Anne McMurray

METHODS: A prospective, mixed methods design was used to survey 165 ALSO course participants before the course and 6 weeks after the course (n=101). Quantitative data were analysed using the Wilcoxon signed rank test, and all P levels lower than .05 were considered significant. Qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis. RESULTS: There were significant increases in midwives’ confidence in all four aspects of interprofessional interaction measured 6 weeks following the course. However, the doctors only reported a significant increase in one aspect, the confidence that their clinical decisions were respected by the midwives with whom they worked. The qualitative data demonstrated an appreciation of different professional approaches to clinical situations and the importance of teamwork, communication, respect, and understanding. While most participants were positive about the advantages of IPE, just under half also believed there were some disadvantages, particularly due to the variable learning needs of individual professionals. CONCLUSIONS: Both doctors and midwives reported various benefits from IPE, and many believed that IPE assisted maternity team collaboration and communication in the workplace. However, educators need to skillfully manage IPE sessions to ensure a similar distribution of learning and that opportunities for discussion are equivalent for all individuals and professional groups.

This paper describes how Ennis's (2010) Super-streamlined Concept of Critical Thinking Framework (SSCCTF) has been used to frame an analysis of critical thinking development, in a study of young children who participated in a community creative arts activity. The SSCCTF provided an ideal guide during the research analysis to identify dispositions and abilities displayed by the children and map them across the framework. The aim of the paper is to explain the evidence of critical thinking dispositions and abilities in this cohort of children and interpret its significance in terms of critical thinking development.

This paper describes how Ennis's (2010) Super-streamlined Concept of Critical Thinking Framework (SSCCTF) has been used to frame an analysis of critical thinking development, in a study of young children who participated in a community creative arts activity. The SSCCTF provided an ideal guide during the research analysis to identify dispositions and abilities displayed by the children and map them across the framework. The aim of the paper is to explain the evidence of critical thinking dispositions and abilities in this cohort of children and interpret its significance in terms of critical thinking development.

Using a qualitative naturalistic, interpretive design, this study sought to investigate the impact of children's participation in a creative arts project on the development of critical thinking dispositions. Focus groups and individual interviews were undertaken to identify mothers' and teachers' perceptions of children's critical thinking development in the context of creating an art piece. Data were analysed using a thematic analysis. The findings revealed that creative arts participation was able to excite children's imagination and mobilise creativity leading to an increased awareness of self and others, including the environment around them. Teachers believed children required more time for free play to develop their imagination, while mothers perceived that time and curriculum constraints reduced children's opportunities for integration of arts into their other studies. These findings have important implications for the development of future education curricula in addition to the development of collaborative initiatives between schools and community organisations.

Background The Advanced Life Support in Obstetrics (ALSO) course is an internationally recognised interprofessional course to support health professionals to develop and maintain the knowledge and skills to manage obstetric emergencies. Aims This study investigated changes in confidence and perceived changes in the knowledge of doctors and midwives to manage specific obstetric emergency situations following completion of an ALSO course in Australia. Methods A prospective repeated-measures survey design was used to survey 165 course attendees from four Australian states pre- and postcourse and at six weeks (n = 101). Data were analysed using a Friedman two-way repeated-measures analysis of variance and the Wilcoxon signed rank test. Results There was a significant improvement in confidence and perceived knowledge of the recommended management of all 17 emergency situations immediately postcourse (P < 0.001) and at six weeks postcourse (P < 0.001) when compared to precourse levels for both groups of health professionals. However, a significant decrease in knowledge and confidence for many emergency situations from immediately postcourse to six weeks postcourse (P < 0.05) was also observed in both groups. Conclusions Completion of the Australian ALSO course in Australia has a positive effect on the confidence and perceived knowledge of doctors and midwives to manage obstetric emergencies. However, there needs to be some means of reinforcing the effects of the course for longer term maintenance of knowledge and confidence.

This paper is a position paper, which argues the position that critical thinking is a crucial skill, which needs to be developed in the school curriculum and that the creative arts can do this. The paper explores the states of the Arts in the present curriculum and goes on to argue that knowing how to develop critical thinking is an important pedagogical skill that needs to be developed in our pre-service teachers. This position is supported through data gathered from an innovative project that explored teachers' and mothers' perceptions of children's critical thinking.

