Welcome to the Australasian Sexual Health & HIV Nurses Association Inc.

What's New

Transgender, Sistergirl and Gender Diverse Conference, Cairns 24-25 Aug 2012

Registeration and abstracts are open for this exciting conference in tropical Cairns from 24-25 August. Check out the website link on: www.transconference.org.au/index.html . This Conference will also be followed by Cairns Tropical Pride Fair Day (Sunday 26 Aug), see www.cairnstropicalpride.com.au

 

New Zealand Sexual Health Society 34th Annual Conference 30 Aug - 1 Sept

We invite you to the Annual NZ Sexual Health Society Conference 30 August-1 September 2012 in Palmerston North. We have chosen the huia bird as our symbol, a bird whose feathers were used for cloaks for people of high status. Sexual health is often neglected in public health policy and the aim of the conference is to raise its status along with raising the bar for standards for service provision. We hope that those working in both clinical and health promotion roles in a range of practice settings will gain knowledge to improve the coordination and quality of sexual health services for all New Zealanders.

See more Conference details by opening the following link: http://www.shs2012.co.nz/

 

International Sexual Health and HIV Conferences, Melbourne 15-19 Oct 2012

In 2012 the Australasian Sexual Health Conference will be incorporated into the 13th World IUSTI Congress. This is the first time the World IUSTI Congress will be held in Australia and comes during an exciting time for those working in sexual health. The World Congress will be held from Monday 15 - Wednesday 17 October 2012 and will be held back-to-back with the 24th Australasian HIV/AIDS Conference, 17 - 19 October at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.  

For more information visit the 2012 IUSTI Congress website: www.iusti2012.com

 

The 24th Australasian HIV/AIDS Conference is the premier conference in the HIV and related diseases sector.  Over three days, 1000 of the region’s leaders in the field of HIV will convene in Melbourne, the World’s Most Liveable City, to discuss the latest developments in research into the cause, clinical manifestations, prevention, testing and treatment of HIV/AIDS and related diseases.

More information about the HIV Conference can be found on  http://www.hivaidsconference.com.au/

 

2012 Carol Martin Professional Development Scholarship for Sexual Health and HIV Nurses

 

The 2012 Carol Martin Scholarship, sponsored by CSL Biotherapies, is now open till the 30 April to support nurses attend conferences, or undertake further educationor research.

Click here for the Scholarship Application Form.

 

Applying for a scholarship is easy and all members are encouraged to apply for scholarship funding for professional development activities including conference attendance, further education and research.

Last year, tThe ASHHNA Executive unaminously awarded the 2011 Carol Martin Professional Development Scholarship for Sexual Health and HIV Nursing to Alison Kincaid, Louise Holland, Katie Barker and Kym Boyes.  Congratulations to these candidates.  

Alison Kincaid, Sexual Health CNC from Albury NSW attended the Australasian HIV Conference and Australasian Sexual Health Conference in Canberra 26th-30th October 2011.  Alison presented her poster "I can offer you a chlamydia test too ..." about the development of targeted chlamydia screening by women's health nurses in Southern NSW.

Katie Barker, Sexual Health CNC from Mt Isa Qld, was awarded to help with her Masters in Public Health at James Cook University.

Kym Boyes, Nurse Practitioner, Sexual and Reproductive Health, from Cooktown, Qld, attended the Australasian Sexual Health Conference in Canberra 26th-30th October 2011.  Kym works from Cooktown Multi Purpose Health Centre approximately 400 kms north of Cairns providing sexual and reproductive health services mainly to Indigenous women.

Louise Holland, Sexual Health CNC from Bendigo, Victoria, attended the Australasian Sexual Health Conference in Canberra.

The scholarship is named in honour of our friend, colleague and ASHHNA Vice-President, Carol Martin who passed away in February 2011.

 

Kungkaku Yungupalaku Healthy Relationships Project

Improving Sexual Health in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Youth Demonstration Projects

View the link:  http://vimeo.com/channels/291442

The video stories were developed and mostly filmed / animated by young aboriginal people from Warburton and Warakurna Ngaanyatjarra communities in remote Western Australia. They identified ways of seeking appropriate sexual health services, supporting each other, problem solving and identity through these stories.  We hope you enjoy the stories and please share them with young people.    Feedback to Annie Tangey, Nursing Coordinator of the Sexual Health Programme for Ngaanyatjarra Health Service, annie.tangey@nghealth.org.au

 

UK Genito Urinary Nurses Association (GUNA)

Looking for sexual health nursing information, or a job in the UK?

Genito-Urinary Nurses Association (GUNA) is the UK national association working to ensure the voice of genitourinary nurses is heard. GUNA promotes GU nurses skills and development by improving education and training and encouraging networking with colleagues in the GU field.

