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Nurses and midwives represent the largest group of health professionals in the Australian health care system. In rural environments nurses and midwives make up a greater proportion of the health workforce than in urban settings, which makes their role in service provision even more significant. The role and scope of these nurses and midwives' practice is by necessity more generalist than specialist, which results in disciplinary strengths and weaknesses. As generalist health professionals they work in diverse settings such as public hospitals, multi-purpose services, community health, aged care and in non-government and private for profit and no-profit organisations including general practices. Their scope of practice covers prevention, intervention and rehabilitation and is lifespan inclusive. Rural nurses and midwives are older than their metropolitan based counterparts, work part-time and traditionally have limited access to professional development often due to ineffective locum relief programs. Workplace inflexibility, access to acceptable housing and partner employment are factors cited as inhibitors to growing this workforces. The future of the rural nursing and midwifery workforce will only be secured if Government invests to a greater degree in both education and training and the development of a nationally agreed remuneration scale that allows for part-time work.

The global nursing shortage, coupled with an ageing nursing workforce, has placed significant pressure on the Australian Government to implement strategies to meet future nursing demands as well as develop strategies to manage the current crisis. In response, the Australian government funded additional undergraduate places at universities between 2002 and 2008 and offered financial incentives for nurses who were not currently employed to return to practice. Many undergraduate places at the university (in all disciplines) have been taken up by mature-aged students. The high percentage of graduating, mature-aged nursing students is helping to alleviate the current nursing shortage, but runs the risk of exacerbating the shortage projected to occur around the year 2020. This article postulates that graduating this high percentage of mature-aged nursing students is making a significant contribution to nursing today, helping to alleviate the current nursing shortage. However, it runs the risk of exacerbating the shortage projected to occur around the year 2020. In this article the authors explore the current nursing shortage and the changing educational opportunities that affect recruitment of mature-aged students into tertiary-based nursing programs. Recommendations are provided for appropriate succession planning for the future.

Abstract Background The Australian government has announced a major program of reform with the move to primary maternity care, a program of change that appears to be at odds with current general public perceptions regarding how maternity care is delivered. Methods A critical discourse analysis of articles published in 'The Age', a newspaper with national distribution, subsequent to the release of the discussion paper by the Australian Government in 2008 was undertaken. The purpose was to identify how Australian maternity services are portrayed and what purpose is served by this representation to the general public. Results Findings from this critical discourse analysis revealed that Australian maternity services are being portrayed to the general public as an inflexible outdated service struggling to meets the needs of pregnant women and in desperate need of reform. The style of reporting employed in this newspaper involved presenting to the reader the range of expert opinion relevant to each topic, frequently involving polarised positions of the experts on the issue. Conclusions The general public are presented with a conflict, caught between the need for changes that come with the primary maternity model of care and fear that these change will undermine safe standards. The discourse; 'Australia is one of the safest countries in which to give birth or be born, what is must be best', represents the situation where despite major deficiencies in the system the general public may be too fearful of the consequences to consider a move away from reliance on traditional medical-led maternity care.

Background: The Australian government has announced a major program of reform with the move to primary maternity care, a program of change that appears to be at odds with current general public perceptions regarding how maternity care is delivered. Methods: A critical discourse analysis of articles published in 'The Age', a newspaper with national distribution, subsequent to the release of the discussion paper by the Australian Government in 2008 was undertaken. The purpose was to identify how Australian maternity services are portrayed and what purpose is served by this representation to the general public. Results: Findings from this critical discourse analysis revealed that Australian maternity services are being portrayed to the general public as an inflexible outdated service struggling to meets the needs of pregnant women and in desperate need of reform. The style of reporting employed in this newspaper involved presenting to the reader the range of expert opinion relevant to each topic, frequently involving polarised positions of the experts on the issue. Conclusions: The general public are presented with a conflict, caught between the need for changes that come with the primary maternity model of care and fear that these change will undermine safe standards. The discourse; 'Australia is one of the safest countries in which to give birth or be born, what is must be best', represents the situation where despite major deficiencies in the system the general public may be too fearful of the consequences to consider a move away from reliance on traditional medical-led maternity care.

