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Background: Care plans have been part of the primary care landscape in Australia for almost two decades. With an increasing number of patients presenting with multiple chronic conditions, it is timely to consider whether care plans meet the needs of patients and clinicians. Objectives: To review and benchmark existing care plan templates that include recommendations for comorbid conditions, against four key criteria: (i) patient preferences, (ii) setting priorities, (iii) identifying conflicts and synergies between conditions, and (iv) setting dates for reviewing the care plan. Design: Document analysis of Australian care plan templates published from 2006 to 2014 that incorporated recommendations for managing comorbid conditions in primary care. Results: Sixteen templates were reviewed. All of the care plan templates addressed patient preference, but this was not done comprehensively. Only three templates included setting priorities. None assisted in identifying conflicts and synergies between conditions. Fifteen templates included setting a date for reviewing the care plan. Conclusions: Care plans are a well-used tool in primary care practice, but their current format perpetuates a single-disease approach to care, which works contrary to their intended purpose. Restructuring care plans to incorporate shared decision-making and attention to patient preferences may assist in shifting the focus back to the patient and their care needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study which examined the effectiveness of intervention programs to prevent tobacco use initiation or progression to regular smoking among young Indigenous populations. It provides an overview of the relevance of studying tobacco use prevalence for public health nursing. No significant difference in weekly smoking after 42 months between skills-community and controls groups was found.

The article focuses on the use of email in health service for providing information about health promotion and disease prevention. It also discusses variety of trails including randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and quasi-randomized trials conducted in the U.S. and Great Britain which discuss the effects on outcomes for caregivers, health services and health care professionals. It also discusses conclusion for nursing practice and nursing research.

The article studies the World Health Organization's (WHO) Safe Communities model for the prevention of injury in whole populations. The relevance of public health nursing is explained. The objective of WHO for creating the Safe Community program is mentioned. The six criteria of the Safe Community program are outlined. Findings on the injury outcomes of communities that have achieved designation as WHO Safe Communities are presented.

The article evaluates the effects and side effects of abrupt smoking cessation method and reduction smoking cessation method in smokers. The relevance of the study for public health nursing is explained. Abrupt cessation or cold turkey is a common method of quitting smoking on a designated day. The reduction method is designed for the smokers to cut down on the number of cigarettes smoked before the designated day when smoking is entirely stopped.

The article discusses the success of the not-for-profit organization Cochrane Collaboration (CC) of becoming a global leader in research in health care and in nursing in its 20 years in the sector. Topics covered include the amount of systematic reviews (SR) produced by CC which form the basis for informed decision-making in health care, the formation of the Cochrane Nursing Care Field to promote SR with direct effect on nursing, and CC's commitment to evidence dissemination on nursing science.

The article focuses on the study related to the role of health care professionals in providing nonurgent health problems in the emergency situations. It mentions the study characteristics which included randomized trials regarding interventions in hospital emergency departments where the patients were having a non urgent status. It further highlights the result which revealed unsatisfactory results toward the safety issues of patients.

The article presents the summary of a review comprising 18 randomised trials which compared self-monitoring and self-management of oral anticoagulation with standard monitoring. It also discusses the relevance and implications of these controlled studies for nursing care, and highlights the areas that require further research.

The article presents the summary of a review comprising 13 randomised studies which evaluate the effectiveness and side-effects of aspirin, with or without an anti-emetic, used in the treatment of migraine headaches in adults. It also discusses the relevance and implications of these controlled studies for nursing care, and highlights the areas that require further research.