Culturally and linguistically diverse general practitioners' utilisation of practice nurses.

Background: Practice nurses are primarily employed by general practitioners, however little is known about the barriers to practice nurse employment from the perspective of general practitioners (GPs).

Aim: This paper seeks to explore solo, culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) general practitioners' perceptions of the practice nurse role, and to identify the barriers and facilitators of these doctors employing nurses within their practice.

Methods: A descriptive study, using semi-structured interviews, was conducted from July to August 2010.

Linguistic diversity as sociodemographic predictor of nursing program progression and completion.

Attrition from undergraduate nursing programs continues to warrant investigation particularly in the climate of nursing shortages and fiscal reflection on academic institutional programs. This three-year study used a prospective longitudinal survey design to determine entry characteristics of students, attrition, progression and completion in an undergraduate program. Students were surveyed in the first three weeks of commencing their program and gave permission for academic grades to be collected during their six session, three year Bachelor of Nursing program.

Factors that influence surgical choices in women with breast carcinoma.

Background: In the absence of medical contraindications, survival after undergoing breast-conserving therapy (BCT), mastectomy (M), and mastectomy with immediate reconstruction (MIR) is equal. The authors studied demographic factors to identify the variables that differed significantly among women making different surgical choices.

Methods: Women with ductal carcinoma in situ or clinical Stage I or II breast carcinoma with no contraindications for BCT or MIR who were treated between 1995 and 1998 were identified from a prospectively collected data base.

Results of the Lynn Sage Second-Opinion Program for local therapy in patients with breast carcinoma. Changes in management and determinants of where care is delivered.

Background: The treatment options of breast conservation therapy (BCT) and immediate reconstruction for patients with carcinoma of the breast have not been adopted widely. The objectives of this study were to determine how often a second opinion on the local therapy of breast carcinoma changed patient management and to identify factors predictive of remaining at the second-opinion site for therapy.

Methods: Two hundred thirty-one patients with intraductal carcinoma or Stage I and II breast carcinoma were reviewed retrospectively.