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Searching for high quality clinical research evidence can be a daunting task to many in the healthcare arena, yet it is an integral part of the evidence-based practice process. Depending on your role in the clinical environment you may possess some of the skills needed, but not all. Nurses generally understand the key concepts of evidence based practice but might lack basic literature searching skills.

Kawasaki Disease is an is an acute, childhood, febrile vasculitis that affects medium sized arteries, particularly the coronary arteries. It is the leading cause of acquired heart disease in children in developed countries and the second most common vasculitis in childhood. Approximately 85% of cases occur under 5 years of age, with a peak age of 18-24 months, and is more common in children of Asian origin. About 25% of children with Kawasaki Disease develop coronary artery dilatations or aneurysms.

Australian Medicines Handbook (AMH) is a peer-reviewed medicines prescribing guide for Australian health professionals. CKN's subscription to AMH is supplemented by the AMH Aged Care Companion and the AMH Children's Dosing Companion. Together they provide medical practitioners, pharmacists and nurses with an independent medicines reference tool for concise, practical, reliable, comparative drug information and quality use of medicines in Australia.

When looking for articles or resources using the CKN discovery search box, you can help refine your results using Subject Headings. These are a controlled vocabulary of standardised terms used to describe the content of an article. When an article is indexed it can be assigned one or more subject headings, which can help you more easily drill down to the specific content you are after.

Palliative care is an approach that improves quality of life of patients and their families facing problems associated with life threatening illness, through prevention of suffering by early identification, and impeccable assessment and treatment of, pain and other problems, physical, psychological and spiritual. The Centre for Palliative Care Research and Education (CPCRE) was established by Queensland Health to enhance palliative care services in Queensland through education and research.

Heavy menstrual bleeding is a common problem affecting one in four women of reproductive age, having a significant impact on their physical, emotional, social and material quality of life. Around 50% of women referred to secondary care for heavy menstrual bleeding experience severe or very severe pain, even when they do not have any uterine pathology.

Every December 1st is World AIDS Day and the theme in Queensland this year is “End HIV”. Progress against stemming the epidemic of HIV worldwide has been truly remarkable over the last 15-20 years.

Cervical cancer is one of the most preventable cancers and routine screening has played a vital role in significantly reducing the incidence rate since national screening began in the 1990’s. It's widely acknowledged that regular cervical screening is the best protection against cervical cancer. Still, every year around 800 Australian women are diagnosed with cervical cancer, 80% of whom have never been screened or have not screened regularly. Starting this December cervical screening in Australia will change to a more accurate and less frequent test.

CKN will be regularly featuring the work of clinicians from around the state. Today we speak with Justin Lee, Director of Medication Services Queensland.

Queensland hospital staff are exposed to serious physical and psychological risks, with more than 3,000 healthcare workers physically assaulted on the job every year. The frequency of violent incidents are increasing, and many more incidents are not reported.