Nuritinga is a special journal. There are many nursing journals but Nuritinga specifically provides a showcase for student work. Nursing students are bright, articulate and seriously concerned with health, this is after all the reason they want to be become nurses. They have important insights to offer to the nursing world. In addition, registered nurses are increasingly expected to publish in order to share knowledge and understandings with colleagues. Publishing is also one way nurses can prove intellectual engagement when seeking advancement within the profession.
For these reasons it is important that students are encouraged to publish their work. Nuritinga accepts papers from all nursing students at all levels of their undergraduate and postgraduate studies. Papers are reviewed and writers are given feedback on their submissions. The quality of submitted work is high and we are delighted to have had the opportunity to publish a solid body of quality student work on a wide range of subjects over the past few years.
Download Nuritinga Issue No. 8 (PDF 390KB)
Total: 4 articles
D. A. Clay, Graduate Diploma of Midwifery, School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Tasmania
Childhood depression is a growing health concern in contemporary Australian society. It has been estimated that fifteen per cent of primary school aged children are presently suffering from depression (Casella 2002, p. 3). This is of particular concern given that childhood is an age where the individual develops physically, intellectually, mentally and socially. Undiagnosed depression during this stage of life can therefore impact significantly on the life and opportunities of the individual into adulthood. This paper discusses the environmental risk factors responsible for the current increased incidence of depression during childhood. The effectiveness of the Triple P – Positive Parenting Program in identifying and preventing depression in school aged children will also be evaluated. This experimental strategy utilised in Australia employed health care professionals to educate both parents and teachers of primary school aged children in order to reduce the environmental risk factors associated with depression.
Donna Bishop, Bachelor of Nursing, Year 2, School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Tasmania
Teenage pregnancy and childbirth is an important adolescent health issue in Australia due to its association with detrimental physical consequences and long-term negative psychosocial outcomes for both mother and child. This essay will begin by reviewing some key statistical data relating to teenage pregnancy and will then explore its association with negative consequences to both family and the community at large. Additionally, it will examine environmental risk and protective factors that influence teenage pregnancy. Whilst numerous determinants are highlighted, the paper will look briefly at two; a child's home life and access to education. In conclusion, parenting support and home visits to vulnerable new mothers will be advocated in order to 'improve the environment into which they [teenage mothers] rear the next generation' (Quinlivan et al., 2004: 203).
Kate Wilde, Graduate Diploma in Midwifery, Year 1, School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Tasmania
It is an oft-heard lament that families are not what they used to be. This sentiment assumes that families are static through time, culture and region. Families are in fact an ever-evolving social institution. The family unit is responsive to social, political, economic, legal and historical pressures and continues to transform itself due to these external pressures. Contemporary Australian families have diversified from the romanticised version of the 1950's style two-parent heterosexual unit. Many different family structures exist today. One of these is the gay/lesbian family, or same sex couples parenting children. First, a basic understanding of the history of the family unit is explored. Then, an explanation of gay/lesbian parenting and family units is outlined. Understanding the implications for children with same sex parents is important as a midwifery health professional to provide appropriate and responsive care to this type of family. Social, educational, health, sexual, legal, and parenting implications for children of same sex parents are analysed in greater depth.
Chris L Peterson, School of Social Sciences, La Trobe University
In Australia the healthcare industry employs in excess of 700,000 people. Over the past two decades it has been growing more quickly than any other industry. Those working in healthcare experience different levels of risk to developing an illness and injury. Occupational stress is one hazard that is almost endemic to the healthcare injury, but within that industry there are wide variations.
According to the British Health and Safety Executive, stress is defined as 'the adverse reaction a person has to excessive pressure or other types of demand placed on them' (HSE, 2004: 2). In Australia stress is reported to cost $1.3 bill. and claims have increased four-fold in the past decade. Part of that cost was compensation ($200 mill.) and the rest is made up of the costs of lost productivity, absenteeism, turnover and poor work quality. The cost of stress is extensive. In 2002 stress had the greatest median cost and averaged as the second highest cost of all compensated illnesses and injuries. (Peterson, 2007).
Authorised by Head of School, Nursing and Midwifery
1 April, 2011
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