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Dementia Australia has launched a new workforce training app, which was designed and developed in collaboration with Deakin University’s Applied Artificial Intelligence Institute (A2I2) and care workers.
The app, called Ask Annie, offers short, self-paced learning modules to care workers and is designed to improve quality of care for individuals living with dementia.
Ask Annie can be individually downloaded and offers 3 free introductory modules (containing 22 lessons). Full access can be unlocked at a cost of $60 per person per year, with multi-license packages available for organisation.
Click here to read more.
A Victorian nurse has been fined $2,000 after continuing to practice after their registration lapsed.
The nurse’s registration lapsed on 1 July 2018, after they failed to renew it. Despite knowing their registration had lapsed, the nurse continued to work as an enrolled nurse at an aged care facility until December 2019. The nurse was re-registered in 2020.
Following a charge brought by AHPRA, the nurse pleaded guilty to one charge of holding themselves out as an enrolled nurse in breach of the National Law. In addition to being fined $2,000, the nurse was ordered to pay AHPRA’s legal costs of $3,500. No conviction was recorded.
In delivering the sentence, Magistrate Mellas of the Geelong Magistrates’ Court of Victoria said that “‘the offence is a serious one” and that “if people avoid registration, there are risks”.
However, Magistrate Mellas believed the nurse’s financial and personal circumstances were a mitigating factor and that a discounted penalty should be offered due to their early plea of guilt. He concluded that, had they not pleaded guilty, he would have conviction and fine the nurse $4,500.
Click here to access the AHPRA media release in full.
The Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC) recommends that three doses of an approved COVID-19 vaccination for disability support workers.
The change arises from the higher risks faced by persons with a disability, which can include weaker immune systems, and reliance on close-proximity support from formal and informal carers.
AHPPC considers that it is appropriate for workers to take additional precautions, such as a third dose, in order to combat these risks. AHPPC also recommends that in the future, these such precautions are required through workplace safety laws, rather than public health orders.
For more information, you can access the government media release here.
The Commonwealth Department of Health has declared the Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) a communicable disease incident of national significance. When a disease is given this classification, it means that the government considers that it hat requires implementation of national policy, interventions and public messaging, or deployment of Commonwealth or inter-jurisdictional resources to assist affected jurisdictions.
As at 27 April 2022, there were 37 cases of JEV in humans in Australia, 26 of which have been confirmed with testing. The majority of these have been found in New South Wales and Victoria.
A national working group has been established to consider the national approach to JEV. At this stage, it will include mosquito surveillance and control measures, and identification of at risk groups.
For more information, click here.
Ten medical colleges representing over 100,000 doctors have joined together to pen an open letter to Australia’s federal political leaders. The letter highlights the impact climate change is having on patients across all spans of life.
In particular, general practitioners and psychiatrists have noted the adverse effect of climate change and extreme weather events (such as the bushfires and floods) on the mental health of people of all ages. Doctors and physicians have attributed the extreme heat of the fires to poor health – particularly in our geriatric population. Looking into the future, obstetricians and paediatricians have flagged climate change as a continuing risk factor for growing young patients.
Among other things, the colleges call for:
- The establishment of a Climate Friendly Health System Innovation Fund to provide grants to local health services for emissions reduction and sustainability initiatives; and
- The government to develop and implement a plan for equitably decarbonising healthcare, with the purpose to achieve net zero emissions in healthcare by 2040, in a funded National Climate Change and Health Strategy.
The colleges recommend the government ask First Nations people for guidance on future climate change adaptation and resilience because ‘Indigenous cultural knowledge and leadership will strengthen our response to climate change and avoid harmful unintended consequences on communities that face existing health inequities’.
Click here to read the letter published by the Royal Australasian College of Physicians.
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