Nurses work across the health care system in a great variety of roles. From patient care to administration, nurses see where the pressures are, and how well we are managing to look after some of the most vulnerable people in our society.
Clinical Challenges explores contemporary issues central to nurses' work. Part I explores clinical concerns such as pain and wound management, the role of the nurse practitioner, and the effects of extending life. For many years the health sector has been coping with cutbacks in government funding, and Part II examines how this impacts on the way we handle social illnesses such as suicide and drug dependence, as well as the needs of our growing ageing population. Part III looks at management issues affecting nurses including the growing use of business strategies and rhetoric in the health care system, and the introduction of information systems and of more flexible ways of working.
Written by nurses working in a variety of professional roles in the system and critiqued by experts in the field, Clinical Challenges offers valuable insights for nurses at every level, including students.
Part I: Nursing Practice
1. Managing Pain
Isobel Taylor + Shirley Anne Wilson - Commentary: Michael Cousins
2. Managing Wounds
Keryln Carville - Commentary: Tal Ellis
3. Nurse Practitioners
Amanda Adrian + Jane O'Connell
4. The NSW Nurse Practitioner Project
Amanda Adrian + Jane O'Connell - Commentary: Chris Murphy
Part II: Influences on Pracice
5. Suicide
Pierre Baume
6. Drug Use
Kate Dolan - Commentary: Richard Matthews
7. Ageing
John Stevens + Julienne Onley - Commentary: Irene Stein
8. Extending Life
Mary Chiarella - Commentary: Michael Walsh
Part III: Health Care Delivery
9. Clinical Information Systems
Dianne Ayres + Lyn Perks - Commentary: Jeffrey Soar
10. Health Care as a Market Place
Debbie Picone - Commentary: Kim Walker
11. Always in the Red
Kerry Russell - Commentary: Belinda Chaplin
Index.
Biography
Judy Lumby RN, PhD, MHPEd, BA, FCN (NSW). FCN (RCNA) is Executive Director, NSW College of Nursing; Emeritus Professor, University of Technology, Sydney; Honorary Professor, University of Sydney; and Research Fellow, Victoria University, Wellington NZ.
Debbie Picone RN, BHA (NSW), FCN (NSW) is Chief Executive Officer, Corrections Health NSW and Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Surgery at the University of Sydney.