Contemp Nurse
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Perinatal anxiety and depression constitute one of the long term major public health issues in Australia and for too long they has been bundled under the over-arching term of 'postnatal depression'. However, the generation, funding, and implementation of the National Perinatal Depression Plan (NPDP) (Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing, 2008), across all Australian States and Territories, are proving to be wide-reaching and influential. Not only does the NDPD move from the umbrella term of 'postnatal depression' to establish the reality of perinatal anxiety and depression which women can experience from conception to the first year of the infant's life but also all States and Territories have made Individual Investment Plans for the implementation of the NPDP. ⋯ General nurses, maternal child health nurses, midwives, and mental health nurses are spread throughout primary health care settings. Three essential aspects of the NPDP are pertinent to their practice: (1) the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS); the 2008 beyondblue National Action Plan for Perinatal Mental Health (NAP); and the Draft beyondblue Clinical Practice Guidelines for depression and related disorders - anxiety, bipolar disorder, and puerperal psychosis - in the perinatal period (March 2010). The author addresses these three aspects of the NPDP by citing two personal accounts by women who have experienced perinatal anxiety and depression; these accounts are available in the public domain.
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Nurses' role in the early defibrillation of cardiac patients: implications for nursing in Hong Kong.
The time taken to initiate early defibrillation is crucial to improve survival, prevent neurological deficit and improve the quality of life of patients suffering from sudden cardiac arrest. Despite the extension of training and the authorization of nurses to perform early defibrillation (advocated by the American Heart Association), such practice has not been widely adopted in hospitals. Inadequate knowledge, lack of skill retention, insufficient organizational support and the passive culture of nurses are barriers preventing the move towards nurse-led defibrillation. ⋯ Current nursing practice in emergency resuscitation care and the hurdles constraining early defibrillation will be discussed. Recommendations to facilitate the future development of nurse-led defibrillation will also be provided. The successful extension of the registered nurses' role in early defibrillation will enable them to possess broader knowledge to be clinically competent in providing efficient patient care.
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The Australian government and aged care industry uphold the standard of care for persons who require high care and reside in residential aged care facilities. The residential aged care system is extremely complex and through research conducted at the micro level it is argued that the macro level of policy can be exposed for the effects on the ground. A case study methodology in the qualitative paradigm used a discourse analysis of the nursing care for three highly dependent residents in one accredited aged care facility. ⋯ The autonomy of the residents and advocacy by relatives were misinterpreted and unethical discourses were apparent with relatives having to be constantly vigilant. The nursing care provided by nurses (and non-nurses) failed to meet professional nursing standards and competencies, which adversely affected the residents' health compromising their safety. This situation is attributed to residential aged care policies, whereby nurses and nursing practice have been silenced and made invisible resulting in a substandard level of nursing care provision in this accredited facility that may be transferable to other facilities.
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This project was initiated to improve the quality of identification and response practices of Emergency Department (ED) nursing staff dealing with possible victims of domestic violence (DV). Nursing staff were trained to identify three key actions in the pathway for domestic violence presentations in the ED. A survey of ED staff was taken pre-training to determine a base-line measure of self-reported knowledge regarding domestic violence policies and practices. ⋯ ED nurses are well placed to identify and respond to domestic violence as the ED provides a gateway into health services for women and their children. This paper reports on a participatory action research project which aimed to improve quality and practice around DV for ED staff. The dissemination of the results in this paper are considered to be essential to health services due to dearth of information and research about best practice initiatives for responding to and recognizing domestic violence in the ED.