Background: In 2009 the Australian government announced a major program of reform with the move to primary maternity care. The reform agenda represents a dramatic change to maternity care provision in a society that has embraced technology across all aspects of life including childbirth. Methods: A critical discourse analysis of selected submissions in the consultation process to the national review of maternity services 2008 was undertaken to identify the contributions of individual women, consumer groups and organisations representing the interests of women. Results: Findings from this critical discourse analysis revealed extensive similarities between the discourses identified in the submissions with the direction of the 2009 proposed primary maternity care reform agenda. The rise of consumer influence in maternity care policy reflects a changing of the guard as doctors' traditional authority is questioned by strong consumer organisations and informed consumers. Conclusions: Unified consumer influence advocating a move away from obstetric-led maternity care for all pregnant women appears to be synergistic with the ethos of corporate governance and a neoliberal approach to maternity service policy. The silent voice of one consumer group (women happy with their obstetric-led care) in the consultation process has inadvertently contributed to a consensus of opinion in support of the reforms in the absence of the counter viewpoint.

Global nursing shortages have necessitated closer scrutiny of recruitment and retention initiatives of nurses both locally and internationally. For many decades the nursing workforce of Saudi Arabia has relied on international expatriates to be the backbone of the industry. In recent years however, Saudi women have been recruited into nursing preparation courses conducted at degree level. The many twists and turns of providing a local Saudi Arabian nursing workforce has paralleled Saudi's own history and this paper follows that journey. Our research has enabled us to provide some insights into nursing pre and post the enlightenment that accompanied the Prophet Mohammed's influence. We emphasize the influences of women leaders who emerged in Mohammed's time and bring lasting authority to the development of nursing in Saudi Arabia. The cultural issues that bind women in this society are explicated and related to recruitment and retention issues in nursing. Education matters, both past and present, are highlighted emphasizing the gains that nursing as a distinct occupation has made. Finally the paper concludes with a summation of contemporary achievements in Saudi Arabia moving nursing towards the much needed professional status and parity with other careers in health care.

This study explores the impact of pastoral care interventions on the mental and emotional health of inpatients at a private psychiatric hospital in Sydney. A total of 99 patients completed study questionnaires over a 3-month period. Feedback for the service was overwhelmingly positive, with the vast majority of patients reporting benefits during and after their meetings, regardless of their religious beliefs. Almost 88% of patients reported a lessening of anxiety after their meetings with pastoral care practitioners, with 85% suggesting that their interactions with the pastoral team had a significant and positive impact on their mental health. These findings were contextualized further with free text responses from respondents. The study results clearly demonstrate the importance of the pastoral services interventions in mental health settings.

The question of leadership in nursing education is one that has been examined extensively in theliterature. In this paper, the authors will initially provide a vignette written in the first person aimed atillustrating the ethos of the university in which they work. This vignette will then be followed by ananalysis of actions and strategies used in a capacity building project aimed at developing novice nurseacademics' research skills. Theories of transformational leadership, and contingency theory ofleadership are discussed in relation to the processes used, thus illustrating the application of theory tothe practice of nursing leadership in the academy.

Internationally universities are increasingly challenged by government and industry to boost their research profile. Undertaking successful research studies is a means of generating income while enhancing the credibility of both institutions and individual academic staff. Research training therefore is an important strategy to support this endeavour. Traditionally, the process of research training culminates in the completion of a doctoral qualification. Undertaking doctoral studies requires candidates to commit to an extensive period of indenture during which they develop their knowledge about a particular methodology, refine skills in using research methods, and produce research findings in the form of a dissertation. A key part of this process is developing skills in writing for publication and the dissemination of their doctoral research findings. We argue that using a traditional approach to the production of a doctoral dissertation develops student's knowledge and skills in conducting an independent piece of research. However, the production of a traditional thesis does not focus strongly enough on developing the important skills of writing for publication and knowing how to effectively and strategically disseminate research findings. Choosing to submit a doctoral dissertation by publication or partial publication provides candidates with the opportunity to complete research training and produce an authoritative research report, while at the same time developing skills in publishing journal articles and other manifests. Producing a dissertation by partial or full publication also opens the work up to independent scrutiny at various points during the candidate's research training which strengthens the final results.

AbstractThis paper was prepared for presentation at the 47th Annual Conference of the International Society for the Systems Sciences in Crete, Greece. It explores the problem of sustainability from a systems point of view within the context of the Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative—an initiative launched by the US Congress in 1999 to fund a multifaceted response to the difficult challenge of youth violence. A grounded theory of sustainability is proposed, based on the design of social systems, as an alternative to the current political emphasis on classical reductionist science‐based approaches to school reform. Further, insight into transformational leadership opportunities through evidence‐based social systems design strategies is offered. This paper represents an initial attempt to apply these principles within the context of school–community partnerships and sustainability. Subsequent work will provide further exploration and development. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.