Tuesday 16 December, 2008 A specialised breast care nurse education program has been revamped and places are now open for 2009.

The postgraduate unit, ‘Breast Care Nursing: Foundations for Practice’, is offered by La Trobe University and the Cancer Council Victoria.

Deputy Director, Cancer Information and Support Services, Dr Amanda Hordern, said the unit of study provides foundational knowledge for Breast Care Nurses engaged in evidence based physical and emotional care of women throughout all stages of breast cancer.

“Breast care nurses play a pivotal role in providing breast cancer patients with the appropriate care and speciality services that they need and ensure that patients are aware of all procedures and options available to them throughout their diagnosis and beyond,” Dr Hordern said.

“The program has helped breast care nurses become recognised as an important part of the multidisciplinary team in the National Clinical Practice Guidelines; a great step for their career.

“The program has been recently updated and covers complex issues related to sexuality, loss and grief and the provision of psychological support when nursing women with breast cancer.

“Registered nurses across Australia can apply and it is available as a single unit of study or as a pathway to a Masters degree. Offered as a distance education program, students can take on the study by correspondence,” she said.

In Australia around 12, 000 families are affected by breast cancer every year, meeting with Breast Care Nurses at many stages throughout their treatment and beyond. This unit gives nurses the opportunity to enter a new speciality area of practice and consolidate clinical knowledge gained through experience in this role for cancer nurses.

Enrolment must be completed by 23 January 2009 for semester 1 and 15 June 2009 for semester 2.

For more information visit http://www.latrobe.edu.au/nursing or http://www.cancervic.org.au/

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Filed under: Division News on December 18th, 2008 | No Comments »

The Nurse Policy Branch is offering scholarships for registered nurses currently working in the Victorian public health sector undertaking postgraduate study in targeted areas of practice. Scholarships of up to $3000 will be awarded to successful applicants in the area of Nurse Practitioner.

Scholarship funds are a contribution towards the cost of undertaking postgraduate studies, including tuition fees and student contributions (HECS), study loans, books and equipment, travel required to attend lectures and clinical placements, child care and other related study costs.

Details can be found at http://www.health.vic.gov.au/nursing/furthering/postgrad and the closing date for applications is December 4th.

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Filed under: Division News on November 7th, 2008 | No Comments »

This is a text of a media release published by the Honourable Nicola Roxon MP, Minister for Health and Ageing on October 28, 2008.

Building Australia’s Health Workforce – Scholarships for Nurse Practitioners

The Australian Government is investing $2.1 million to help build the nation’s nurse practitioner workforce.

Nurse practitioner scholarships of up to $15,000 per annum for two years, targeted specifically at nurses in rural and remote areas, will be provided for up to 20 nurses to upgrade their skills to practice as nurse practitioners.

The Rudd Government recognises that Australia’s nurse practitioners, many of whom hold Masters degrees, are highly-skilled and qualified health professionals.

They are the great unrecognised successes of Australia’s health care system.

The development of this workforce in Australia has been slow - however, there are now approximately 300 registered nurse practitioners working in Australia. The Rudd Government is determined to see those numbers increase.

Nurse practitioners have responsibility for complex decisions about patient care, and work in a diverse range of areas, including emergency departments, community health centres, mental health services and paediatrics.

The scholarships announced today will have a particular emphasis on increasing the availability of nurse practitioners in rural and remote settings and in areas of need such as aged care, mental health, women’s and men’s health, and drug and alcohol health care. By increasing the capacity of the nurse practitioner workforce, we increase the benefits that this group of health professionals can bring to the community, and the access of families to the health care they need.

The Rudd Government is working to build a health system that fully recognises and utilises the skills of all of our health professionals. It is important to ensure that nurse practitioners get the support needed to expand their numbers and play more of a role in our health system.

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Filed under: Division News on October 30th, 2008 | No Comments »

The Division is pleased to announce that a team of researchers from the Division have been awarded a research grant from the Wicking Trust of $172,497 over two years.

The project will describe and evaluate the use of Sneozelen therapy for dementia in Victorian residental aged-care centres.

The research team are Michael Bauer, Jo Rayner, Susan Koch and Julie Ellis.

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Filed under: Division News, Research News on October 28th, 2008 | No Comments »

Christopher Mullins on left with team mates

Born with mild Cerebal Palsy, Christopher Mullins’ childhood physiotherapist suggested that he get involved in sport to lessen the likelihood of losing ability to walk as he gets older. It was good advice. Twenty years later, his family were able to watch him run for glory in the 4 x 100 metre relay and win Gold for Australia at the Paralympics Games in Beijing.

Since Chris returned from the Beijing Paralympics a fortnight ago, he hasn’t had much time to show off his Gold medal. “I’ve been too busy trying to finish my nursing assignments, that are due in two weeks,” he says. “The excitement from Beijing is making it hard to settle down and concentrate. I sit down to study but my mind wanders off!”

For now, Chris’s immediate goals are to get his assignments done and finish exams. “And then I can relax,” he laughs.

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Filed under: Division News on October 13th, 2008 | No Comments »

The Division is delighted that Rhonda Brown has been awarded a Faculty Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning by the Faculty Citation Committee. Rhonda’s application has also been forwarded to the University Committee for consideration for a University Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning.

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Filed under: Division News on April 18th, 2008 | No Comments »

A recent paper by Gerry Lee and collaborators has been featured in ConsultMagazine.net which is the online complement to the quarterly print publication, Consult. Consult Magazine provides coverage of issues of importance to the medical community.

You can read the article on the ConsultMagazine.net web site.

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Filed under: Division News, The Alfred Clinical School on April 8th, 2008 | No Comments »

Congratulations to Jan Rice for winning the Comfeel Award for the best “literature/clinical practice review” published in 2007. Her article was entitled, “Unusual Leg Ulcers: a global phenomenon”. This is an annual national prize judged by an independent multidisciplinary panel of wound management experts. The award will be presented in May at the Australian Wound Management Conference in Darwin.

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Filed under: Division News on April 1st, 2008 | No Comments »

Congratulations to Geraldine Lee and her co-authors on their recent publication in the Journal of Clinical Nursing of an article entitled Evaluating outcomes of the emergency nurse practitioner role in a major urban emergency department, Melbourne, Australia.
Read more »

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Filed under: Division News, Research News, Publications News on March 11th, 2008 | No Comments »

In early 2007 a relationship agreement was signed between LTU and Aged Care Services Australia Group Pty Ltd (ACSAG), who are one of the largest and leading providers of residential aged care facilities across Australia. The agreement covers clinical placements at ACSAG residential aged care facilities and research collaboration between ACSAG staff and academic staff from the Division of Nursing & Midwifery.

ACSAG is enthusiastically committed to continuously improving aged care in Australia. Their vision and dedication have developed through years of experience and by studying best practice throughout the world. They continually work to understand the needs of their residents and strive to provide the highest level of care possible.

The Division of Nursing and Midwifery’s strategic plan identifies aged care as one of its teaching and research strengths.

All students of La Trobe receive a priority of access to employment vacancies at ACSAG facilities and can therefore be paid to gain practical hands on experience. The rates of pay range from $20.00 p/h -$30.80 p/h, with penalty rates applicable on weekends.

If you wish to participate in this opportunity please contact the Facility Manager at your chosen ACSAG facility and mention that you are a La Trobe University Nursing Student or click here to go to the ACSAG web site.

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Filed under: Division News on March 6th, 2008 | No Comments »