Glossary
Note: This glossary is based on the glossary contained in
the National Review of Nursing Education Discussion Paper, December 2001.
Accreditation
The regulatory mechanism by which a course or educational
institution is deemed to comply with the standards for nursing education
(adapted from National Nursing Organisations, 1999).
Allied Health Professionals
Those, other than medical practitioners and nurses, who
provide clinical and other specialised services in the management of patients,
including physiotherapists, occupational therapists, dieticians and
pharmacists.
ANCI Nursing Competencies
The national standards developed by the Australian Nursing
Council Incorporated (ANCI) that provide a framework for professional nursing
practice by Registered and Enrolled Nurses. The competencies take account of
the various roles and functions nurses fulfil and identify a combination of the
attributes competent nurses must have.
Australian Health Ministers’ Advisory Council (AHMAC)
The Australian Health Ministers’ Advisory Council (AHMAC) is
a committee of the heads of the Commonwealth, State and Territory Health
authorities. AHMAC is the major decision-making body on national health issues,
advising the Australian Health Ministers’ Conference on policy, resource and
financial issues. It also considers recommendations from the National Health
and Medical Research Council.
Australian Medical Workforce Advisory Committee (AMWAC)
The Australian Medical Workforce
Advisory Committee (AMWAC) was established in 1995 to assist with the
development of a more strategic focus to national medical workforce planning in
Australia. AMWAC is a national advisory body that reports to the Australian
Health Ministers’ Advisory Council (AHMAC). The prime focus of AMWACs work is
Australian medical workforce research and data analysis, although it also aims
to provide workable policy solutions where appropriate. AMWACs role as a
workforce planning agency is centred around examining:
- the structure, balance and geographic distribution of the medical
workforce;
- medical workforce supply and demand;
- present and future medical workforce training needs;
- models for projecting future medical workforce requirements and
supply; and
- development of medical workforce data collections.
AMWAC comprises representatives from Commonwealth
departments, State and Territory Health authorities, the Australian Institute
of Health and Welfare, the Australian Medical Council, peak organisations
representing various sections of the medical workforce including the Australian
Medical Association, the medical colleges and university medical schools), and
consumer organisations.
Australian Health Workforce Advisory Committee (AHWAC)
The Australian Health Workforce
Advisory Committee (AHWAC) was formed in December 2000 to assist with the
development of a more strategic focus to health workforce planning in
Australia. AHWAC is a national advisory body that reports to the Australian
Health Ministers’ Advisory Council (AHMAC). The prime focus of AHWAC is on
national health workforce planning and analysis of information and the
identification of data needs. Advice is to be provided to AHMAC on a range of
health workforce matters including:
- the composition and distribution of the health workforce in
Australia;
- health workforce supply and demand; and
- the establishment and development of data collections concerned
with the health workforce.
AHWAC’s membership comprises representatives from
Commonwealth departments, State and Territory Health authorities, the
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare and peak organisations representing
various sections of the health workforce.
Australian Health Workforce Officials Committee (AHWOC)
The Australian Health Workforce
Officials Committee (AHWOC) was established in June 2002. Its purpose is to
provide a forum for reaching agreement on key health workforce issues requiring
collaborative action and to advise on health workforce requirements, as a basis
for assisting AHMAC to fulfil its roles.
AHWOC’s role is to:
- advise AHMAC on priority workforce issues requiring national
collaboration;
- provide advice to AHMAC on policy, funding and health care
delivery options and implications for health workforce development;
- provide a forum for ongoing communication and consultation
between the Commonwealth, States and Territories in relation to workforce
priorities, the development of appropriate and supported industrial frameworks
and workforce developments within jurisdictions;
- advise AHMAC on implementation issues arising from Australian
Medical Workforce Advisory Committee (AMWAC) and Australian Health Workforce
Advisory Committee (AHWAC) recommendations;
- work with AMWAC and AHWAC, and convene specialist groups where
necessary, to provide advice on:
- structure, balance, geographic distribution and future demand and
supply requirements for priority skilled health workforces in Australia,
- development and refinement of models for describing and
predicting future skilled health workforce requirements in line with emerging
technologies, treatment patterns and models of clinical care,
- current and future educational and training requirements of
priority skilled health workforces, and
- establishment and development of data collections, analyses and
workforce performance indicators to assist workforce planning; and
- liaise with peak groups and organisations as required.
