This dissertation argues that the experiences of a highly specific group of female medical personnel and the representations of their experiences, both during World War II and in the immediate postwar era, provide a unique opportunity for investigating the role of Australian women in the Pacific War, as well as the processes through which personal testimonies are produced in relation to collective memory, state-sponsored rituals of commemoration, and history. Victims of one of the most infamous war crimes of World War II, the Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS) Sisters and their wartime experiences at the hands of the Japanese Imperial Army (JIA) on Sumatra have been accorded considerable prominence in Australian narratives of the Pacific conflict. Yet notwithstanding this attention, there has been surprisingly little focus on the nurses’ own accounts of the episode. This dissertation is the first attempt to redress the balance by offering a critical reassessment of the original source material, while exploring the broader discursive contexts within which such accounts were produced. The dissertation considers first-hand accounts of the “Bangka Island Massacre” and the AANS Sisters’ subsequent internment by the Japanese between February 1942 and September 1945. The chapters that follow explore the role of the nurses’ ordeal on Sumatra in the development of a professional Australian nursing self-identity, the episode’s incorporation in the national rituals of commemoration surrounding the remembrance of the Pacific conflict, and ultimately, the extent to which the nurses’ narratives have fed into – and helped to shape – a distinctive postwar Australian nationalism. Even before their release from captivity, the AANS Sisters had acquired iconic status in Australia, as embodiments of heroic resistance, altruistic sacrifice and bravery. The dissertation is arranged in four thematic chapters, which consider four distinct areas of the nurses’ experiences – the “Bangka Island Massacre”, internment, press representation and remembrance. Chapter 2 reassesses documentary material collected for the International Military Tribunal for the Far East (IMTFE) in 1946 in order to examine the murders on Bangka Island and the alleged sexual violence associated with the crime. Chapter 3 draws on the published and unpublished camp memoirs of several of the nurses to explore the ways in which the nurses characterized their internment experiences, and the possible factors influencing the construction of those narratives. Chapter 4 makes use of Australian print and broadcast media archives to investigate how the imprisoned Sisters, and civilian and military nurses more generally, were portrayed by the press, and the possible effect this may have had on postwar nation-building, nationalism and remembrance in Australia. Finally, Chapter 5 examines the inclusion of the AANS Sisters in postwar commemorative endeavours and rituals of remembrance – including monuments, shrines, museum displays, temporary exhibitions and the celebration of Anzac Day – investigating the extent to which the nurses have been incorporated into the “Anzac legend”, Australia’s militaristic interpretation of the national character. / published_or_final_version / History / Master / Master of Philosophy

This grounded theory study investigates the experiences and perceptions of comfort and discomfort of hospital patients admitted for medical-surgical conditions, with a focus on the post-accute stage of hospitalisation. In-depth post-discharge interviews were conducted with seventeen English speaking adults who had been admitted to nine Australian hospitals. A substantive theory of finding comfort and of managing discomfort was generated. Processes of self-talk (anticipating, interpreting, accepting, making allowances and maintaining perspective) and self-care (self-help and seeking help, which involved accommodating to the level and type of help available through deferring, avoiding, persisting or desisting) were used to find comfort and to manage discomfort. The study has implications for nursign practice, management, research and education. Existing practice in the areas of assessment, communication, individualised care planning and the management of discomfort need to be strengthened if nursing care is to make a difference for this category of patient. The study revealed that integrated caring by nurses perceived by informants as 'experts', contributed most to the experience of finding comfort and managing discomfort in this group of informants / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Title page, table of contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University of Adelaide Library. / This study aimed to identify tools, systems and processes that inform nurse skill-assessment and nurse-to-patient allocation decisions in Adult Level III Australian Intensive Care Units (ICU), and to develop a Nurse Skill Matching Decision-Support Framework that could be incorporated within an ICU risk management system. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1274724 / Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Population Health and Clinical Practice, 2007

Policies underpinning the processes used by nurse regulatory authorities to assess overseas - qualified nurses ( OQNs ) vary from country to country. Some countries ' policies are to undertake paper - based assessments of nurses ' initial and post registration education and experience, while others require all nurses to undertake a generic examination. How these policies were developed and why, were pivotal questions in this study. The aim of the study was, to critically analyse the policy development and policies relating to assessment of overseas - qualified nurses in thirteen nurse regulatory authorities from Australia and overseas. Using Critical Social Theory as the theoretical underpinning a critical policy analysis was undertaken. Data was obtained from policies and procedures, interviews, organisational websites, annual reports and Nurses Acts. The process of development of these policies and procedures was analysed using Bridgman and Davis ' policy cycle. The study revealed that only one organisation used a framework to develop policies on the assessment of OQNs. Policy analysis in most organisations was based on anecdotal evidence and experiential knowledge of Board staff. No organisation had conducted research on whether overseas - qualified nurses were competent to practice following a paper - based assessment or an examination. This study demonstrated that policies used to assess OQNs were not developed from an evidence - based perspective. This highlights the need to undertake internationally collaborative research on the evaluation of current policies, in order to develop future policies that determine the competence of a nurse to practice in another country. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--School of Population Health and Clinical Practice, 2006.

Bibliography: leaves 252-270. / 275 leaves ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Events of sadness from their daily routine are described by sixteen participants and retold as stories. Inspired by philosophical and methodological ideology situated firmly within the interpretive paradigm, an analysis of these stories is undertaken using an interpretive, hermeneutical lens. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Clinical Nursing, 1999

This ethnographic nursing home study explores the meaning which residents make of being old and in care. Its primary focus is on the role of social and communicative interactions in maintaining residents’ sense of self. Throughout the thesis I argue that the self is socially constructed, narratively communicated and is continuous throughout the life span. This narrative, relational self is diminished in old age by bereavement and the loss of social networks, and threatened by the loneliness and isolation of the institutional environment. Nonetheless, despite the stripping of relational layers entailed in the loss of the people with whom the younger self was constructed, there is a continuing core of self which, while bending, does not break. I argue that the nursing home can be a site of recovery for this vulnerable, diminished self, offering support and the opportunity to take on new roles and form new relationships, and through these relationships, new layers of self. / Staff are key players in the healing process, and staff-resident relationships important new sources of meaning for the relational self. The ageing, marginalised self is strengthened through empathetic communication which recognises the individual person and the importance of that individual’s life, acknowledges residents’ adult status, and enhances self-esteem by enhancing personal control. For residents, telling their stories and remembering their past lives provides a means of making sense of where and who they are in the present, and of envisaging a future. Consequently, it is vital that residents have opportunities to speak and be heard, and to be recognised and spoken to. These opportunities are sometimes adequately provided by families, friends, church and other visitors and volunteers, but frequently they are not. Staff then become the main source of resident support. / The capacity of individual staff to meet residents’ communication needs is dependent on many factors including the legislative framework and funding of the aged care system, the philosophy of the individual provider organisation (translated into work routines, staffing practices, and the training, mentoring and support available to staff) and the individual personalities and communication skills of staff themselves. Continuity of staffing is a vital factor, with “Know your resident” identified by staff in this study as the most important element in understanding and recognising the needs of residents withcognitive and communicative impairment, and in building relationships which support residents and enhance their autonomy.