The UK defence anaesthesia experience with the Zambia Anaesthesia Development Programme.

For 18 months UK military anaesthetic trainees have been travelling to Zambia for a 3-month fellowship under the auspices of the Zambia Anaesthesia Development Programme. In this article we will discuss the history, current state and future intent of the fellowship in order to better inform the anaesthetic cadre and wider UK Defence Medical Services.

A unified call to action from Australian nursing and midwifery leaders: ensuring that Black lives matter.

Nurses and midwives of Australia now is the time for change! As powerfully placed, Indigenous and non-Indigenous nursing and midwifery professionals, together we can ensure an effective and robust Indigenous curriculum in our nursing and midwifery schools of education. Today, Australia finds itself in a shifting tide of social change, where the voices for better and safer health care ring out loud. Voices for justice, equity and equality reverberate across our cities, our streets, homes, and institutions of learning. It is a call for new songlines of reform. The need to embed meaningful Indigenous health curricula is stronger now than it ever was for Australian nursing and midwifery. It is essential that nursing and midwifery leadership continue to build an authentic collaborative environment for Indigenous curriculum development. Bipartisan alliance is imperative for all academic staff to be confident in their teaching and learning experiences with Indigenous health syllabus. This paper is a call out. Now is the time for Indigenous and non-Indigenous nurses and midwives to make a stand together, for justice and equity in our teaching, learning, and practice. Together we will dismantle systems, policy, and practices in health that oppress. The Black Lives Matter movement provides us with a 'now window' of accepted dialogue to build a better, culturally safe Australian nursing and midwifery workforce, ensuring that Black Lives Matter in all aspects of health care.

Nurse-led primary health care for homeless men: a multimethods descriptive study.

AIM: To explore the primary healthcare needs and health service use of homeless men in inner Sydney. BACKGROUND: People experiencing homelessness have greater health needs than the general population and place high demands on tertiary care, which is expensive and may not be the optimum service for their needs. Accessible, approachable and affordable primary healthcare services could improve the health of homeless persons and potentially decrease costs to the healthcare system. METHODS: A multimethod design using a cross-sectional survey (n = 40) and administrative data (n = 2 707 daily summaries) collected from a nurse-led primary healthcare clinic for homeless men in Sydney. FINDINGS: Survey respondents were aged 27-76 years. Health problems reflected multimorbidity, with mental health issues present in almost all respondents. The majority had attended the clinic more than 20 times in the past year and said the services, treatments and referrals helped them avoid the emergency department. Administrative data indicated that medication administration was the most frequent service provided. Referrals to other health services doubled over the 7-year period. DISCUSSION: Multiple morbidities, particularly mental health issues, are associated with homelessness. A proactive approach by nurses including preventative services appeared to overcome barriers to health service use. CONCLUSION: This nurse-led primary healthcare clinic highlights the importance of providing services to homeless men with multiple comorbidities. Respect and trust in addition to easy access to health services appear to be important facilitators of health service use. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING, AND IMPLICATIONS FOR HEALTH POLICY: A greater number of primary health services that collaborate with specialist services, including nurse-led clinics, may facilitate health care for persons who are homeless, reducing the burden on acute services.

The structure of nursing: a national examination of titles and practice profiles.

AIM: To identify the practice patterns of the Australian registered nurse workforce according to position title and to map these disparate titles across all jurisdictions of the country. INTRODUCTION: Effective nursing workforce planning can contribute to improved patient care and increased effectiveness and efficiency of healthcare systems. BACKGROUND: The prevailing approach to nursing workforce planning focuses on number of nursing staff needed in relation to the number of patients. The level of expertise and skill mix of registered nurses as a variable in workforce planning is rarely considered. METHODS: A national cross-sectional electronic survey of registered nurses in Australia was conducted using the validated Advanced Practice Role Delineation tool developed from the Strong Model of Advanced Practice. The study involved a sample of 5599 registered nurses. RESULTS: Sixty-six nursing position titles nationally were mapped using cluster analysis technique and gave rise to seven clusters of equivalent Australian jurisdictional nursing position titles and practice profiles. DISCUSSION: Effective workforce policy and planning is reliant upon access to reliable evidence. This research is an international first in that it has provided comprehensive knowledge of the clinical level and practice profiles of a national nursing workforce. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING POLICY: Effective, patient-centred workforce planning must consider both the numerical and expertise mix of a nursing workforce. This research provides Australian health service and policy planners with evidence-base knowledge of the nursing workforce. Internationally, this research establishes a platform from which to develop validated tools and established processes to support replication of this research.

