Brigid Rooney. Suburban Space, the Novel and Australian Modernity.

Review of Brigid Rooney. Suburban Space, the Novel and Australian Modernity

The educational needs of triage nurses

The role of triage nurses is critical to ensuring patient safety and timely access to emergency care. Continuing professional development and ongoing support is required to effectively support the competence of triage staff. To date, very few studies have sought to describe the educational needs of triage nurses.This study aimed to identify which type of educational support nurses feel they need to manage the triage process.A validated questionnaire was used to explore triage nurses’ perceived educational support needs in relation to managing the triage process.On average, participants had 11.33 years of experience in their current role (SD = 7.27), 15.43 in emergency (SD = 9.80) and 13.44 in triage (SD = 9.16). Triage nurses (n = 27) identified the introduction of new ideas at triage to increase efficiency as the area in which they were in greatest need of training. Priority education needs that focused on clinical tasks, such as physical assessment skills, particularly in relation to observations and vital signs, to inform triage decision making were also identified. These priority education needs will inform the design of education programs and the development of the capabilities of the nursing workforce.Future research should seek to explore the traditional responsibilities of triage nurses, particularly to address queuing and delays at triage

Impacts of a wildfire on soil organic carbon in Warrumbungle National Park, Australia

A wildfire in the Warrumbungle Range in January 2013 burnt 56,290 ha of forest land, 72% of it at high-extreme severity. We investigated the effects of fire on soil organic carbon (SOC), soil carbon fractions (Particulate Organic Carbon (POC), Humus Organic Carbon (HOC) and Resistant Organic Carbon (ROC)) at 64 sites stratified according to geology and fire severity across Warrumbungle National Park. Statistical models were used to identify the main factors controlling the soil chemical parameters and we spatially extrapolated results based on these main factors to estimate the overall impacts of the fire. Statistical models indicated that the key effects on SOC were fire severity and geology/soil type. SOC declined with increasing fire severity − topsoil SOC in low severity sites was 14% lower than unburnt sites, and severely burnt sites were 54% lower than unburnt. There were also significant differences in SOC fractions between the different geology/soil types. These results were also reflected in N and pH changes. The highest SOC values were from unburnt volcanic topsoils. Sandier and especially sandstone-derived soils had less SOC irrespective of the fire severity class. The lowest SOC values were from severely burnt sandstone ridges, where most of the remaining SOC occurs as ROC (including charcoal). Site data was classified according to a fire severity map and geological mapping, and class averages spatially extrapolated to obtain an estimate of the amounts of SOC lost due to the fire. An estimated 1.52 Mt (26.99 t/ha) of SOC was lost over the fire ground to 10 cm. SOC levels in unburnt control sites are much higher than averages in the generally cleared central west of NSW, thus underlining the importance of forested ecosystems in carbon sequestration in soils, and of Warrumbungle National Park with its high proportion of trachytic clayey soils in particular

How Thierry Baudet Stole Geert Wilders' Votes: A Discourse Historical Analysis of Baudet's 2019 Provincial Elections Victory Speech.

Thierry Baudet's remarkable success at the 2019 Dutch provincial elections was difficult to comprehend given the hitherto increasing popularity of the long-term dominant figure in Dutch far-right politics, Geert Wilders. Although both politicians preside over strikingly similar policy agendas, Wilders' supporters appeared to abandon him in favour of Baudet. This study attempted to investigate why Dutch far-right voters may have shifted their allegiance from Wilders's Partij Voor de Vrijheid to Baudet's Forum voor Democratie through a Discourse Historical Analysis of Baudet's provincial elections victory speech and a corpus of Wilders' discursive texts. Prior to commencing this analysis, the study's methodological approach for addressing such a complex topic was justified by means ofdemonstrating the close interrelationship between context, discourse and political strategy. The analysis discovered that Baudet distinguishes himself by constructing a less repressive guise for his party through careful characterisation of the Dutch identity rather than demonising the cultural enemy like Wilders and other leaders of the new right

Historical Lessons for Australia's Foreign Policy: The Case of British EEC Membership

The Australian Government's attitudes towards major events in international politics such as the UK's entry into the European Economic Community (EEC) in the past and Brexit negotiations today, carry greater weight than previously assumed in political science literature. Australia was critical of the EEC (now called the European Union, EU) in the early 1960s, when its then most important trading partner, the United Kingdom (UK) first applied for membership. Australia was ill-prepared to deal with the repercussions from Britain's entry into the EU, as Australian foreign policy was heavily influenced by local as well as international anti-EEC attitudes. This paper will analyse political debates in Australia during the 1960s and early 1970s with reference to parliamentary Hansard records and newspaper articles in order to suggest a new framework for Australian foreign policy analysis

