Disorders affecting the blood and blood-forming organs have effects that range from minor disruptions in daily activities to major life-threatening crises. Clients with haematological disorders need holistic nursing care, including emotional support and care for problems involving major body systems. This chapter focuses on health changes resulting from changes in red cells, white cells, platelets and clotting factors. Before proceeding with this chapter, read Chapter 33, which provides a review of the physiology of blood and its formation, as well as important information about assessing clients with haematological disorders.

Clinical placement learning experiences are integral to all health and medical curricula as a means of integrating theory into practice and preparing graduates to deliver safe, high quality care to health consumers. A growing challenge for education providers is to access sufficient clinical placements with experienced supervisors who are skilled at maximising learning opportunities for students. This paper reports on the development and evaluation of an innovative online learning program aimed at enhancing student and clinical supervisors' preparedness for effective workplace-based learning. The evidence-based learning program used 'story-telling' as the learning framework. The stories, which were supported by a range of resources, aimed to engage the learners in understanding student and supervisor responsibilities, as well as the expectations and competencies needed to support effective learning in the clinical environment. Evaluation of this program by the learners and stakeholders clearly indicated that they felt authentically 'connected' with the characters in the stories and developed insights that suggested effective learning had occurred.

A qualitative study was conducted in rural New South Wales, Australia, to understand the barriers to help-seeking among young rural men with emergent mental health problems. Participants who had real life experiences of these problems within their families were interviewed. Themes emerged from the data which explained some barriers to early intervention. Despite these barriers, families had developed skills in helping and in providing early mental health help to their sons. The findings of this study showed that a substantial burden on the emotional and social integrity of the family, combined with diminished psychological well-being, caused some parents to question how long they could cope before they reached 'the end of their strings'. This downward spiralling trajectory of mental health and well-being for both the young men and their families has implications for clinical practice. Current models of mental health service delivery do not adequately capture the early help-seeking dynamics of young rural men and their families. A more flexible approach is needed to identify and help the family and the young men, without the pre-requisite for a formal medical diagnosis. Future research should involve health and well-being solution focused service delivery.

Synopsis: This paper reports on the innovative design and outcomes of a short learning program undertaken by a range of rurally based undergraduate health students. The medical, nursing, pharmacy and social work students worked through two case scenarios via high and low fidelity simulations, using actors, and supported by an online learning site. The program was designed to enhance effective interprofessional teamwork and communication skills prior to graduation. The attitudes and experiences of students who completed the program were explored via pre and post program questionnaires, audience response software and qualitative feedback. Purpose: The international literature clearly identifies the needs for greater integration of interprofessional education into the curricula of entry-level health professions to enhance mutual respect, effective team-work and patient-centred care across all practice settings. This paper will report on the design and outcomes of an interprofessional learning program that involved undergraduate students of medicine, nursing, pharmacy and social work learning together via a range of simulations and panel sessions to enhance their teamwork and communication skills. Methods: The learning program was developed by a team of academic and clinical health professionals around the care of two clients with chronic conditions and a range of social problems, within a rural health context. An evaluation methodology was chosen to explore the students' attitudes and experiences of participating in this program. Data consisting of pre and post program surveys, audience response data and qualitative comments, which was analysed to determine the effectiveness of the program in using simulations to promote interprofessional learning.

The number of Chinese immigrants in Australia has increased significantly over the past two decades, and their ageing issues have gradually become the focus of concern. This study aims to fill the literature gap by investigating older Chinese immigrants' experiences and perceptions of growing older in rural Australia in order to gain an understanding of their health-related help-seeking behaviours in this context. This study is situated in a qualitative interpretive paradigm. It uses a transcultural perspective to inform a case study methodology, and it adopts the Theory of Planned Behaviour as an interpretive framework to guide the study. A combination of purposive sampling and snowball sampling strategies was used in recruitment, and six Chinese immigrants aged 60–85 years who resided in rural Australia were invited to participate in the study. Individual semi-structured, in-depth interviews were used to gather data, and thematic analysis was applied to analyse the interview data. This study found that the older Chinese immigrants were living in two cultures, and this forced them to reconstruct their cultural beliefs, especially in relation to filial expectations and maintaining harmony in the family. Further, because of a lack of English proficiency, they had greater difficulties dealing with ageing, especially in accessing health care services in rural Australia. These findings have implications for policy and practice related to migrant health care and rural community health practice.

