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Aim: To explore the health beliefs of clinical and academic nurses from Japan, Australia and China regarding wearing paper masks to protect themselves and others, and to identify differences in participants' health beliefs regarding masks. Background: The correct use of face masks and consensus among health professionals across the globe is essential for containing pandemics, and nurses need to act according to policy to protect themselves, educate the public and preserve resources for frontline health workers. Paper masks are worn by health professionals and the general public to avoid the transmission of respiratory infections, such as COVID‐19, but there appear to be differences in health beliefs of nurses within and between countries regarding these. Methods: This qualitative descriptive study used content analysis with a framework approach. Findings: There were major differences in nurse participants' beliefs between and within countries, including how nurses use paper masks and their understanding of their efficacy. In addition, there were cultural differences in the way that nurses use masks in their daily lives and nursing practice contexts. Conclusion: Nurses from different working environments, countries and areas of practice hold a variety of health beliefs about mask wearing at the personal and professional level. Implications for nursing policy and health policy: The COVID‐19 pandemic has sparked much discussion about the critical importance of masks for the safety of health professionals, and there has been considerable discussion and disagreement about health policies regarding mask use by the general public. Improper use of masks may have a role in creating mask shortages or transmitting infections. An evidence‐based global policy on mask use for respiratory illnesses for health professionals, including nurses, and the general public needs to be adopted and supported by a wide‐reaching education campaign. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: This paper discusses four main strategies for addressing nursing shortages that have been persistent, widespread and growing. Fallout from the COVID‐19 pandemic might offer valuable impetus to address this tenacious challenge. Background: Nursing shortages are common, widespread and have been persistent for most of a century. Many of the reasons behind these shortages are well known and are themselves enduring, as are the types of strategies put forward for addressing them. These strategies can generally be classified into four main categories: enhancing retention, improving recruitment, encouraging return to practice and drawing on international human resources. The COVID‐19 pandemic is the latest major threat to ensuring a sufficiently sized and skilled nursing workforce. Many nurses have succumbed to burnout as well the plethora of factors that predated the pandemic and have a negative impact on nurse wellbeing, turnover and intention to leave. Sources of evidence: This discussion paper draws on international sources of evidence. Discussion/conclusion: This paper highlights how many of the factors behind and strategies for addressing nursing shortages at the local, national and global levels are widely studied and known. A sustained combination of strategies that focus both within and beyond health and nursing, including on the broader social context, is necessary. While COVID‐19 has been extremely damaging, it might present an opportunity to make sustainable, effective reforms to address nursing shortages. Implications for policy: Knowledge users must recognise that a combination of approaches across the gamut of policies that influence nursing workforces is necessary to address nursing shortages. Attention must also focus on factors beyond nursing and healthcare if shortages are to be remedied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: This paper will review progress towards the identified targets within the Australian government policy document commonly known as 'Closing the Gap' and examine the role of nurses in supporting its implementation. Background: Australia is not alone in seeking to address the health inequity between Indigenous and non‐Indigenous people. Globally such health inequities are similar and require interventions supported by governments in conjunction with health and education systems to affect desired change. For this reason, it is timely to undertake a review of progress on the impact of the Closing the Gap initiative. Sources of evidence: The Australian national partnership agreement and subsequent annual performance reports issued between 2010 and 2017. Discussion: Targets set within the Australian government national partnership agreement have had a range of success. Those targets not on track require significant long‐term investment to ensure their success. Nurses as a large professional group are powerful advocates to speak up and support policy change that affects disempowered social groups. Conclusion: Long‐term social change takes time, yet without the commitment of Australian Governments through effective policy and economic support, the inequity in the health of Indigenous people will continue both now and in the future. Implications for health and social policy: Nurses, as the largest health professional group, are uniquely placed to support and implement social change at all levels of health care (primary, secondary and tertiary) and to lobby government to amend policy alongside those who are disempowered. Implications for nursing practice: Health promotion and education programmes that are led by nurses can make an impact to health disparities within groups who are most at risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CLEREHAN R., MCCALL L., MCKENNA L. & ALSHAHRANI K. (2012) Saudi Arabian nurses' experiences of studying Masters degrees in Australia. International Nursing Review 59, 215-221 Aim: This paper presents findings from a study which explored a group of Saudi Arabian nurses' experiences of studying for a Masters degree in Australia. Background: Arab states in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia in particular, have high expatriate nursing populations, and governments in the region have allocated considerable funding to up-skilling their health workforce, often at Western universities. However, there has been little research into the learning experiences of nursing students from Middle East nations. Methods: A descriptive qualitative study design was used. Middle Eastern students undertaking Masters courses in a School of Nursing and Midwifery at one Australian university were invited to participate in a semi-structured interview. Ten Saudi students participated and data were analysed using content analysis. Findings: Students experienced challenges related to the transition to very different forms of study; to managing relationships and family. They were resourceful, employing strategies to manage multiple demands, including differences in culture, and stressed the significance