For more information about GUNA click on the following link: http://www.guna.org.uk/

Australasian Sexual Health Alliance (ASHA)

ASHHNA members can sign up to ASHA as an affiliate member. ASHA is a multidisciplinary support  network for all those working in sexual health.  ASHHNA is proud to be one of the founding partner organisations of ASHA, which includes:

     - The Australian Society for HIV Medicine (ASHM); The Australian Society for Sexual Educators, Researchers & Therapists (ASSERT)

     - The New Sealand Sexual Health society (NZSAS); The Sexual Health Society of Queensland Inc. (SHSQ Inc)

     - The Sexual Health Society of Victoria (SHSoV)

To sign up to ASHA including information about the core aims click onto the attached ASHA Flyer

 

New STI MSM testing guidelines

The STI Testing Guidelines for MSM have been recently updated and reprinted.  The following website includes a large amount of information for gay men and other MSM on STIs, testing and treatment with contact details of relevant organisations and clinics. 

Follow the link: http://thedramadownunder.info/clinicians

 

ashm Testing Portal for HIV, Hepatitis C and Hepatitis B

ASHM launched its 2011 National HIV Testing Portal Policy, which is targeted to health professionals ordering HIV (HCV & HBV info will be released soon) related tests and receiving and interpreting results.  They are regularly revised and updated policies and related resources.

Check out the HIV Testing Portal now http://testingportal.ashm.org.au/

 

Newly Revised Competency Standards

The  ASHHNA Competency Standards for Sexual and Reproductive Health and HIV Nurses (2nd Edition) are now available!  These competency standards are designed to guide best practice to nurses working in the specialties of Sexual health, Sexual & Reproductive Health, and HIV Nursing.  See the newly revised Competency Standards on our Resources page.

 

NSW Sexual Health Standard Orperating Procedures (2011)

 

In an exciting development the NSW Sexual Health Standard Operating Procedures (2011) have been included in the NHMRC Clinical Practice

Guidelines Portal, which can be accessed on http://www.clinicalguidelines.gov.au/search.php?pageType=2&fldglrID=1882&

The NSW sexual health clinical guidelines are updated on a regular basis by senior nurses (Clinical Nurse Consultants or Nurse Unit Managers) and form the basis of quality improvement activity and guidance for clinical practice. This document provides generic guidelines which may be adopted or amended to meet service requirements. The document has application for other disciplines and health providers involved in the prevention, detection and management of STIs.

Click here to access the NSW Sexual Health Standard Operating Procedures (2011)

 

Talk Soon. Talk Often. Resource supporting families as sexuality educators of their children

 

A new resource to support parents and families as sexuality educators of their children. Written by Jenny Walsh of the Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health & Society at La Trobe University, Victoria.   Click here to access this resource

 

Sexuality Education in Australian Schools (2011)

 

The first National Survey of Secondary Teachers of Sexuality Education (~300 secondary school teachers) examined what is currently being taught and what the barriers and facilitators are of successful sexual health education. This very interesting research identified that middle aged female PE teachers do most of the sex education, and pass on their biases and lack of knowledge.

Click here to access the Sexuality Education Survey:

 

ASHHNA Newsletter Survey

 

We recently surveyed our members on the future of the ASHHNA newsletter.  We were interested to know how you would feel if we stopped the structured newsletter twice a year and instead had more regular updates on the ASHHNA website with alerts sent through the listserver. Thanks very much to the 23 members who responded and to view the survey results click on .

 

STI Contact Tracing Tool

 

The NSW STI Programs Unit has just developed a simple STI contact tracing tool which contains good information for any health care worker providing STI care and management.

Click on the picture to access the STI Contact Tracing Tool.

 

Australasian Contact Tracing Manual

 

ASHM recently published the 4th Edition of this practical handbook for health care providers managing people with HIV, viral hepatitis, STIs and HIV-related tuberculosis.  Contact tracing - partner notification is a cornerstone in the management of people diagnosed with STIs and this useful Manual provides definitions, guide case studies, specific conditions and how far to trace back, privacy, confidentiality, public health law, evaluation and resources.

Click here to access the Australasian Contact Tracing Manual.  

 

Results of the 4th National Survey of Australian Secondary Students and Sexual Health

 

The Fourth National Survey of Secondary Students and Sexual Health involved nearly 3,000 Year 10 and Year 12 students from more than 100 secondary schools from the Government, Catholic and Independent school systems and from every jurisdiction in Australia. The key findings are arranged under the key themes of knowledge, behaviour and health and can be found on

Click here for Survey results .

 

The ASHHNA Knowledge Network

 

Have you joined the ASHHNA Knowledge Network? The email list is a great way to connect with your colleagues and share information. It is open to all ASHHNA members. For joining information contact Jennifer Walsh to get connected.

This is your site so feel free to let us know what you would like to see and read on the site.