Pam Savage is a lecturer in the School of Nursing and Health Studies at Central Queensland University (CQU) Mackay and is also a Barrister of the Supreme Court of NSW.

She recently received her first copy of her published text book 'Legal Issues for Nursing Students', which is a culmination of her work and experiences in these 2 professions.

Pam has many years of experience in teaching Australian nurses and overseas trained nurses about legal concepts and health care in Australia.

Over the years she became concerned about the anxiety nurses experience due to legal obligations and fear of legal consequences in their daily work.

“It was the ‘fear factor’ the law creates in nurses that distressed me most so I decided to study law to get to the essence of it rather than rely on distillations of legal concepts that were used in the wards,” said Ms Savage.

“Legal reasoning can take a very different approach to situations experienced in nursing where we work under great pressure and often in emergency conditions,” said Ms Savage.

According to Pam, pre-registration nurses have a great responsibility to acquire huge amounts of knowledge and skills and then apply these in a stressful situation. Add to this a fear of legal consequences which can inhibit a nurse’s ability to make decisions and give the best care possible, and it creates a serious burden.

Ms Savage sees her work as a translation of the law, linking it to real-world nursing and enabling nurses to practice confidently in a safe and competent manner.

'Legal Issues for Nursing Students' links ethics, governance and legal concepts and will form the basis of legal courses within pre-registration programs in Australia.