N³ET Myth Busters

N³ET Myth Busters were designed to increase public awareness and understanding of contemporary nursing/midwifery issues in the Australian context by providing facts that challenge common nursing/midwifery myths.

 

WHAT ARE SOME COMMON NURSING/MIDWIFERY MYTHS?

MYTH: Interprofessional education and practice, a nice idea but it doesn't work (PDF, 272.61 kb)
FACT: There is increasing evidence that interprofessional education and practice results in positive outcomes
MYTH: Current maternity services in Australia meet the needs of all women (PDF, 959.23 kb)
FACT: Choice of maternity services are limited by many factors
MYTH: You may not get the best care from a nurse practitioner (PDF, 293.70 kb)
FACT: Nurse practitioners are authorised, educated and prepared to provide comprehensive care in a safe, modern way
MYTH: People 'drop out' of nursing more than other careers (PDF, 301.46 kb)
FACT: Attrition from nursing study and employment is not exceptional, rather nursing offers excellent employment opportunities and experiences relatively high rates of retention in both study and employment.

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Why look at nursing/midwifery myths?

Interprofessional education and practice

Managing chronic disease requires coordinating the services and skills of a range of separate professionals from medicine and nursing through to physiotherapy and social work. In order to meet current demand and future challenges, governments and health care providers must look at the provision of health care in Australia differently.

One approach is through interprofessional education fostering collaborative practice. Therefore it is important to have the facts about how health professionals learn to work together.

Maternity services

With a shift in government policy, the provision of maternity services in Australia is a contentious issue so not everyone will agree on the language used. However this document aims to present the current broad national policy direction in the Australian context.

Maternity services in Australia are changing. There is a shift from an overly medicalised model to one that provides greater flexibility and accessiblity of maternity services for women experiencing healthy pregnancies. This Myth examines maternity services in the Australian context and describes the national policy direction in Australia.

Nurse practitioners

There is confusion around what a nurse practitioner is, what they do, and how they fit into the Australian health care system. While they are relatively new to Australia, nurse practitioners have been working in other countries for over forty years. This Myth Buster provides information and evidence regarding the appropriate levels of experience and education needed by nurse practitioners to be authorised to practise at an advanced level. Closely related to current health care debate, this Myth highlights the increasingly valuable role of the nurse practitioner in the Australian context.

Attrition and Nursing

Attrition is a popular subject leading to certain 'facts' continually recycled until they can no longer be sourced.

While nursing attracts many myths, the evidence demonstrates that attrition from nursing study and employment is not exceptional. Nursing, in fact, offers very good employment opportunities and experiences relatively high rates of retention in both study and employment. The purpose of this Myth Buster is to look at attrition at all points in the nursing profession, in study, in the first few years of work and later on in a nurse's career.

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