Policies to sustain the nursing workforce: an international perspective.

AIM: Examine metrics and policies regarding nurse workforce across four countries. BACKGROUND: International comparisons inform health policy makers. METHODS: Data from the OECD were used to compare expenditure, workforce and health in: Australia, Portugal, the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US). Workforce policy context was explored. RESULTS: Public spending varied from less than 50% of gross domestic product in the US to over 80% in the UK. Australia had the highest life expectancy. Portugal has fewer nurses and more physicians. The Australian national health workforce planning agency has increased the scope for co-ordinated policy intervention. Portugal risks losing nurses through migration. In the UK, the economic crisis resulted in frozen pay, reduced employment, and reduced student nurses. In the US, there has been limited scope to develop a significant national nursing workforce policy approach, with a continuation of State based regulation adding to the complexity of the policy landscape. The US is the most developed in the use of nurses in advanced practice roles. Ageing of the workforce is likely to drive projected shortages in all countries. LIMITATIONS: There are differences as well as variation in the overall impact of the global financial crisis in these countries. CONCLUSION: Future supply of nurses in all four countries is vulnerable. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING AND HEALTH POLICY: Work force planning is absent or restricted in three of the countries. Scope for improved productivity through use of advanced nurse roles exists in all countries.

Validation of the Algase Wandering Scale (Version 2) in a cross cultural sample.

This study examined the psychometric properties of an expanded version of the Algase Wandering Scale (Version 2) (AWS-V2) in a cross-cultural sample. A cross-sectional survey design was used. Study subjects were 172 English-speaking persons with dementia (PWD) from long-term care facilities in the USA, Canada, and Australia. Two or more facility staff rated each subject on the AWS-V2. Demographic and cognitive data (MMSE) were also obtained. Staff provided information on their own knowledge of the subject and of dementia. Separate factor analyses on data from two samples of raters each explained greater than 66% of the variance in AWS-V2 scores and validated four (persistent walking, navigational deficit, eloping behavior, and shadowing) of five factors in the original scale. Items added to create the AWS-V2 strengthened the shadowing subscale, failed to improve the routinized walking subscale, and added a factor, attention shifting as compared to the original AWS. Evidence for validity was found in significant correlations and ANOVAs between the AWS-V2 and most subscales with a single item indicator of wandering and with the MMSE. Evidence of reliability was shown by internal consistency of the AWS-V2 (0.87, 0.88) and its subscales (range 0.88 to 0.66), with Kappa for individual items (17 of 27 greater than 0.4), and ANOVAs comparing ratings across rater groups (nurses, nurse aids, and other staff). Analyses support validity and reliability of the AWS-V2 overall and for persistent walking, spatial disorientation, and eloping behavior subscales. The AWS-V2 and its subscales are an appropriate way to measure wandering as conceptualized within the Need-driven Dementia-compromised Behavior Model in studies of English-speaking subjects. Suggestions for further strengthening the scale and for extending its use to clinical applications are described.

Nurse managers in Australia: mentoring, leadership and career progression.

Identification of those leadership qualities which nurses believe led to their successful attainment of a nursing management position may help in understanding how to identify and foster leadership potential amongst nursing staff. This study asked nurse managers to indicate the important factors which influenced and facilitated their entry to management positions with a particular reference to the development of leadership characteristics. The results suggest that the leadership qualities we expect nurse managers to display evolve in a largely random way. Additionally, there is evidence that the development of leadership skills and attainment of management positions remains fragmented and random in nature. Because of this, individual nurse managers develop leadership skills almost by default using informal strategies to learn and develop. These findings should provide direction to educational providers and senior managers who seek to develop future leaders and managers.

Profile of first-line nurse managers in New South Wales, Australia, in the 1990s.

