Professional portfolios and Australian registered nurses' requirements for licensure: Developing an essential tool

A requirement of many nurses in the process of licensing for practice each year is a declaration of continuing competence to practice. In Australia, each state and territory currently has its own regulatory authority for nurses and midwives, whose main role is to protect public safety. Like many other registering authorities in the Asia-Pacific region, Australian regulatory authorities undertake the random auditing of nurses and midwives in order to assess their competence to practice. Professional portfolios commonly are considered to be a tool that nurses can use to demonstrate to regulatory authorities, employers, and others how they meet the required competencies. This article examines the different types of portfolios that fall under the umbrella term, professional portfolio, and recommends that nurses explore the strategies that identify evidence of their continuing competence to practice for inclusion in such a document.     

Australian nurses seize a collaborative model to shape the future with the International Council of Nurses

Aim:  To showcase a successful collaborative model under the International Council of Nurses (ICN) membership models, which enables Australian nurses to more fully participate across all ICN activities.
Background:  When ICN approved new models of membership in 2001, Royal College of Nursing, Australia, saw an opportunity for creating greater unity for Australian nursing. The College had established an agreement nationally with the Australian Nursing Federation, the union, to maximize influence on national nursing policy. Flowing from the ICN's objective of inclusivity, a collaborative partnership under the College's membership of ICN was a logical and mutually beneficial next step. Members of the two peak Australian national nursing organizations, together with the profession at large, have favourably received this demonstration of unity. In a time of constant change and uncertainty in professional circles and upheaval in the global community, this collaborative effort by the premier professional and industrial groups has sounded a strong note of stability for working towards a robust future for nursing. With the influence of often-unknown external forces, it is not always possible to predict what lies ahead for our profession. However, a strong collaborative partnership can better plan for, and have greater influence on, national and international issues.
Conclusion:  The College, having taken the unprecedented step of inviting a colleague organization to engage in international level collaboration, encourages other ICN member associations to form similar alliances. A stronger ICN will strengthen nurses' endeavours at the forefront of global health and create an unbeatable force for dealing with the unexpected.     

Nursing activities following the introduction of health care assistants

Aim : The purpose of this study was to determine changes in the work nature of nurses after the introduction of Health Care Assistants (HCAs).
Background : HCAs with a role similar to those adopted in the UK of assisting the nurse were piloted in a teaching hospital in Hong Kong.
Method : A quasi-experimental design was used to compare the observed activities of HCAs and nurses in four wards of a teaching hospital, before and after the introduction of HCAs. As the amount of staff activity is influenced by the amount of work, patient dependency data were gained from record reviews and nurse interviews.
Findings : HCAs in orthopaedic and medical wards provided more basic care than those in surgical and gynaecological wards. Nurses in wards with HCAs performed significantly fewer activities than nurses in control wards.
Conclusions : HCAs presence accounted for a reduction in both direct and indirect care provided by nurses. Overall, HCAs provided more basic than technical and indirect care.     

A critical review of the nursing shortage in Malaysia

BARNETT T., NAMASIVAYAM P. & NARUDIN D.A.A. (2010) A critical review of the nursing shortage in Malaysia. International Nursing Review 57 , 32–39
Objective:  This paper describes and critically reviews steps taken to address the nursing workforce shortage in Malaysia.
Background:  To address the shortage and to build health care capacity, Malaysia has more than doubled its nursing workforce over the past decade, primarily through an increase in the domestic supply of new graduates.
Methods:  Government reports, policy documents and ministerial statements were sourced from the Ministry of Health Malaysia website and reviewed and analysed in the context of the scholarly literature published about the health care workforce in Malaysia and more generally about the global nursing shortage.
Results:  An escalation in student numbers and the unprecedented number of new graduates entering the workforce has been associated with other impacts that have been responded to symptomatically rather than through workplace reform. Whilst growing the domestic supply of nurses is a critical key strategy to address workforce shortages, steps should also be taken to address structural and other problems of the workplace to support both new graduates and the retention of more experienced staff.
Conclusion:  Nursing shortages should not be tackled by increasing the supply of new graduates alone. The creation of a safe and supportive work environment is important to the long-term success of current measures taken to grow the workforce and retain nurses within the Malaysian health care system.     

Illness perspectives of Thais diagnosed with schizophrenia

This study explored the perceptions of 18 people diagnosed with schizophrenia from 1–10 years to uncover how they perceived themselves and their illness. It also involved 12 family members who added their perceptions. The data were collected using in-depth interviews, reflective journaling, and observations. The data were analyzed through the lens of Heidegger's hermeneutic phenomenology. Four themes emerged: perceptions of mental illness, perceptions of the causes of illness, perceptions of discrimination, and attempting to live with schizophrenia. The findings included strong underlying cultural and spiritual beliefs, and attitudes unique to the Thai participants, including the causation of schizophrenia by supernatural powers, black magic, and bad karma stemming from past deeds. Understanding the perceptions of the participants might help health-care providers to be more sensitive to those living with schizophrenia in Thailand and elsewhere. In particular, the findings could be useful in informing psychiatric careproviders about developing better caring systems for clients diagnosed with schizophrenia. This should help the sufferers of schizophrenia to live their lives to their own satisfaction and as normally as possible.     

Nursing scholarship in Japan: Development, facilitators, and barriers

This qualitative study sought a contemporary view of the development, facilitators of, and barriers to nursing scholarship in Japan from the perspectives of the scholars. In-depth interviews were conducted with 13 scholars across Japan, which were digitally recorded, and the data were subjected to content analysis. Five themes emerged: a spirit of collectivism; a lack of nursing control; a lack of English ability; a high workload; and collaboration. The participants considered that culturally based consensus and communication behaviors, as well as the control and dominance by the medical profession, were hampering nursing scholarship. Furthermore, Japanese nurses were not in control of the profession in a period of unprecedented growth in university nursing education and a growing nursing shortage. A lack of English-speaking and English-writing abilities hindered collaboration with scholars internationally and the writing of international publications. Most of the participants felt unable to compare the extent and nature of Japanese scholarship with that of their Asian neighbors. The Japanese scholars need to grasp opportunities to learn English, collaborate with other nurses nationally and internationally, learn assertion and political skills to give them the confidence to take control of nursing education, and be more involved in research collaboration and international publications.     

Evaluation of individual and facility factors that promote hand washing in aged-care facilities in Japan

Internationally, it has been found that regular and timely hand washing is part of hand-hygiene practices that can reduce rates of infection in health-care facilities, but research has shown that there is a low level of compliance with hand washing in hospitals worldwide, including Japan. The number of aged-care facilities is growing throughout the world as our populations age, but hand-washing compliance appears even lower in such settings where there are vulnerable and frail elderly persons. This study used a correlational, cross-sectional design to clarify, for the first time, individual and facility factors related to the hand-washing behaviors of care staff at Japanese aged-care facilities. In 56 facilities (31 special nursing homes and 25 health-service facilities) in Yamaguchi Prefecture, data were gathered through survey questionnaires from care staff and facility managers. A total of 1323 (79.6%) questionnaires were returned and 1016 (61.1%) were analyzed. Using logistical regression analysis, two individual factors were investigated ("willingness to practice standard precautions" and "attendance at seminars") and two facility factors were investigated ("implementation of hand-washing evaluation" and "hand-washing environment"). These factors were found to promote hand washing, but no single factor was particularly related to its promotion in aged-care settings. If the health of elderly residents is to be better protected and infection rates lowered, especially in an era of increasing pandemics and epidemics, the compliance rate of health-care workers needs to be increased. We conclude that diverse approaches to both individual and facility factors are necessary to improve compliance with hand washing.