Europe on a Plate: Food, Identity and Cultural Diversity in Contemporary Europe

This article discusses tensions emerging from conflicting ethnic and national identities in three European Union (EU) member states – Germany, Italy and Spain – through the prism of culinary practices. Food is a marker of cultural identity. In Europe, a wide variety of food practices and culinary cultures co-exist in close proximity, and Europeans thus face the dilemma that confronts all omnivores presented with a breadth of culinary options: while variety can bring the potential for enjoyment, the choice of something new can be perceived as a threat. Within this context, buffeted by the forces of globalisation, migration and supra-national EU regulation, culinary patterns associated with migration strive to come to terms with growing ‘gastronationalism’. This article dissects the differences and similarities in the way this tension manifests in Germany, Italy and Spain

What Do We Reliably Know about European Perceptions of Muslim Asylum Seekers?

Immigration restrictions imposed by national governments are arguably the factor most responsible for the European Refugee Crisis (ERC). As immigration policies do not fall under the remit of European Union sovereignty, the union’s democratic nations are free to operate their own regimes. Although the primary drivers of national immigration policies have been identified as both economic and cultural in nature, empirical evidence suggests that the latter is of greater significance. Given that the perceived fear of value incompatibilities forms the basis of all cultural arguments against immigration, it was necessary to investigate the accuracy of perceptions of Muslim Asylum Seeker Values (MASV) by administering surveys in two countries at the opposite end of the immigration policy spectrum: Hungary and the Netherlands. Hungarians significantly overestimated MASV extremity while Dutch people underestimated them. Moreover, the results indicated that perceptions of MASV extremity correlate with immigration policy preferences

Stepping Through the Mirror: A Dystopian Vision of Regression and Stagnation in Tatyana Tolstaya’s The Slynx

CESAA 17TH ANNUAL EUROPE ESSAY COMPETITION 2009 - Undergraduate winner: Danica Jenkins, University of Western AustraliaIn her novel ‘The Slynx’, Tatyana Tolstaya creates a dystopian world of regression and stagnation to critically reflect upon the historical patterns of Russia. By interweaving the phantasmagorical with the real, she uses fiction as a vehicle to meditate upon the cycles of progress and degeneration that have plagued Russian history. In lieu of mere social criticism, Tolstaya’s literary dystopia links the abstract world of fiction with the contemporary post-communist context of her writing, as a means to ruminate on the future direction of Russia at a time when the nation is at a crossroads. ‘The Slyn’x thus illustrates not only the disorder of trying to rebuild society after communism, but exposes also how the turmoil of modern Russian society is intrinsically linked to deep-rooted traditions of autocracy and dehumanisation. Subsequently, she emphasises that these customs are not simply imposed upon people from a top-down system of oppression, but ascertains that they are propagated from within the Russian consciousness to form an eternal and ineradicable component of the Russian psyche

Exporting environmental objectives or erecting trade barriers in recent EU free trade agreements

The European Union (EU) has historically sought to influence environmental policies of other countries through multilateral environmental agreements. Under its 7th Environmental Action Plan and Trade for All strategy it now seeks to extend its environmental policy projection through trade; its recent free trade agreements now contain chapters addressing environment and sustainable development. However, by adopting high environmental standards the EU can also advance its own economic interests suggesting an ambiguous motivation. The recent Korean, Japanese and Canadian FTAs and the Mercosur agreements are examined in order to place the extent of this environmental turn within the context of economic advantage. The finding is that while environmental protection provisions in these FTAs may have environmental benefits, they may also serve EU domestic economic interests. This motivation has implications for new FTA negotiations, such as those with New Zealand and Australia, and now the UK

More Than Just Learning Discipline Skills: Social Interactions in Science Fieldwork Could Enhance Student Well-being and Cognition

Fieldwork is typically used to develop students’ technical skills in a range of scientific domains. Fieldwork may also be particularly conducive for enhancing social learning because of increased opportunities for social interactions. However, few studies have explored the value of students’ social interactions during science fieldwork. This pilot study used a mixed-methods survey to investigate 107 undergraduate students’ perceptions of science fieldwork. Participants had completed science subjects with repeated on-campus fieldwork. The survey questions examined students’ perceptions of the potential influence on their well-being and cognition. Most respondents reported long-lasting benefits to their well-being (57%; 42 students) and/or cognition (69%; 52 students). Commonly reported benefits related to well-being included enhanced enjoyment, relaxation, increased motivation and engagement, and stress reduction. In examining cognition, commonly reported benefits included gaining a deeper conceptual understanding from ‘hands-on’ activities and improved information retention. Whilst a variable response rate must be considered in interpreting our findings, our preliminary results suggest science fieldwork has a broader value to learning and the student experience. Students recognise that the benefits of fieldwork activities extend beyond the development of technical skills. Future studies could further explore how science educators can generate more effective social interactions during fieldwork-based education in science