Creative arts research : a long path to acceptance

The majority of tertiary practice-led creative arts disciplines became part of the Australian university system as a result of the creation of the Unified National System of tertiary education in 1988. Over the past two decades, research has grown as the yardstick by which academic performance in the Australian university sector is recognised and rewarded. Academics in artistic disciplines, who struggled to adapt to a culture and workload expectations different from their previous, predominantly teaching based, employment, continue to see their research under-valued within the established evaluation framework. Despite a late 1990s Australian government funded inquiry, many of the inequities remain. While the Excellence in Research in Australia (ERA) exercise has acknowledged the non-text outputs of artist-academics in its evaluation of 'research outcomes', much of the process remains resolutely framed by measures that work against creative arts researchers.

Integrating ‘role play’ in assessment to strengthen professional conduct and accountability of students : a pilot study

BACKGROUND In a process engineering setting, graduates are frequently allocated reviews of existing operations or required to scope new production processes by their supervisors with a view to improving or expanding on operations and overall productivity. These tasks may be carried out in teams and in consultation with the process engineer’s immediate line manager or a more experienced engineer, such as the Production or Maintenance Manager; ultimately reporting to senior management, which is frequently a non-engineer. Although professional skills development is part of engineering curricula, ‘professional conduct’ and ‘accountability’ required for dealing with peers and superiors in industry is not very well addressed at university. Consequently, upon graduation, many students are, in terms of knowledge and experience in this area, underprepared to work effectively in industry settings. PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to develop and implement a role-play scenario within a core 2nd year process engineering unit, so that students could gain knowledge, skills and experience in different aspects (and nuances) of professional conduct and accountability. DESIGN/METHOD In the role-play scenario, students worked in ‘engineering production teams’ to design a process for an iconic Queensland fruitcake and to present their solution and recommendations (culminating in a poster presentation) to an assessment panel consisting of staff, role-playing as, ‘production and plant managers’. Students were assessed on several areas, including professionalism using a criteria referenced assessment guide by a 3-member cross-disciplinary staff panel consisting of a Business Faculty lecturer, an engineer from industry and the lecturer of the Process Engineering unit. Professional conduct and accountability was gauged through direct questioning by the panel. Feedback was also sought from students on various aspects through a survey questionnaire after the role play activity at the end of semester. RESULTS Overall, the role play was very well performed with students achieving an average score of 79.3/100 (distinction grade). Professional conduct as assessed by panel was on average better than scores given for professional accountability (4.0 compared with 3.6 out of 5). Feedback from students indicated that the learning activities had contributed to their overall understanding of the content and the role of process engineers. Industry involvement was rated very highly as contributing to their learning at 4.8 (on Likert scale from 1 – 5) and the poster presentation was rated at 3.6. CONCLUSIONS This pilot study was successful in implementing a new assessment task for modelling professional conduct and accountability within a 2nd year core unit. This task incorporated a role-play activity and there was evidence to suggest that this and associated learning tasks were successful in broadening students’ understanding and skills in this area required for engineering practice. Following feedback given by students and staff, improvements will be made to the nature of the problem, how it is defined, its assessment, and the approach taken in the role-play scenario when the unit is offered in 2014.

Prevalence of malnutrition, obesity and nutritional risk of Australian paediatric inpatients: A national one-day snapshot

Aim Low prevalence rates of malnutrition at 2.5% to 4% have previously been reported in two tertiary paediatric Australian hospitals. The current study is the first to measure the prevalence of malnutrition, obesity and nutritional risk of paediatric inpatients in multiple hospitals throughout Australia. Methods Malnutrition, obesity and nutritional risk prevalence were investigated in 832 and 570 paediatric inpatients, respectively, in eight tertiary paediatric hospitals and eight regional hospitals across Australia on a single day. Malnutrition and obesity prevalence was determined using z-scores and body mass index (BMI) percentiles. High nutritional risk was determined as a Paediatric Yorkhill Malnutrition Score of 2 or more. Results The prevalence rates of malnourished, wasted, stunted, overweight and obese paediatric patients were 15%, 13.8%, 11.9%, 8.8% and 9.9%, respectively. Patients who identified as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander were more likely to have lower height-for-age z-scores (P < 0.01); however, BMI and weight-for-age z-scores were not significantly different. Children who were younger, from regional hospitals or with a primary diagnosis of cardiac disease or cystic fibrosis had significantly lower anthropometric z-scores (P = 0.05). Forty-four per cent of patients were identified as at high nutritional risk and requiring further nutritional assessment. Conclusions The prevalence of malnutrition and nutritional risk of Australian paediatric inpatients on a given day was much higher when compared with the healthy population. In contrast, the proportion of overweight and obese patients was less.

