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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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: This study sought to explore how bullying in the nursing profession in Australia has changed over four decades, and why it continues to persist., Background: Bullying in nursing is recognized as a pervasive problem. While much attention has been given to demonstrating the existence and impact of bullying in the nursing profession, little is understood about the evolution of this phenomenon and factors that contribute to its persistence., Methods: This study employed an historical methodology using the testimony method of data collection. Testimonies were collected online and via interview from seventy registered nurses across Australia. Data were analysed using a three-dimensional analysis to produce a chronological historiography., Results: This study found that the antecedents, manifestations, responses to and impacts of bullying in the nursing profession changed according to context and over time. The findings shed light on the role of nurse managers in the prevention and appropriate management of bullying in the workplace., Conclusion: Prevention and intervention approaches must be developed to combat the complex and changing factors that allow bullying to persist., Implications for Nursing Management: This study shows the role that management plays in tackling the problem of bullying in nursing. It can no longer be acceptable for culture to be used as an excuse for unacceptable behaviour, nor for power to be abused to protect perpetrators of workplace bullying. The findings discussed in this paper reveal that inexperienced nurse managers are often ill-equipped to identify and manage bullying. Nurses in management positions must recognize and acknowledge this deficit if the problem of bullying is to be effectively tackled., (© 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

A number of resources exist to assist registered nurses in Australia to determine their scope of practice; however, the ability of a professional nurse to expand his or her practice is highly context dependent. This article reports on barriers and enablers to expanding scope of practice, as identified by registered nurses across Australia. A cross-sectional survey administered online in 2016 returned 1,205 useable submissions. Results indicated that nurses wishing to expand their practice felt supported to do so by nursing colleagues and were aware of professional and regulatory documents relating to expanding scope of practice. Less support for this process was evident from other health professionals or employers. Respondents also indicated that they were motivated to expand their scope by professional satisfaction, potential for career advancement, and the desire to meet health service user's needs. The majority of respondents identified barriers to expanding scope of practice, including lack of remuneration and the absence of supportive guidelines. Respondents in the early stage of their careers were more likely to perceive organizational support for expanding their scope of practice. When required to expand their role, the majority of respondents indicated that they had undertaken additional training or accessed various resources to guide them in this process. Barriers to expanding nursing scope of practice can result in underutilization of the one of the greatest resources in the health care system. This article identifies a number of strategies that can facilitate role expansion to ensure that nursing continues to make a significant contribution to positive health service outcomes in Australia.

The nursing profession is presented with numerous definitions of workplace bullying. This study provides an in-depth analysis of the concept of bullying in the nursing profession in Australia through a scoping review of definitions presented in literature published up until 2018. The research questions used to guide the search were as follows: How has the definition of bullying in nursing in Australia been conceptualized in the literature? How do these definitions of bullying differ? How has the definition of bullying, as used in the literature, evolved over time? The review was informed by the approach of Arksey and O'Malley, containing explicit definitions of bullying in nursing literature. The findings reveal that the literature does not reflect a shared and integrated vision of the exact nature of bullying in the nursing profession. The conceptualization of bullying in the nursing profession has become more dynamic over time. The myriad ways in which bullying in nursing is defined in Australia has important implications for research, practice, education, and policy.