An ecological view of health contends that health is created within the psychological, social, cultural, educational, physical and economic conditions that surround people's lives. Communities provide the template for many of these conditions, and are therefore integral to the development of health and wellbeing. 'Enabling' communities are those that optimise, rather than constrain opportunities for good health, and in this respect, the enabling community captures the essence of the relationship between health and place. An enabling community for child and family health is where families are central to community life, and where information, services and resources converge on the common goal of helping children reach their developmental potential. Although family cultural factors and behaviours are major determinants of children's health and development, an enabling community adds the backdrop for the health promoting networks and associations that shape social connectedness. Enabling communities can nurture connectedness through features of the physical landscape, places and opportunities for community interactions, attitudes of inclusiveness and tolerance, and policies and support services that are geared towards empowerment and capacity development.

Background: Patient participation in handover is one aspect of patient-centred care, where patients are considered partners in care. Understanding the patient perspective provides a foundation for nurses to tailor their bedside handovers to reflect patients' thoughts and beliefs and encourage their active involvement in decision-making. Aim: This study examined patients' perspectives of participation in shift-to-shift bedside nursing handover. Methods: A descriptive case study was conducted with 10 patients in one Queensland hospital who had experienced bedside handover during their hospitalisation in 2009. Participants were asked their views about bedside handover including its benefits and limitations, their existing and potential role in handover, the role of family members, and issues related to confidentiality. Data were analysed using thematic content analysis. Findings: Four themes emerged from the analysis. First, patients appreciated being acknowledged as partners in their care. Second, they viewed bedside handover as an opportunity to amend any inaccuracies in the information being communicated. Third, some preferred passive engagement rather than being fully engaged in the handover. Fourth, most patients appreciated the inclusive approach of handover as nurse-patient interaction. Conclusions: Bedside handover provides an opportunity for patients to be involved as active participants in their care. They value having access to information on an ongoing basis, and although not all choose the same level of interaction, they see their role as important in maintaining accuracy, which promotes safe, high quality care.

Aims and objectives.: To identify factors influencing change in two hospitals that moved from taped and verbal nursing handover to bedside handover. Background.: Bedside handover is based on patient-centred care, where patients participate in communicating relevant and timely information for care planning. Patient input reduces care fragmentation, miscommunication-related adverse events, readmissions, duplication of services and enhances satisfaction and continuity of care. Design.: Analysing change management was a component of a study aimed at developing a standard operating protocol for bedside handover communication. The research was undertaken in two regional acute care hospitals in two different states of Australia. Method.: Data collection included 532 semi-structured observations in six wards in the two hospitals and 34 in-depth interviews conducted with a purposive sample of nursing staff involved in the handovers. Observation and interview data were analysed separately then combined to generate thematic analysis of factors influencing the change process in the transition to bedside handover. Results and conclusion.: Themes included embedding the change as part of the big picture, the need to link the project to standardisation initiatives, providing reassurance on safety and quality, smoothing out logistical difficulties and learning to listen. We conclude that change is more likely to be successful when it is part of a broader initiative such as a quality improvement strategy. Relevance to clinical practice.: Nurses are generally supportive of quality improvement initiatives, particularly those aimed at standardising care. For successful implementation, change managers should be mindful of clinicians' attitudes, motivation and concerns and their need for reassurance when changing their practice. This is particularly important when change is dramatic, as in moving from verbal handover, conducted in the safety of the nursing office, to bedside handover where there is greater transparency and accountability for the accuracy and appropriateness of communication content and processes.

Throughout the past decades, Australian nursing has made significant advances in the clinical, research, and political arenas. Capitalising on these advances is a critical step in empowering the professions and a sound investment in the health of the nation. There remains a need to energise and empower the professions, to see our work as an enterprise that has value and a sense of worth because of our professional activities as well as for the political and economic contributions we make to health and wellbeing, quality of life and social justice. The contributions made by nurses and midwives need to be articulated in the policy arena, focused in professional decision-making and elaborated in our research agendas. Our professional organisations provide opportunities for solidarity, and the leverage we need to effect change at the bedside, the community and the whole of society. Renewed commitment to primary health care at the global, national and community level provides a timely rallying call to the professions to refine the way we articulate our position in health care, re-commit to culturally appropriate, socially just actions and embolden our professional goals to inspire the next generations of nurses for a more equitable future.