Australian Library and Information Association Course Accreditation Review 2013

This report has been prepared for the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) in response to the request to undertake a literature review and environmental scan to inform discussions of the issues associated with professional accreditation. ALIA is the peak body which develops and monitors the professional standards that ensure the high quality of graduates entering the library and information services (LIS) profession in Australia. The report presents a themed discussion of the issues identified in the literature review and environmental scan to build a full picture of the role of course accreditation in LIS education. This is set against developments in the wider context of quality assurance in Australian tertiary education, to analyse the implications of this changing environment for ALIA’s accreditation policies and ractices.

A simple nutrition screening tool for paediatric inpatients

Background: Pediatric nutrition risk screening tools are not routinely implemented throughout many hospitals, despite prevalence studies demonstrating malnutrition is common in hospitalized children. Existing tools lack the simplicity of those used to assess nutrition risk in the adult population. This study reports the accuracy of a new, quick, and simple pediatric nutrition screening tool (PNST) designed to be used for pediatric inpatients. Materials and Methods: The pediatric Subjective Global Nutrition Assessment (SGNA) and anthropometric measures were used to develop and assess the validity of 4 simple nutrition screening questions comprising the PNST. Participants were pediatric inpatients in 2 tertiary pediatric hospitals and 1 regional hospital. Results: Two affirmative answers to the PNST questions were found to maximize the specificity and sensitivity to the pediatric SGNA and body mass index (BMI) z scores for malnutrition in 295 patients. The PNST identified 37.6% of patients as being at nutrition risk, whereas the pediatric SGNA identified 34.2%. The sensitivity and specificity of the PNST compared with the pediatric SGNA were 77.8% and 82.1%, respectively. The sensitivity of the PNST at detecting patients with a BMI z score of less than -2 was 89.3%, and the specificity was 66.2%. Both the PNST and pediatric SGNA were relatively poor at detecting patients who were stunted or overweight, with the sensitivity and specificity being less than 69%. Conclusion: The PNST provides a sensitive, valid, and simpler alternative to existing pediatric nutrition screening tools such as Screening Tool for the Assessment of Malnutrition in Pediatrics (STAMP), Screening Tool Risk on Nutritional status and Growth (STRONGkids), and Paediatric Yorkhill Malnutrition Score (PYMS) to ensure the early detection of hospitalized children at nutrition risk.

The long and winding road : health services for clients with chronic leg ulcers in the community

The prevalence of leg ulcers of is 0.12%–1.1% and >3,000 lower limb amputations are performed yearly in Australia due to non-healing leg or foot ulcers. Although evidence on leg ulcer management is available, a significant evidence-practice gap exists. To identify current leg ulcer management, a cross-sectional retrospective study was undertaken in Brisbane, Australia. A sample of 104 clients was recruited from a community specialist wound clinic and a tertiary hospital outpatient’s specialist wound clinic. All clients had an ulcer below their knee or on their foot for ≥4 weeks. Data were collected on ulcer care, health service usage and clinical history for the year prior to admission. On admission, participants reported having their ulcer for a median of 25 weeks (range 2-728 weeks); with 51% (53/104) reporting an ulcer duration of ≥24 weeks. Including the wound clinic, participants sought ulcer care from a median of 3 health care providers (range 2-7). General Practitioners provided ulcer care to 82% of participants. Nearly half (42%) had self-cared for their ulcer; 29% (30/104) received treatment by a community nurse. A gap was found between the community-based ulcer care experienced by this population and evidence-based guidelines in regards to assessment, management, advice, and referrals.

