Is it time for a new descriptor 'pressure injury': a bibliometric analysis

Prediction, prevention and management of pressure injuries are areas that require specific attention from nurses in clinical practice. Moreover, increased awareness that these injuries are preventable is an important precursor to changing nurses’ practice and reducing the incidence of pressure injuries. The language and terminology that we use in daily practice can impact on the understanding and approach that nurses take to care delivery. In this area of wound care practice commonly used terminology that emphasises the nature of the wound, rather than its causation, may be a significant factor that limits the level of concern about prevention and responsibility taken by clinicians. This paper argues that the term ‘pressure injury’ promotes a better understanding of the fact that these wounds are preventable and may refocus the attention of nurses providing care to at-risk patients

Literature review of disaster health research in Japan: focusing on disaster nursing education.

This study summarizes current research trends and issues for disaster nursing in Japan. Evaluation was frequently the primary objective of studies. This literature search showed that a wide variety of disaster nursing studies came to the conclusion that research influences practice. Disasters affect not only the institutional setting within an acute hospital locale but also affects people in communities, with the nurses roles expected to expand to the area of disaster nursing. The Japanese nursing curriculum revision in 2009 will influence disaster nursing education, and it is expected that there will be a variety of future studies. Education in disaster nursing is an important hub to build up the capacity in the community. Further development in this area of study is expected to explore evidence-based methodology including the theoretical framework for disaster nursing

A school-based approach to developing the English proficiency of EAL university students

Made available with permission of the publisher.This paper provides a case study of a school-based approach to language de-velopment and support for English as an additional language (EAL) students within the School of Nursing & Midwifery at Flinders University. The case study addresses the need for greater knowledge about different organisa-tional approaches to EAL support within tertiary education. While there are numerous university-wide and faculty-based programs and support for EAL students, school-based approaches are much less common. The paper out-lines the context from which the decision to employ an English for specific purposes (ESP) academic within the school emerged. The initial response and modifications made as a greater understanding of student and staff needs and preferences developed are outlined. Along with the role and activities of the ESP academic, challenges are also discussed

Defining disaster: The need for harmonisation of terminology

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.There is a need to harmonise the definitions for disaster terms from a wide range of glossaries and other sources, to build a more unitary foundation for further research, policy and practice. As a first step in a wider programme of research, we present an analysis of the term disaster. Definitions for disaster were obtained from glossaries found in books, reports and internet sites. One of these sources was the National Library of Medicine (NLM), USA which contained 62 disaster related glossaries. A total of 110 glossaries were found containing disaster terminology however, only 52 identified contained definitions for the word disaster. Leximancer software was used to analyse consensus between the different definitions identified, by mapping the connectivity of words and associated concepts. 128 different disaster definitions were identified and included in the analysis, which detected main themes of: disruption; ability; widespread; event; outside; damage; property; and overwhelm. Hence the most consistent definition for disaster appeared to be ‘the widespread disruption and damage to a community that exceeds its ability to cope and overwhelms its resources'. This paper reports on only one term, namely disaster, for which there seems to be little consensus throughout the research and wider community. A number of other limitations are outlined, which are being considered for the ongoing analysis of over 100 disaster-related terms

Earthquake preparedness in South Australia: recommendations based on previous earthquakes in Australia, New Zealand and the United States of America

The Australian Journal of Emergency Management by AIDR is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.Adelaide is the most earthquake-prone capital city in Australia, with earthquakes of a magnitude five to six on the Richter scale occurring frequently enough to be a potential danger. This paper explores the short and long-term physical and psychological consequences of earthquakes that have occurred in settings comparable to metropolitan Adelaide in order to make recommendations in terms of the lessons learned. The danger posed by unreinforced masonry buildings in Adelaide is highlighted and the importance of effective communication and collaboration between local and national providers of essential services is discussed. The paper concludes with recommendations, including the development and rehearsal of emergency plans, community education and preparedness, planning for longer-term health outcomes and availability of practical and financial support

Managing the tension between emergency management policy decisions and residential aged care facility planning in South Australia

The Australian Journal of Emergency Management by AIDR is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.In Australia all residential aged care facilities applying for new Australian Government funded aged care places, must demonstrate planning for environmental disaster threats such as bushfires and floods (Department of Health and Ageing, 2011). This policy was introduced in 2009 following the catastrophic bushfires in Victoria, Australia. Added to this Australian policy decision was the adoption by the State Government of South Australia of a new fire danger rating scale, with the inclusion of an extreme level weather warning called catastrophic or code-red. This rating requires all services and community members living in bushfire prone areas, to assess their risk and decide whether or not to evacuate from the catastrophic zone the day before or morning of a code-red weather warning. This paper discusses the issues these Australian and state government emergency management policy decisions are having on the management of residential aged care facilities

Spanish influenza of 1918–19: the extent and spread in South Australia

“This article is reprinted with permission of the Australasian Epidemiological Association”The 1918–19 Spanish influenza was the first pandemic for which official records were compiled in South Australia. This followed the recognition of the disease as notifiable under the Public Health Act and the establishment of a surveillance system by the then South Australia Central Health Board (a precursor to the current South Australian Health Department). This is the first paper to describe the Spanish influenza epidemic for South Australia from an epidemiological and geographical perspective. Notification numbers were retrieved from the South Australian Central Health Board meeting records. Data were entered into an Excel spreadsheet and Epi™info 7 software to enable a geographical analysis. There were 8,839 influenza notifications: of these, 4,854 (55.0%) originated from metropolitan areas (Attack Rate 9.9 per 1,000 population) and 3,985 notifications (45.0%) originated from regional areas (Attack Rate 8.0 per 1,000 population). There was a lack of comprehensive epidemiological data due to the still developing surveillance system. This restrained more in-depth analysis of risk factors and geological spread