Winner of inaugural Health Minister’s Awards for Nursing Trailblazers announced

An ACT nurse dedicated to giving people more dignity and choice in their final days was last night named the inaugural Health Minister’s Nursing Trailblazer at an awards ceremony in Sydney. Lord Nigel Crisp, Co-Chair Nursing Now, and Australian College of Nursing President, Professor Christine Duffield FACN presented the inaugural Health Minister’s Nursing Trailblazer Award…

Budget 2019-20: Modest measures fall short of health priorities

The Australian College of Nursing (ACN) has expressed disappointment at the lost opportunities in Budget 2019-20, particularly in the Government’s failure to distribute additional funding to improving patient outcomes across the country. “This modest allocation fails to appreciate the growing crisis in aged care, particularly in registered nurse staffing shortfalls and inadequate skills-mix training,” Australian…

Nurses transforming health care in Australia

Nurses around Australia are taking the initiative to improve health care in this country and the innovative work of four nurses has seen them selected as Finalists in the inaugural Health Minister’s Award for Nursing Trailblazers. “We were overwhelmed, inspired and impressed by the nominations we received,” Australian College of Nursing CEO, Adjunct Professor Kylie…

Health care needs Registered Nurses, not replacements

Australia’s health system is becoming increasingly reliant on unregistered carers with limited training and this is negatively impacting on levels of care in all settings and patient outcomes. “Following tragic stories of neglect and mistreatment, a Royal Commission was established to investigate the current state of Australia’s aged care sector,” Australian College of Nursing (ACN)…

Nurses endorse migrant and refugee competency standards framework

The Australian College of Nursing (ACN) welcomes today’s launch of a clinical framework outlining best practice in providing cultural responsiveness for patients from migrant and refugee backgrounds. The ‘Culturally responsive clinical practice: Working with people from migrant and refugee backgrounds’ Competency Standards Framework for Clinicians (the Framework) was developed by the Migrant and Refugee Women’s…

Safety first in aged care, not profit

The Australian College of Nursing (ACN) today told the Senate Community Affairs References Committee that the pursuit of profit must not be allowed to put our vulnerable elderly at increased risk. Providing evidence to the Committee’s inquiry on ‘Effectiveness of the aged care quality assessment and accreditation framework for protecting residents from abuse and poor…