Good Practice Report : Postgraduate Research and Coursework Degrees

Over the past decade, enrolments in postgraduate courses in Australian universities have risen by 34% (or from 258,164 in 2004 to 347,363 in 2013) (uCube, 2014). This substantial growth can be attributed to increased demand for postgraduate coursework as continuing professional education, the expansion of Higher Degrees Research (HDR) intakes, and the development of postgraduate research and coursework degrees in new fields. At the same time, the establishment of the Australian Qualification Framework (AQF) and national Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA), as well as the internationalisation of postgraduate education, have brought challenges and opportunities to the sector. During the past five years, the Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching (OLT) and its predecessor bodies have funded a number of projects and Fellowships on postgraduate coursework and research degrees. They span diverse topics–from entry pathways and research training to supporting international and Indigenous students, examination, scoping studies of new and emergent programs, and effective supervision. In 2014 the OLT commissioned this good practice report to review the grants and fellowships conducted between 2009 and 2014. Encompassing twenty-seven learning and teaching projects and fellowships, the aims of this report include providing universities and academics with an overview of the current state of postgraduate study in Australia and the major influences upon it; a coherent overview of funded projects’ findings and outcomes; and a central point to access good practices, resources and tools in summary form. The objectives of this good practice report are to provide: • A literature review, which contextualises the projects within the Australian and international Higher Education environment, emphasises factors that currently influence postgraduate programs, and highlights challenges and opportunities for the sector. It also explains variations in postgraduate course types and definitions within the Australian Qualification Framework (AQF), and identifies key learning and teaching issues as well as good practices identified in scholarly research and position papers. • A collated overview of the twenty-seven national learning and teaching projects and fellowships on postgraduate coursework and research, including a summary of each project’s aims and objectives, methodologies, outcomes and resources. • A summative index of project characteristics (topics, themes and approaches) and inventory of scholarly research outcomes of the completed projects (publications, reports) as well as resources produced (tools, methods, good practice case studies), and their location (URL Links, references, etc.). • A summary of good practices that have been identified from the literature and the findings of completed projects. • A set of recommendations to address remaining gaps in the field and areas in which further work or development are appropriate. Bringing this work together will help enable university course teams to improve the delivery and development of existing postgraduate courses and to develop new ones, and it will provide academics with an overview of good practices and resources for teaching, supervising and supporting postgraduate students.

Prognostic validity of 3-Minute Nutrition Screening (3-MinNS) in predicting length of hospital stay, readmission, cost of hospitalisation and mortality : a cohort study

Background: It is important to identify patients who are at risk of malnutrition upon hospital admission as malnutrition results in poor outcomes such as longer length of hospital stay, readmission, hospitalisation cost and mortality. The aim of this study was to determine the prognostic validity of 3-Minute Nutrition Screening (3-MinNS) in predicting hospital outcomes in patients admitted to an acute tertiary hospital through a list of diagnosis-related groups (DRG). Methods: In this study, 818 adult patients were screened for risk of malnutrition using 3-MinNS within 24 hours of admission. Mortality data was collected from the National Registry with other hospitalisation outcomes retrieved from electronic hospital records. The results were adjusted for age, gender and ethnicity, and matched for DRG. Results: Patients identified to be at risk of malnutrition (37%) using 3-MinNS had significant positive association with longer length of hospital stay (6.6 ± 7.1 days vs. 4.5 ± 5.5 days, p<0.001), higher hospitalisation cost (S$4540 ± 7190 vs. S$3630 ± 4961, p<0.001) and increased mortality rate at 1 year (27.8% vs. 3.9%), 2 years (33.8% vs. 7.2%) and 3 years (39.1% vs. 10.5%); p<0.001 for all. Conclusions: The 3-MinNS is able to predict clinical outcomes and can be used to screen newly admitted patients for nutrition risk so that appropriate nutrition assessment and early nutritional intervention can be initiated.