AIMS: To determine a demographic profile, employment history and career plans of a sample of nursing unit managers (first-line managers) in New South Wales (NSW), Australia in 1999. To compare the profile of first-line nurse managers in 1999 with those in 1989. BACKGROUND: This study replicates another undertaken a decade earlier (see Duffield 1992). Tracking the changes to nurse manager positions is important, given changes to the educational preparation of nurses and restructuring within hospitals which have occurred in the past decade. METHOD: The same questionnaire was used in both studies, with minor amendments and the addition of two items to reflect changes to organizational structures, whereby nurse managers are now responsible for non-nursing staff. In 1999 all first-line nurse managers in the largest health service in NSW were invited to participate in the study. RESULTS: A response rate of 77% was achieved. There were few differences of note in the demographic profile from 1989 to 1999. However educationally, first-line nurse managers in 1999 were more highly qualified. A greater proportion had higher degrees and increasingly, in the management discipline. CONCLUSION: Perhaps reflecting these qualifications, more managers in 1999 indicated their intention to move to more senior management positions in the next decade. The mode for experience in this role of 1 year in both 1989 and 1999 reflects a worrying trend of high turnover and inexperience amongst this group of managers. While maternity relief might account for this result, further research needs to determine more precise reasons. The ad hoc bases on which expert clinicians (clinical nurse specialists) act as the manager in his/her absence need to be critically examined. Alternative strategies such as introducing a formal second- in-charge position may ensure more successful recruitment and retention of staff to these critical management positions.

The role of nursing unit managers in educating nurses.

This paper presents the findings of a work sampling study undertaken in New South Wales (Australia) to ascertain the amount of time spent by nursing unit managers directly educating nurses. The results indicate that they spend very little time in teaching, traditionally one of their role tasks. It is argued that their teaching at unit level should focus on their role as leader, mentor, preceptor and coach. This role shift needs to be articulated to managers and nurses to minimise confusion over the role and to ensure that direct teaching is placed into the hands of expert clinicians.

The role and preparation of first-line nurse managers in Australia: where are we going and how do we get there?

Organizational restructuring is impacting heavily on the first-line nurse managers' role. Given their critical role, it is important that the best and most talented are attracted to and prepared to be first-line managers. The authors provide an overview of the role of first-line nurse managers in Australia, proposing that nurse administrators take a more active role than has traditionally been the case in ensuring staff are appropriately educated and selected for management positions.

Australian clinicians and educators identify gaps in specialist cardiac nursing practice.

Change is endemic in both the health care and higher education sectors in Australia. Consequently professional roles and educational pathways must also evolve and adapt, often catalysed by those in leadership positions. Two national Delphi panels, one of cardiac nurse educators and the other of cardiac nurses, were convened to answer the question 'What knowledge, skills and attitudes are required for an expert nurse practising in the highly technological cardiac care environment?' Respondents indicated on a Likert scale the importance of 107 items to the nurse's role in both the 'real' and 'ideal' worlds of practice. Overall there was very strong agreement between the two panels with results indicating that Australian nurses perform close to their ideal in many areas of practice. For 31 of the items, both panels identified that the reality of practice is quite far from their ideal. Both panels agree that 10 of the behaviours are carried out or valued very little in practice. Reasons why nurses are not carrying out these elements of the role to their satisfaction are discussed and remediation strategies suggested. The findings can inform both curriculum development and clinical practice. In the dynamic health care arena, the nursing profession continues to respond to community and professional needs, seeking to establish sound research-based practice and maintain a high quality of clinical care and nursing management. The development of competencies by the Confederation of Critical Care Nurses (1996) is a good example of professional groups taking the initiative both in defining the practice role and providing tools that assist educational bodies to develop programs appropriate for a practice based discipline. Specialty nursing practice is 'under the microscope' in Australia as the profession seeks the best methods to weight nursing activities, measure nursing outcomes and recruit, retain and justify the use of specialist practitioners.

The role of the Advanced Casualty Management Team in St John Ambulance Australia (New South Wales District).

St John Ambulance is a household name synonymous with the teaching and provision of first aid. Recently the organisation has developed pre-hospital emergency care services through the introduction of the St John Ambulance Australia Advanced Casualty Management Team in New South Wales. The Advanced Casualty Management Team represents a move away from the practice of first aid by lay personnel and is a natural extension of the traditional work and principles of St John Ambulance. This article provides an overview of the Advanced Casualty Management Team and discusses its contribution to pre-hospital trauma care delivery.

Australian nurse educators identify gaps in expert practice.