Clinical nurse specialist
An expert clinician and client advocate in a particular
speciality or subspecialty of nursing practice. The clinical nurse specialist
applies focused knowledge and skills acquired through speciality specific
education to a population defined primarily by diagnosis, therapeutic
intervention, gender or age. In addition to direct practice, the clinical nurse
specialist is involved in consultation, research, and education with the aim of
improving the quality of care and services in the role of change agent.
Clinical Placement/Practicum
A component of a nursing education program that provides
students with opportunities to marry theoretical knowledge with practical
application and develop the required clinical competencies through the care of
patients/clients.
Continuing Professional Education
Lifelong process of active participation in learning
activities to enhance professional practice and which are designed to enrich
the nurse’s contribution to health care.
Credentialling
Some specialty nursing groups
have implemented credentialling processes as a means of self-regulation for a
particular speciality area, so that nurses may demonstrate their competence and
be publicly accountable for the services they provide. Nursing specialty and
other organisations have produced practice standards, and/or competencies,
guidelines for curricula development and continuing professional development
programs as a means of self-governance and quality improvement for their
members. The International Congress of Nurses has resolved that self-regulatory
systems for nursing must provide for:
- high standards for the personal and professional growth and
performance of nurses
- public sanction for nurses to perform to the extent of their
capabilities
- participation of the profession to the public for the conduct of
its affairs on their behalf
- proper recognition for the contributions of the profession and
opportunity for the self-actualisation of its members.
Effective Full-Time Student Units (EFTSU)
A unit of measure used by the Department of Education,
Training and Youth Affairs and Higher Education institutions generally to
represent student load in relation to a unit of study. The total EFTSU are
expressed as a proportion of the workload for a standard annual program for
students taking a full year of study in a course. A student doing a standard
annual full-time workload for a course generates one EFTSU while a full-time
student doing a standard annual workload for one semester generates half an
EFTSU.
Enrolled Nurse (Division 2 – Victoria)
A nurse who is on the roll maintained by the State or
Territory nurses board or nursing council to practise nursing under some form
of supervision in the State or Territory. These requirements, which may vary
between States and Territories, normally include a specified level of education
or its equivalent. Education is generally undertaken in the vocational
education and training sector at a Certificate IV or Diploma level.
Healthcare System
The composite of all informal and formal components of
health care delivery, including the nurse and the patient/client.
Healthcare Worker
A generic term that can refer to any provider of health care
services, but most often refers to paraprofessionals or unlicensed assistant
personnel.
Mentorship
A relationship between an experienced nurse and a less
experienced nurse whereby the experienced nurse may provide advice and/or
assistance which is likely to be career oriented rather than clinically
oriented. Mentorship is usually longer in term than preceptorship.
Midwifery
A Midwife is a person who, having been regularly admitted to
a midwifery educational program duly recognised in the country in which it is
located, has successfully completed the prescribed course of studies in
midwifery and has acquired the requisite qualifications to be registered and/or
legally licensed to practice midwifery. She must be able to give the necessary
supervision, care and advice to women during pregnancy, labour and the
postpartum period, to conduct deliveries on her own responsibility, and to care
for the newborn and the infant. This care includes preventative measures, the
detection of abnormal conditions in mother and child, the procurement of
medical assistance and the execution of emergency measures in the absence of
medical help. She has an important task in the health counselling and
education, not only for the women, but also within the family and the
community. The work should involve antenatal education and preparation for
parenthood and extends to certain areas of gynaecology, family planning and
childcare. She may practice in hospitals, clinics, health units, domiciliary
conditions or in any other service.
Nurse Bank
A discrete supply of casual nurses managed ‘in house’ by the
hospital. Nurses work across the hospital according to their availability.