Analysing children’s persuasive texts : the use of hedging and intensification

Research Quality This is a dialogue between two Australian literacy scholars about two persuasive writing techniques that posed difficulty for the students in our research. This dialogue flows from the analysis of Year 6 writing samples from an ARC Linkage Project, URLearning (2009-2013) - the focus of the symposium. We use vivid examples of writing from students’ handwritten persuasive texts on topics that were chosen by teachers. The persuasive structure in the texts followed the Toulmin (2003) model: a thesis statement, three arguments with evidence, and a conclusion. The findings show that to realise the effective power of rhetorical persuasion, students need an expanded lexicon that does not rely on intensifiers, and which employs a greater range of advanced hedging techniques to use to their advantage. National & International Importance The study is potentially of national and international relevance, given that argumentation or persuasion is a key life skill in many professional, personal, and discourses. It is also a requirement in the International English Language Testing Systems (IELTS) tests, which are a critical gateway for tertiary studies in many English-speaking countries (Coffin, 2004). Timeliness The research is timely given the Australian Curriculum English, in which persuasive texts figure prominently from Preparatory to Year 10 (ACARA, 2014). The recommendations are also timely in the context of educational policies in other parts of the world. For example, in the United States, the Common Core Standards: English Language Arts, mandates the teaching of persuasive texts (Council of Chief State School Officers & National Governors Association, 2013) Implications for practice/policy The findings of the study have specific practical implications for teachers, who can address the persuasive writing techniques of hedging and intensification with which children need targeted support and explicit instruction. The presentation is positioned at the nexus of teacher practice to better address the national priorities of the Australian Curriculum: English (ACARA, 2014), while having implications for applied linguistics research by identifying common problems in students' persuasive writing.

Setting limits to laughter : university teaching and the boundaries of humour

This paper forms one part of a broadly-based study into the use of humour within tertiary teaching. One theme to emerge from semi-structured, in-depth interviews with university academics concerns the setting of boundaries to the appropriate use of humour within lectures and tutorials. Following the ‘benign violations’ theory of humour—wherein, to be funny, a situation/statement must be some kind of a social violation, that violation must be regarded as relatively benign, and the two ideas must be held simultaneously—this paper suggests that the willingness of academics to use particular types of humour in their teaching revolves around the complexities of determining the margins of the benign. These margins are shaped in part by pedagogic limitations, but also by professional delimitations. In terms of limitations, the boundaries of humour are set by the academic environment of the university, by the characteristics of different cohorts of students, and by what those students are prepare to laugh at. In terms of delimitations—where humour choice is moderated, not by the possibility of immediate laughter, but rather by the consequences of that choice—academic seniority and security play a large role in determining what kinds of humour will be used, and where boundaries are to be set. The central conclusion here is that formal maxims of humour use—‘Never tease students’, ‘Don’t joke about potentially sensitive issues’—fail to account for the complexity of teaching relationships, for the differences between student cohorts, and for the talents and standing of particular teachers.

"Nursing is no place for men" ― A thematic analysis of male nursing students experiences of undergraduate nursing education

Background: Surprisingly, opinion about whether men are suitable within the profession continues to be a divided issue. Men enter the profession for a multitude of reasons, yet barriers whether emotional, verbal or sexual are still present. Aim: The aim of this study was to examine the experience of men “training” to be registered nurses within a regional New Zealand context. Design: A Narrative Analysis approach was used. Participants: Five New Zealand men currently undertaking their bachelor of nursing degree at a regional tertiary institute were interviewed as to their experiences of what it meant to be a man in “training”. Method: A thematic analysis was undertaken and guided by an understanding of the way personal narratives informs the human sciences especially within the context of nursing praxis. Four key themes were identified. Results: Four key themes were identified: A career with flexibility and promise; perceived gender inequality in providing care; developing professional boundaries with female colleagues and being unique has its advantages. Conclusion: The men in this study were attracted to the profession by career stability and advancement; the opportunities for travel also figured highly. At times they felt excluded and marginalised because of their minority status within their group and the feminine nature of the curriculum. The men attempted to dispel the myth around male nurse sexual stereotypes. Some of the students behaved in a manner to exert their heterosexualness. The students in this study sensed their vulnerability in choosing nursing as a career. However, all the participants saw nursing as viable and portable career in terms of advancement and travel.