of strong personal relationships with staff. Students acknowledged being changed, even transformed, by their experience, and saw themselves as future change agents. Conclusion: Highly skilled local nursing professionals are being sought in many Middle Eastern countries and may undertake post-graduate studies in Western contexts quite different from their own. Students reported that, in spite of difficulties, their experience prompted transformational change: intellectually, psychologically and developmentally. It is necessary for staff to understand expectations and learning preferences of these students to ensure fruitful learning outcomes and benefits to nursing in their home countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nursing and midwifery are demanding professions. Efforts to understand the health consequences and workforce needs of these professions are urgently needed. Using a novel electronic approach, the Nurses and Midwives e-cohort Study (NMeS) aims to investigate longitudinally Australian and New Zealand nurses' and midwives' work/life balance and health. This paper describes NMeS participation; provides key baseline demographic, workforce and health indicators; compares these baseline descriptions with external norms; and assesses the feasibility of the electronic approach. From 1 April 2006 to 31 March 2008, nurses in Australia and New Zealand, and midwives in Australia were invited to participate. Potential participants were directed to a purpose-built NMeS Internet site, where study information was provided and consent sought. Once obtained, a range of standardized tools combined into one comprehensive electronic questionnaire was elicited. Overall, 7633 (2.3%) eligible nurses and midwives participated (6308 from Australia and 1325 from New Zealand) from a total pool of 334 400. Age, gender, occupational and health profiles were similar between countries and to national figures. However, some differences were noted; for instance, Queensland participants were over-represented, while Victorian and South Australian participants were under-represented, and 28.2% of Australians were in high strain positions compared with 18.8% of New Zealanders. Using an internationally novel web-based approach, a large cohort, which appears generally similar to population norms, has been established. Provided participant retention is adequate, the NMeS will provide insight into understanding the drivers of nurses' and midwives' workforce retention and work-related factors associated with their health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Participant recruitment is a fundamental component of the research process and the methods employed to attract individuals will depend on the nature of the study. Recruitment may be more challenging when the study involves people from a minority religious group. However, this issue has not been well addressed in the literature. Aim: To discuss the challenges of recruiting participants from a minority religious group (the Islamic population) to participate in an interpretive, hermeneutic study concerning the experience of hospitalization. The challenges of recruitment encountered during this study are used as the basis for a broader discussion of this important issue. To ensure the success of this phase of the study, a pre-planned recruitment strategy was essential. Methods: Multiple recruitment strategies were used, including hospital-based recruitment, snowball sampling, advertising and contact with key people. Despite the use of multiple strategies, recruitment of participants was difficult and required an extended period of time to achieve sufficiently rich data. Thirteen participants shared their lived experience to provide an in-depth understanding of the phenomenon. Recruiting participants from minority religious group involves potentially sensitive issues. There is an increased need for the researchers to carefully consider potential participants' rights and ensure that sound ethical principles underpin the study, as failure to do this may hinder the recruitment process. Findings: The two most effective strategies of recruitment were snowball sampling and contact with key Islamic people, with the least effective being advertising. This paper highlights the importance of anticipating potential difficulties and pre-planning strategies to overcome barriers to recruitment. Implementation of multiple strategies is recommended to ensure successful research recruitment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: This paper overviews Indigenous disadvantage in relatively wealthy Australia. It describes efforts to increase the recruitment and retention of Indigenous people in nursing and to reform nursing education to be more inclusive of Indigenous culture, health and history. Background: Indigenous people on average die 17 years younger than non-Indigenous people and have health problems similar to those of people in some underdeveloped countries. Moreover, social injustice and human rights issues affect their health and well-being and educational opportunities. They are under-represented in the health professions, including nursing, often through a lack of educational preparation and historical, socio-economic and cultural factors hindering them from entering and succeeding in university studies. Methods: In 2000, a project was funded by the Australian commonwealth government and led by the Indigenous Nursing Education Working Group. This Group worked for five years on a wide range of methods that included consultation within the profession, information dissemination and longitudinal surveying of university schools of nursing and Indigenous support units. Results: Findings show that collaborative efforts between key stakeholders in nursing education appear to be succeeding to increase the numbers of Indigenous students of nursing. Around two–thirds of schools of nursing now include Indigenous content in their undergraduate curricula, but the majority is yet to provide Indigenous cultural awareness/cultural safety training for faculty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

TUCKETT A.G. (2005) Residents’ rights and nurses’ ethics in the Australian nursing home. International Nursing Review 52, 219–224 This article is derived from a more extensive review of literature for a qualitative study that explored the meaning of truth-telling within the care provider – aged resident dyad in high-level (nursing home) aged care. This paper describes through the literature, work practices and the culture of the nursing home as promoting instrumental care, therefore prioritizing doing-for over being-with. The nursing home, starved of time and staff, silences and isolates the aged care resident in an environment that is, arguably, rarely homelike. The appraisal of the nursing home offered here means that a number of residents’ rights are at risk and care providers (notably registered nurses and the personal care assistants) risk contravening the Code of Ethics for Nurses in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]