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Introduction: Family violence (FV) is one of the most urgent health issues of our generation. While nurses play a vital role in identifying and supporting victim/survivors of violence, little is known about nursing readiness to respond across clinical areas. Objective: This study aimed to compare and contrast the knowledge, confidence, clinical skills, and perceived barriers of nurses across three clinical areas of a tertiary trauma hospital in Melbourne, Australia, in responding to FV. Method: A prospective, mixed methods design was used. The nursing staff at a large trauma hospital were approached to participate. Participants completed a brief online survey to quantify clinician-reported knowledge, clinical skills, and barriers to managing FV. Results: Two hundred and forty-two nursing staff electronically completed a brief survey to capture self-reported confidence, knowledge, clinical skills, and barriers to working effectively in the area. The descriptive analysis reflected service-wide deficits in knowledge, confidence, and self-reported clinical skills, irrespective of the work area. Deficits were identified on a background of limited structured training for FV among this cohort. Significantly higher rates of FV confidence and knowledge were identified among emergency department nurses relative to acute and subacute clinical counterparts. Conclusion: Nurse respondents overall reported low rates of confidence, knowledge, and clinical skills in responding to disclosures of FV. Findings reinforce the need for imbedded training programs to support frontline responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to assess the digital literacy levels and attitudes towards information systems of staff in a health service that will be implementing an electronic health record so that barriers towards implementation could be addressed. A survey measuring staff confidence levels and their attitudes towards information systems was developed. Data were collected over a five-week period, with data analysed using frequency analysis and a chi-square analysis. There were 407 respondents to the survey. The majority (70-80%) of which reported high digital literacy levels, expressing confidence in using technology. Respondents also reported positive attitudes towards information systems. However, one-fifth reported anxiety using information systems. Given poor staff engagement with information systems adversely affects the safety and quality of patient care, health services should provide targeted education and training to address staff with low digital literacy levels and/or confidence with using information systems prior to implementation of an electronic health record system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Occupational therapy graduates are expected to assume leadership roles in a variety of contexts and capacities. Objective: To investigate the leadership styles of undergraduate occupational therapy students. Methods: First, second, third, and fourth year undergraduate occupational therapy students from one Australian university were asked to complete the What’s My Leadership Style (WMLS) questionnaire. Results: The total sample response rate was 86.3% (n = 182/211). Overall there was a statistically significant difference in students’ preference for the leadership styles (p < .001). The two most preferred leadership styles were the Considerate and Spirited styles while the two least preferred were the Direct and Systematic leadership styles. There were no statistically significant differences in preference for any of the four leadership styles based on students’ sex, age, or year level of study. Conclusion: The Considerate leadership style is characterised by creating comfortable working environments, following established procedures, and creating an easy work pace, while the Spirited leadership style is about inspiring people, generating excitement, turning work into play, and rallying people. It is recommended that leadership be integrated into occupational therapy curricula so as to adequately equip students for future professional practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]