Purpose: Registered nurses and midwives require a degree of genomic literacy if they are to adequately communicate with other healthcare professionals and provide optimal care to patients, their families, and the community. Several studies have been conducted internationally to assess the genomic literacy of nurses; however, the genomic literacy of Australian registered nurses and midwives has not been investigated. The aim of this study was to measure the genomic literacy of Australian registered nurses and midwives through assessing participants' understandings of genomic concepts most critical to nursing and midwifery practice, as well as their perceived knowledge and attitude towards genomics in nursing and midwifery practice., Design: Cross-sectional survey of Australian registered nurses and midwives using the Genomic Nursing Concept Inventory (GNCI © ), a 31 multiple-choice question survey instrument. Participants were recruited via two key Australian nursing and midwifery organizations over an 8-month period in 2016., Methods: Descriptive and inferential statistical techniques were used to calculate the total GNCI © score and scores on individual subcategories, as well as relationships between demographic variables and GNCI © scores., Findings: Most respondents worked as clinicians (71.4%) in a hospital or hospital-based setting (61.8%). Most registered nurses (80.5%) and midwives (97.2%) reported that genetics was relevant to clinical practice; however, over 80% of registered nurses and midwives believed their knowledge of genetics was poor or average. Genomic knowledge was assessed using the GNCI © . Scores ranged from 3 to 29 (out of a possible 31), with a mean score of 13.3 (SD 4.559) based on 253 (N = 253) respondents, indicating that genomic literacy is low. There was a significant difference between genomic knowledge scores and education and training level (p = .036)., Conclusions: The genomic literacy of registered nurses and midwives in Australia is low. More must be done to ensure Australian registered nurses and midwives have an adequate level of genomic literacy to provide optimal care to patients, their families, and the community., Clinical Relevance: Modern medicine requires a healthcare workforce that is literate in genomics. Findings from this study may serve as the catalyst to improve the genomic literacy of the Australian nursing and midwifery workforce, allowing for improved health outcomes for individuals and the wider Australian public., (© 2018 Sigma Theta Tau International.)

In respect of professional nursing, the term scope of practice is regularly used, yet is often poorly defined both in Australia and internationally. This study explores the determinants of scope of practice from a national sample of Australian registered nurses using an online survey (Scope-QAu). This paper reports on two parts of a large cross-sectional survey wherein 1231 registered nurses in Australia provided data on how they determined their scope of practice. Scope of practice in the Australian nursing context is influenced by a range of professional publications, guidelines and standards, as well as professional peers and one's own judgement. Findings reveal that few demographic characteristics predicted the way nurses determined their own scope of practice. Nurses commonly relied upon three professional publications, peers and line managers, to establish their individual scope of practice. Impact statement: Registered nurses do not rely solely on professional guidelines or regulatory frameworks when determining their scope of practice.

This paper aims to explore and discuss the role that ANMAC and the accreditation standards play in pre-registration nursing education nationally. The context of the discussion is situated in the continuum of events that mark the accreditation of nursing education in Australia. The National Registration and Accreditation Scheme has given rise to significant challenges related to the accreditation of nursing programs of education in Australia. Given the importance of accreditation to the quality of nursing education, ANMAC in its appointed role as accrediting authority, must fill the position rather than occupy it. Enhancing transparency and effectiveness is central to ensuring accreditation facilitates quality in nursing education. Given ANMAC's key position, further work is needed in developing a broad base of expertise by fostering scholarly output in the substantive area of nursing accreditation. There is a concerning lack of research centred on the accreditation of programs of nursing education along with the processes associated with it. This problem is not restricted to the Australian context but also extends internationally. In this context, the expertise of accreditors ought to be questioned along with the processes ANMAC use to identify individual capability. As such, the selection of experts needs to be articulated clearly by ANMAC along with the ownership of introducing a research culture into accreditation.

Students of nursing enter their programmes of study with preconceived ideas of what a career in their chosen profession will entail. The literature suggests that images from the media and past experiences contribute to these perceptions. Although it is positive images of the profession that will usually attract an individual to a career in nursing, often more negative perceptions will direct students away from potentially rewarding areas of specialization. This paper describes career projections of nursing students enrolled in the first year of four preservice nursing programmes at the rural campus of one Australian university. Part of a larger study, the data reported here indicate that most respondents intend to practice in the areas of midwifery, paediatrics and emergency nursing. Oncology, community nursing, aged care and mental health nursing all ranked poorly across three rounds of surveys. These findings have implications for practicing nurses and nurse educators who seek to dispel inaccurate images of these important specializations., (© 2013 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.)

Health assessment is a fundamental aspect of the professional nursing role. The teaching of skills in physical assessment is therefore a large component of pre-registration nursing programmes. As the nursing curriculum becomes more crowded with what is deemed to be essential content, there is a need to rationalise what is taught in preparatory nursing programmes to ensure readiness for practice. The study outlined in this paper, as part of a larger project, explored the teaching of physical assessment skills in pre-registration nursing programmes across Australia. Fifty-three academics completed the 121 item online survey, indicating whether each skill was taught with practice, taught with no practice or not taught at all. The results suggest that only half the skills were being taught by more than 80% of the academics and 23 skills (19%) were taught by more than 90%. Of the 121 skills commonly taught--69 skills (57%) were taught with student practice and 29 (24%) were taught with no student practice. The results of this study raise questions about the teaching of physical assessment in pre-registration nursing programmes. The suggestion is not that skills that are used regularly or infrequently should be removed from the curriculum, rather, the authors propose that consideration be given to whether the teaching of skills that are never likely to be used is occurring at the expense of comprehensive mastery of core skills.

