S PECIAL INTERES T SPECIAL INTEREST

Inspired by the author’s own family story, this is an unforgettable novel of enduring friendship and boundless courage, based on the shocking true events of the Bangka Island Massacre. It is both a riveting tale and an important tribute to our brave nurses who sacrificed so much during WWII.

In 1941, country girls Minnie Hodgson and Margot McNee set sail from Perth for Singapore in search of adventure, full of excitement and keen to do their part working as nurses to the fallen soldiers in a time of war. What they encounter is an army of new friends and the terrors of a city under siege. When the Japanese attack and Singapore falls, they are forced to flee aboard the Vyner Brooke. The ship is bombed, resulting in utter devastation.

APHRODITE’S BREATH

Susan Johnson

Allen & Unwin

RRP $34.99

ISBN 9781760876562

What happens when you take your 85-year-old mother to live with you on a Greek island?

A strikingly original, funny, and forensic examination of love and finding home, from the author of From Where I Fell.

In life, as in myth, women are the ones who are supposed to stay home, like Penelope, weaving at their looms, rather than leaving home like Odysseus. Meet eighty-five-year-old Barbara and her sixty-two-year-old writer-daughter, Susan, who asks her mother – on a whim – if she wants to accompany her to live on the Greek island of Kythera. What follows is a moving unravelling of the mother-daughter relationship told in irresistible prose.

We have four copies of THE WAR NURSES to give away, with thanks to Penguin Random House. Email your name and membership number to lamp@nswnma.asn.au by 31 May to be in the draw to win!

Atlas Of The Heart

Brené Brown Penguin Random House

RRP $45.00

ISBN 9781785043772

Mapping meaningful connection and the language of human experience. This major new work from the international bestselling author of Gifts of Imperfection and Dare to Lead examines the 87 emotions and experiences that define us and provides a compelling framework to help us all become more emotionally fluent and connected.

For NSWNMA Members

The NSWNMA is committed to protecting the interests of nurses and midwives by purchasing a range of insurances to cover members.

Journey Accident Insurance provides cover for members who are injured as a result of an accident while travelling between their home and their regular place of employment.

Professional Indemnity Insurance* provides legal representation and protection for members when required.

Make sure your membership remains financial at all times in order to access the insurance and other benefits provided by the NSWNMA.

Times have changed and rostering practices are increasingly recognised as a critical factor to be considered in discussions about retention in the nursing and midwifery workforces.

A new Medicare: strengthening general practice Grattan Institute

Australia’s universal healthcare system has failed to keep up with changes to Australians’ health needs since it started four decades ago.

GPs’ work has become much more complex, as the population has grown older and rates of mental ill-health and chronic disease have climbed. But the way we structure and fund general practice hasn’t kept up. Despite patient care becoming more complex, appointments have been stuck at an average length of 15 minutes for the past two decades. GPs are struggling to meet their patients’ needs, and they lack the support of a broader team of health professionals to do so.

Other countries have reformed general practice, and their rates of avoidable hospital visits for chronic disease are falling. But Australia is spending more on hospitals while neglecting general practice: the best place to tackle chronic disease.

Patients suffer the consequences. People with chronic disease live shorter lives, with more years of ill-health, and lower earnings. Poorer Australians suffer the most: they are twice as likely to have multiple chronic diseases as wealthy Australians.

Australia’s healthcare workers are also struggling. Hospital staff are overwhelmed with demand. And GPs tell us they are stressed, disrespected and disillusioned.

To bring Medicare into the 21st Century, the report recommends big changes.

https://grattan.edu.au/report/anew-medicare-strengtheninggeneral-practice/

Strengthening Medicare Taskforce Report Department of Health and Aged Care

Australians enjoy access to a world-class healthcare system with primary care at its centre. Our vital and valued primary care workforce includes Australia’s hard-working general practitioners, allied health professionals, primary care nurses, nurse practitioners and midwives, pharmacists, Aboriginal health workers, practice managers and other practice staff.

Primary care provides the foundation for universal health care, working hard to keep all Australians healthy and well in the community, and to deliver care that meets the needs of people and communities at all stages of life, no matter where they live. This is a strong basis to build on, driven by a skilled and dedicated workforce, but our funding models, infrastructure and systems need strengthening to better enable highquality, integrated and personcentred care for all Australians.

To ensure our primary care system can meet the current and future challenges and reflect the new models of care of the 21st century, the Australian Government brought together a group of health leaders to form the Strengthening Medicare Taskforce. The taskforce was charged with identifying the most pressing investments needed in primary care, building on the direction outlined in Australia’s Primary Health Care 10 Year Plan 2022–2032 (the 10-Year Plan).

This report reflects the consensus view of the individual members of the Taskforce.

https://www.health.gov. au/resources/publications/ strengthening-medicaretaskforce-report

What is primary healthcare nursing? Australian Primary Health Care Nurses Association

Primary health care is any medical service that is provided outside the four walls of a hospital, including general practice, aged care, schools, community health and other primary healthcare settings.

Primary healthcare nurses play a critical role in disease prevention and control to keep people healthy. They provide proactive care and health promotion to keep Australians well.

With Australia’s ageing population and deteriorating health, a strong and accessible primary health care system is vital to keep people well and out of hospital.

Primary health care is the first level of contact that individuals, families and communities have with the healthcare system. In Australia, this:

• incorporates personal care with health promotion, the prevention of illness and community development

• includes the interconnecting principles of equity, access, empowerment, community selfdetermination and inter-sectoral collaboration https://www.apna.asn.au/

• encompasses an understanding of the social, economic, cultural and political determinants of health.

Mental Health Reference Group – call

for papers

The NSWNMA Mental Health Reference Group will be convening a seminar at NSWNMA Head Office in Waterloo on Friday 13 October 2023. The theme of this seminar will be practice innovations. This is an opportunity to present your work in a supportive atmosphere, with plenty of opportunities for networking and professional engagement.

We invite all interested mental health, and drug and alcohol nurses who are engaged in innovative projects, to submit a short abstract to be considered for inclusion in this program. For further information contact MHRG@nswnma.asn.au.