NEWS RELEASE
July 1 2002
UniSA’s new Chair in
heart nursing a first in Australia
In
acknowledgement of the vital role nurses increasingly play in the care and
recovery of patients with heart disease and heart failure and in response
to the huge rise in the incidence of heart failure, especially as the
population ages, the National Heart Foundation has established a Chair in
Cardiovascular nursing at the University of South Australia.
Professor
Simon Stewart, recent winner of the SA Nursing Excellence Award for
nursing research, has been appointed to the new position.
The Chair
in Cardiovascular Nursing at UniSA is sponsored The National Heart
Foundation in conjunction with Roche Pharmaceuticals.
Professor
Stewart says the new Chair gives substantial weight to the significant
role of research into cardiovascular nursing.
“As
with most western societies our population is rapidly ageing and as a
consequence there is an increasing need for expertise in the field of
heart patient care,” he said.
“The
inherent irony is that the more successful we are in treating previously
fatal events of heart failure in younger people, for example middle age
heart attack, the greater the number of older patients we have who require
treatment for the ongoing complications of heart failure within our public
health system.
“While
the number of beds in public hospitals has decreased the demand for those
places from older patients with heart failure complications is increasing
at a fairly dramatic rate.
“And it
is within this context that cardiovascular nurses have assumed a greater
and more influential role in managing patients with heart disease,
especially in the past 10 years.
“The
good news is that nurse care intervention and management can have a
dramatic impact on both the survival of heart disease patients and also in
cost savings across the health system.”
Recent
research conducted by Prof Stewart shows that a system of early
intervention through in-home or out-patient clinic based nursing care can
make a huge impact on the health of sufferers of heart disease and the
rates of hospital admissions.
He said
heart disease such as chronic heart failure were now occurring at epidemic
proportions, outstripping many forms of cancer as a key cause of death.
“Our
research in SA alone has shown that an investment of just $150,000 in
providing specialist heart failure nursing could save the state around $1
million annually in demands on hospital beds and public health
services.”
Prof
Stewart said already the UK and other states in Australia had begun to
adopt innovative nursing services to help deal with heart disease in the
community.
National
Heart Foundation Director of Health and Medical Affairs, Professor Andrew
Tonkin, says he is delighted that the new Chair is being established at
University so enthusiastically committed to exploring just how
cardiovascular nursing can make and vital contribution to heart disease
care, prevention and management.
“The
appointment of the Chair is an acknowledgment that nurses have a powerful
role to play in managing heart disease and in minimising fatalities from
the disease,” Prof Tonkin said.
“It is
also a focussed commitment to ensuring that research into the area
develops new skills and new methods that will ensure nurses have avenues
for further specialist training and education in the field.
“It is
clear that nurses have a pivotal role to play and this partnership we have
formed with UniSA emphasises our commitment to the profession and their
important role in cardiovascular treatment.”
Media
contact: Michèle Nardelli (08) 8302 0966 or 041 8823673
email: michele.nardelli@unisa.edu.au
Professor Simon Stewart – (08) 8302 1115
Professor Andrew Tonkin via Donna
Le Page - 0412 797 937