The purpose of pre-service nursing education programs is to prepare competent graduates who are able to function as safe, professional registered nurses. An extensive element of these programs is the teaching of physical assessment skills, with most programs educating students to perform over 120 such skills. Previous research from North America suggests that the majority of skills taught to nurses in their pre-service programs are not used in practice. As part of a larger study, an online survey was used to explore use of 121 physical assessment skills by Australian nurses. Recruitment occurred via mailed invitation to members of the Australian Nursing Federation. Data were extracted from 1220 completed questionnaires returned by nurses who were mostly employed in New South Wales, were female and experienced nurses. Respondents indicated that they used only 34% of skills routinely. Results reinforce evidence found in the literature that many of the skills taught to nurses are either not used at all (35.5%) or are used rarely (31%). These findings have implications for the teaching of physical assessment skills in pre-service nursing programs, and raise questions about the value of extensive skills teaching in the context of contemporary health care. Further research into barriers to the use of physical assessment skills in nursing and the need for comprehensive skills preparation for the generalist nurse is likely to offer some solutions to these questions.

Nurses represent the largest occupational group of health care professionals in Australia. The ratio of nurses to population is relatively consistent, unlike other health care professional groups (including medical doctors and allied health staff) whose numbers decline as population density and distance from metropolitan areas increases. Nurses working in areas where other health care professionals are limited or absent have expanded scopes of practice with their work being more generalist than specialist. The role of nurses in remote and isolated areas of Queensland, Australia was the focus of a commissioned multi-case research project. Findings reported in this paper relate to the position of registered nurses as part of an interprofessional team. These findings indicated that, in some instances, local health care teams were limited to a single nurse and Indigenous health care worker/s, while in others the teams were more diverse. In all cases collegial support was available either locally or via telecommunication technology. Understanding the role of each team member, having useful strategies to enhance communication and work collaboratively were identified as essential criteria for "good practice".

Objective: To examine the role of the registered nurse in remote and isolated areas of Queensland, the Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia; and to illustrate the impact of the burden of disease on nursing practice., Data Sources: A literature search was undertaken using electronic databases and the grey literature (including policy documents, project reports and position descriptions)., Data Synthesis: The role of the nurse in remote areas is diverse, and varies according to the context of practice. Although some states and territories offer formal programs to prepare nurses for the role, it is unclear whether this is routinely provided. The burden of disease is higher in remote Australia, and although nurses work to reduce the burden, the need to provide primary care can be at the expense of primary health care., Conclusions: Whilst the nature of nursing practice is influenced by many factors, considerable agreement exists between states and territories around the role of the registered nurses in remote and isolated communities. The higher burden of disease in remote and isolated areas of Australia impacts on nursing practice, and nurses are uniquely placed to assist in reducing the burden of disease. Greater agreement around what constitutes 'remote' is needed.

In 1996 Hegney published a seminal review of the literature concerning the status of Australian rural nurses. This article updates and expands that original paper by reporting on an integrative review exploring the same topic area between the years 1996 and 2008. Findings show that definitions of rural nursing are now integrated with those of remote nursing on a continuum of distance and contextual difference. The role and function of rural nurses is examined, along with a discussion of the importance of a primary health care approach in meeting community needs. The influence of social determinants of health is explored in this context. The culture of rural health workplaces in relation to the role and function of rural nurses is also a feature of this review. Research into the rural nursing workforce and, in particular, the recruitment and retention of staff are examined, with the high attrition rate of new or novice rural nurses pinpointed as a common theme in these studies. Important legislative changes that have affected rural nursing practice are also identified. This article concludes with a discussion of the latest research into Australian rural nursing, focusing on education in rural universities and the potential to develop new or novice nurses through the development of supportive relationships.