The facilitator files : supporting the supporters of nursing students

Nurse education in Australia has undergone a substantial transformation in the course of its professional history. The use of experiential teaching and learning approaches in both pre and post registration courses has escalated dramatically and resulted in the extensive use of hospital based clinical experiences for student learning. The role of the clinical facilitator is used to provide stimulation to the affective and cognitive domains of student professional development and additionally is often used as a vehicle for student assessment. While most tertiary nursing schools utilise hospital clinical experiences widely, few studies have examined whether clinical facilitators have the necessary tools to effectively support and assess students in the clinical environment. Although employed for their clinical expertise and understanding of specific clinical contexts, facilitators are expected to have an understanding of experiential learning, how it informs the undergraduate curriculum and be able to support the development of neophyte nurses as they learn to apply theoretical concepts to the increasingly complex realm of patient care. Additionally, clinical facilitators are often employed on a casual basis and as a consequence of the casualisation of the facilitator workforce, universities are continually recruiting new clinical facilitators to these positions. This paper will explore a trial of facilitator education offered to clinical facilitators at the Queensland University of Technology, School of Nursing campus in Brisbane, Australia. It will report on the use of a series of student/facilitator “vignettes” created specifically for the purpose of facilitator education and how these interactions have been embedded within a wider educational package to support facilitators in their development as facilitators rather than teachers of nursing education. Finally, it will discuss the implications of facilitator preparedness on their ability to support and assess nursing students as they engage in the important transition from neophyte to registered nurse.

Educating the creative citizen : design education programs in the knowledge economy

The shift in the last twenty years from an industrialised economy to a knowledge economy demands new modes of education in which individuals can effectively acquire 21st century competencies. This article builds on the findings and recommendations of a Knowledge Economy Market Development Mapping Study (KEMDMS), conducted in Queensland, Australia. The study was conducted to identify the value of design education programs from primary school through to the professional development level. This article considers the ability of design education as a framework to deliver on the 21st century competences required for the three defining features of the creative knowledge economy – Innovation, Transdisciplinarity and Networks. This is achieved by contextualising key findings from the KEMDMS, including current design education initiatives, and outlining the current and future challenges faced. From this, this article focuses on the role of the tertiary education sector as the central actor in the creative economy in the development of generic design/design education capabilities. Through the unpacking of the study's three key observation themes for change, a holistic design education framework is proposed, and further research directions are discussed.

The prolongation of length of stay because of Clostridium difficile infection

Background Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) possibly extends hospital length of stay (LOS); however, the current evidence does not account for the time-dependent bias, ie, when infection is incorrectly analyzed as a baseline covariate. The aim of this study was to determine whether CDI increases LOS after managing this bias. Methods We examined the estimated extra LOS because of CDI using a multistate model. Data from all persons hospitalized >48 hours over 4 years in a tertiary hospital in Australia were analyzed. Persons with health care-associated CDIs were identified. Cox proportional hazards models were applied together with multistate modeling. Results One hundred fifty-eight of 58,942 admissions examined had CDI. The mean extra LOS because of infection was 0.9 days (95% confidence interval: −1.8 to 3.6 days, P = .51) when a multistate model was applied. The hazard of discharge was lower in persons who had CDI (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.42; P < .001) when a Cox proportional hazard model was applied. Conclusion This study is the first to use multistate models to determine the extra LOS because of CDI. Results suggest CDI does not significantly contribute to hospital LOS, contradicting findings published elsewhere. Conversely, when methods prone to result in time-dependent bias were applied to the data, the hazard of discharge significantly increased. These findings contribute to discussion on methods used to evaluate LOS and health care-associated infections.

The spectrum of HIV-1 related cancers in South Africa

Despite the high prevalence of infection by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) in South Africa, information on its association with cancer is sparse. Our study was carried out to examine the relationship between HIV and a number of cancer types or sites that are common in South Africa. A total of 4,883 subjects, presenting with a cancer or cardiovascular disease at the 3 tertiary referral hospitals in Johannesburg, were interviewed and had blood tested for HIV. Odds ratios associated with HIV infection were calculated by using unconditional logistic regression models for 16 major cancer types where data was available for 50 or more patients. In the comparison group, the prevalence of HIV infection was 8.3% in males and 9.1% in females. Significant excess risks associated with HIV infection were found for Kaposi's sarcoma (OR=21.9, 95% CI=12.5–38.6), non-Hodgkin lymphoma (OR=5.0, 95%CI=2.7–9.5), vulval cancer (OR=4.8, 95%CI=1.9–12.2) and cervical cancer (OR=1.6, 95%CI=1.1–2.3) but not for any of the other major cancer types examined, including Hodgkin disease, multiple myeloma and lung cancer. In Johannesburg, South Africa, HIV infection was associated with significantly increased risks of Kaposi's sarcoma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma and cancers of the cervix and the vulva. The relative risks for Kaposi's sarcoma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma associated with HIV infection were substantially lower than those found in the West.