Christopher Johnson, MD, highlights the communication problem in the age of EHRs

Sometimes an interesting thing happens on patient rounds. Rounds are a traditional exercise in hospitals going back at least a century. In the old days, this meant the physician going from patient to patient. He (it was nearly always he back then) went over the patient's progress with the bedside nurse, examined the patient, reviewed pertinent test results, made an assessment, decided on a plan for the day, and gave orders to implement the plan.

Domestic violence — also known as domestic abuse, intimate partner violence or abuse — may start when one partner feels the need to control and dominate the other.Abusers may feel this need to control their partner because of low self-esteem, extreme jealousy, difficulties in regulating anger and other strong emotions, or when they feel inferior to the other partner in education and socioeconomic background.Some people with very traditional beliefs may think they have the right to control their partner, and that women aren’t equal to men.

Ten Queensland state primary schools are piloting a respectful relationships program dealing with issues such as family violence, respect for women and girls, compassion and gender equality. 

The Palaszczuk Government is partnering with Our Watch and the Luke Batty Foundation to deliver the 18-month pilot program in support of its measures to stamp-out bullying and domestic violence.

The Gold Coast sciences sector will soon have its say about growing Queensland’s burgeoning biomedical and life sciences industry over the next 10 years and creating high-tech jobs for the students and researchers of today.

Researchers and industry leaders are invited to contribute to the Palaszczuk Government’s recently released Biomedical and Life Sciences Roadmap at a special consultation session at Southport on 26 July.

The recent attack at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, in which 49 people lost their lives and dozens more sustained serious injuries, was greeted with shock, but also with an unsettling familiarity. Gun violence has inarguably become firmly entrenched in all corners of this country. Towns like Aurora, Newtown, and Columbine are now shorthand for the collective anguish that follows mass shootings, while large cities like Chicago deal with an equally insidious but less media-attended epidemic of daily firearm violence.

The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) has officially started in Queensland today, signalling the beginning of a new era in disability services and huge opportunity for new workers to join the sector.

“I am excited to welcome the start of the NDIS rollout in Queensland today, following the early launch of the scheme in Townsville, Charters Towers and Palm Island in January this year,” Mrs O’Rourke said.

Queensland’s multi-billion dollar health budget will jump 7.7 per cent to meet growing demands for health services across the state. Minister for Health and Minister for Ambulance Services Cameron Dick said the health budget would increase to $15.274 billion in 2016-17, ensuring world-class health services for Queenslanders.

Mr Dick said the bulk of the new budget, totalling $12.

Veronica Hackethal, MD

May 13, 2016

DALLAS, TX — The risk of falls that cause serious injuries goes up over 2 weeks after changes in antihypertensive therapy in the elderly, whether starting or adding an agent or intensifying the current medication, suggests an analysis of Medicare beneficiaries published May 10, 2016 inCirculation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes.

"If I'm initiating or intensifying meds, I may want to be careful in the short term, but after patients have been on the medications for a while, the risk has probably disappeared," lead author Dr Daichi Shimbo (Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY) told

The Palaszczuk Government is preparing Queensland’s public hospitals for a tough flu season with a five point plan to drive efficiencies, keep emergency departments moving and get ambulances back on the road.

Minister for Health and Ambulance Services Cameron Dick today unveiled the government’s five point plan to prepare the health system for the challenges of the flu season.

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The article reviews the burden of peripheral artery disease (PAD) and its association with diabetes, renal dysfunction, inflammation, and anemia.

Workplace violence against healthcare workers is rampant, but solutions remain unclear, largely as a result of underrecognition and underreporting of the problem and poor-quality research, according to a review article published in the April 28 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. The article stems from the tragic death of a surgeon at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, in January 2015. The surgeon was shot and killed by the son of one of his patients, who had died.

Today, White Ribbon Australia celebrates the accreditation of nine organisations as White Ribbon Workplaces, bringing the total number of White Ribbon accredited workplaces in Australia to 45. 

A further 120 workplaces are currently working towards accreditation.The program is rigorous. Over an 18 month period, participating workplaces must satisfy 15 assessment criteria under three separate standards. They submit evidence of extensive staff consultation, staff engagement, staff training as well as new and improved HR policies and procedures.