In Australia, nurses face a double-barreled challenge to their role. With the rapid adoption of new health care technologies coupled with increasing economic constraints, they find themselves "doing more with less." In this context of continuous change, it is useful to determine what expert nurse clinicians deem the most essential skills, attitudes and knowledge required for practice in complex technological environments. Separate panels of 28 educators and 43 cardiac nurse clinicians participated in a national Delphi study rating the importance to the nursing role of 107 items drawn from the international literature on expert practice and technology. Indicating the importance of each item in both the "real" and "ideal" worlds of practice, educators identified 58 items where they felt actual practice was substantially far from the ideal. For 16 of these items relating to empowerment of patients, nursing research, and technology policy, the educators rated clinical behavior below the median of the real world scale, indicating substandard performance of a role or inadequate assimilation of a concept. The implications for the definition of expert practice and for curricula development are discussed.

It's all in a name. When is a 'Delphi study' not a Delphi study?

As nursing researchers we need to fully understand the origins of the methods we are using in research investigations. Without an in-depth understanding, we may find ourselves violating fundamental underpinning assumptions or conventions through ignorance, and the resulting studies are unlikely to stand up to tests of congruence and rigour. This paper is a discussion of some complexities encountered while exploring the literature on the Delphi technique, a research method we had believed to be straightforward. The Delphi method had been used extensively since its development in the 1950s, and its use in nursing research appears to be increasing. Our explorations revealed that, rather than a simple means of obtaining the judgments of experts, modifications and adaptations over the years have dramatically changed 'the' Delphi. Anyone wishing to use the method needs a sound knowledge of complex theoretical issues associated with its implementation.

Nursing as a career choice: perceptions of school students speaking Arabic, Serbo-Croatian, Spanish, Turkish or Vietnamese at home.

Australia is a multicultural society and nowhere is this more evident than in Sydney where 25% of the population speaks a language other than English. In one of the largest area health services in New South Wales, the five most frequently spoken languages at home are Arabic, Serbo-Croatian, Spanish, Turkish or Vietnamese, with these language groups comprising 12% of Sydney's population. Yet nurses speaking one of these five languages comprise less than 1% of the nursing workforce. A cost-effective method of addressing the shortage of nurses speaking languages other than English is to recruit students who already speak another language into the profession. This study examined high school students' perceptions of nursing in order to determine appropriate methods of recruiting students speaking one of these languages. Implications for the design of recruitment campaigns are also discussed.

The impact of graduate education on the career paths of nurses.

This paper reports the findings of the first phase of a ten year longitudinal study of nurses graduating with higher degrees and diplomas. The higher education sector in Australia has been subjected to a variety of changes in the past decade. Amalgamations and restructuring, altered funding formulae, recognition of prior learning and credit transfer are some of the initiatives, many dictated by governmental bodies, which impact on the education system. Within this volatile context, graduate education in nursing has developed significantly in both quality and variety. These courses have been taken up vigorously by professionals who, until 1990, had limited opportunities for tertiary study in the discipline. Perhaps one of the most significant changes within education, and interestingly paralleled in the health sector, is the move to examine more carefully the outcomes of the process or service provided. The demographic profile, career movements and career plans of graduating students over a five year period from December 1992- December 1996 are presented.

Australian nurses and device use: the ideal and the real in clinical practice.

Clinical nurses use an increasing number of technological devices when providing care. While the clinical devices themselves must undergo rigorous multidimensional assessment, it is the proficiency of the user that ultimately determines the devices' efficacy. Thus, the knowledge, skills and attitudes that nurses bring to their decision-making and use of technology are crucial elements in the technology assessment process. Technological proficiency is imperative in the current climate of rapid patient throughput in complex technological environments. This paper reports some of the findings of an Australian study, using two national Delphi panels, whose primary objective was to determine the knowledge, skills and attitudes required of expert clinicians for practice in cardiac care. Panels of 28 educators and 42 cardiac nurse clinicians completed a questionnaire indicating the importance of 107 characteristics of expert cardiac practice for both the 'real' and 'ideal' worlds of practice. Comparative results will be reported for 29 items within the thematic groups. Effective use of technology, Informed decisions regarding equipment and Critical approach to the use of technology. Both panels accepted all 29 items in these three thematic groups but indicated differences in the level of agreement on the importance of items between the 'real' and 'ideal' worlds of practice. Discussion centres around those areas where improvement is needed.