Between June 2005 and August 2007, 750 older adults referred to a home-care service for assistance with their personal care participated in the study and received HIP or 'usual' home-care services. Service outcomes were compared at 3 and 12 months.