The aim of this chapter is to demystify the process of disseminating nursing and midwifery knowledge. It will present a discussion of writing for publication focusing on developing your understanding of how and where to publicise research findings and professional knowledge. The importance of disseminating research findings will be discussed. The barriers to publishing will be identified and strategies for overcoming them will be provided. Some approaches will be presented that will assist in maximising opportunities to publish or present research findings by targeting the right journal or conference. In addition, strategies for developing and preparing conference posters and presentations, journal manuscripts and project reports will also be outlined. Case study examples of Australian conference papers and journal articles will be used to demonstrate the process of turning research outcomes and/or clinical innovations into publications, reports, media releases and conference papers.

This thesis presents a qualitative study exploring the gynaecologic screening experiences of women with an intellectual disability living in the Australian community. A Grounded Theory methodology was employed to analyse data from 31 participants and 4 of their carers to develop theories explaining why and how this group participate in or avoid cervical and breast cancer screening. The core theme emerging from the data was that there are some factors which appear to facilitate gynaecologic screening and others which seem to act as barriers. Three interconnected sub-categories emerging as influential in screening uptake were the attributes of the participants, the attributes of carers, and the attributes of health service providers. The study found that the screening of these participants did not concur with Australian Institute of Health and Welfare recommendations. Some individuals who were in high risk groups had not been screened, while others who had little or no risk for cervical and breast cancer had been screened inappropriately. Other findings were: that complex personal factors contributed to their knowledge and motivation to participate in screening; that they preferred oral information from trusted persons and visual sources, but most health promotion literature is text-based and quite difficult for them to assimilate; that those who perceived themselves as at high risk of cancers were often too frightened to seek screening in case it confirmed they had the disease; that some could benefit from health education and assertiveness programs; that unpleasant screening experiences produced aversion to further screening; that professional and non-professional carers influence the screening uptake of their clients and would probably benefit from further education in both cancer screening and advocacy; that participants who were assisted by professional carers were more likely to participate in screening than those living either independently or with family; that health care providers require knowledge and communication skills to provide good health care for these patients, and some providers would probably benefit from further education; that the patient-provider relationship was important in screening uptake; that the presence of a woman or women during gynaecological examinations would probably increase these patients' sense of personal safety and reduce their anxiety; and that these patients usually required extended health consultation time to compensate for their disabilities. It is argued that appropriate cancer screening for this consumer group is an ethical issue that requires the attention of health professionals, policy writers, educationalists and advocacy groups.

• Investigate the effectiveness of facilitated versus non facilitated clinical placements • Explore the perceptions of student nurses and clinical facilitators in identifying and determining barriers in the provision of effective clinical learning during clinical placements • Identify strategies for improving clinical learning within the Clinical Facilitation model of clinical education • Identify strategies to maintain/ improve quality within the clinical component of undergraduate nursing curricula within a rural university

Objectives: The aim of this study was to examine Australian perioperative nurses’ self-reported knowledge, attitudes, levels of education and support in relation to their participation in organ donation and procurement surgery. Sample and setting: Data was collected from Australian perioperative nurses who are members of the peak national body Australian College of Perioperative Nurses (ACORN). Methods: An online survey was distributed to ACORN members on behalf of the researchers. The online survey comprised 67 items encompassing open- and closed-ended questions along with graded Likert and ordinal multicategory scales. Results: Of ACORN’s 4000 Australian members, 452 (11.3 per cent) responded to the survey. Participants were broadly represented via each state and territory across metropolitan, regional and rural settings with participation experiences in multi-organ procurement surgery (MOPS). A variety of perioperative nursing roles were represented with varying roles within MOPS. Overall, perioperative nurses reported familiarity with organ and tissue donation in Australia but felt that they required additional knowledge and education on aspects of MOPS. The majority of perioperative nurses supported organ donation and held positive attitudes and beliefs towards procurement surgical procedures; however, they felt they lacked support resources and access to relevant education. Conclusion: The findings detailed within this study provide a national insight and contribute new knowledge and understanding of Australian perioperative nurses’ experiences, attitudes, education, knowledge and support needs when participating in organ procurement surgery. These findings have the potential to inform and influence the perioperative nursing profession, clinical initiatives, education delivery and wider health policy in relation to organ procurement services.