Nurse Educator
A general term covering nurses who are responsible for
providing nursing education in educational institutions such as universities
and technical colleges, hospitals, and health care agencies.
Nurse Practitioner
A Nurse Practitioner is a registered nurse who is educated
to function in an advanced clinical role. The scope of practice of the Nurse
Practitioner will be determined by the context in which the Nurse Practitioner
is authorised to practice by the respective State registration Board and may
include legislative authority not currently within the scope of nursing
practice.
Nursing
Nursing is an integral part of the health care system,
encompassing the promotion of health, prevention of illness, and care of
physically ill, mentally ill, and disabled people of all ages, in all health
care and other community settings. Within this broad spectrum of health care,
the phenomena of particular concern to nurses are individual, family, and group
‘responses to actual or potential health problems’. These human responses range
broadly from health restoring reactions to an individual episode of illness to
the development of policy in promoting the long-term health of a population.
Nursing Home
A facility that provides long term 24 hour per day skilled
nursing care, personal care and physician supervision to chronically ill, frail
or disabled persons.
Nursing Workforce
The Australian nursing workforce in our statistical
collections consists of nurses educationally prepared at two levels, that being
the Registered Nurse and Enrolled Nurse (ANCI), and assistants in nursing and
personal care assistants who are not regulated. The workforce reflects a fluctuating
number and skill mix of full time, part time or casual workers.
Patient/Client
The individuals, families, groups, or communities that are
the recipients or beneficiaries of nursing care.
Personal Care/Assistants/Assistants In Nursing
Commonly referred to as PCAs or AINs, these are generally
unregulated and unlicensed health workers. Being outside the regulation and
registration system, they cannot properly be described as nurses, but are
sometimes described for statistical purposes as part of the ‘nursing workforce’
or as working in ‘nursing occupations’. They are required to act under the
direct or indirect supervision of a Registered Nurse.
Preceptorship
A particular teaching/learning method in which an
experienced nurse provides direct guidance to a beginning or less experienced
nurse. Preceptors are expected to be competent clinicians and are required to
be role models. The preceptor role is clinically oriented, shorter term rather
than longer term, and linked to particular learning goals or a particular
period of time.
Registered Nurse (Division 1 – Victoria)
A nurse who is on the register maintained by the State or
Territory nurses board or nursing council to practise nursing in that State or
Territory. RNs undertake a minimum of 3 years undergraduate preparation in the
higher education sector at a Bachelor degree level.
Scope of Nursing
The scope of nursing practice is that which nurses are
educated, authorised and competent to perform. The actual scope of practice of
individual practitioners is influenced by the settings in which they practice,
the health needs of the people, the level of competence of the nurses and the
policy requirements of the service provider. It encompasses clinical,
educational, administrative and scholarly dimensions of nursing practice on a
continuum from beginning to advanced. It also incorporates generalist and
specialist practice of the registered nurse. (Queensland Nursing Council,
2001). There is recognition that nursing practice often overlays the practices
of other healthcare professionals and health workers.
Standards for Practice
Authoritative statement, promulgated by the profession, by
which the quality of practice, service, or education can be judged. These
include the ANCI National Competency Standards for the Registered Nurse and
the Enrolled Nurse (2000), the Code of Ethics for Nurses in
Australia (1993), and the Code of Professional Conduct for Nurses
in Australia (1995).
Separations
A process by which an admitted patient completes an episode
of care. In general, a separation is synonymous with discharge. The number of
separations is a measure of hospital activity. Separations are counted instead
of admissions because some information that classifies the episode of care can
be determined only after the episode has concluded. For acute hospitals, the
number of separations will be similar to the number of admissions for the same
reporting period.
Training Package
An integrated set of nationally endorsed standards,
guidelines and qualifications for training, assessing and recognising people’s
skills, developed by industry to meet the training needs of an industry or
group of industries. Training packages consist of core endorsed components of
competency standards, assessment guidelines and qualifications, and optional
non-endorsed components of support materials such as learning strategies,
assessment resources and professional development materials.
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