Queensland Emergency Department staff in public hospitals will be receiving patient suicide prevention training as part of a new tailored package rolling out over the next 12 months. It will provide welcomed improvements on the current training which requires full or half-day attendance and is generally targeted at mental health professionals. [ + ]

GPs providing older patients with palliative care now have access to specialist medical advice for in-home and residential care settings thanks to an app designed by Flinders University's Palliative Care Program. [ + ]

Winners of the 2015 Awards were announced at a gala ceremony held at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre on 15 May hosted by the Australian Primary Health Care Nurses Association (APNA) as part of the APNA National Conference Brave to Bold. [ + ]

You may have seen the news about the Bionic Lens offering wearers better than 20/20 vision without risk of deterioration or interference from cataracts over time. You won’t even have to bother with refilling contacts prescriptions or even leaving them in overnight - these non-degradable contact lenses are permanent and you won’t even feel them. [ + ]

French company Dassualt Systemes has announced the upcoming commercial release of the world-first 3D simulated “living heart” model which will assist researchers and medical professionals in testing a variety of diagnostics and therapeutic treatments on the human heart in a completely safe environment. [ + ]

Widespread microbial resistance – where antibiotics are no longer able to kill bacteria – is increasingly seen as an apocalyptic threat. Routine surgical procedures could become perilous and minor problems like urinary tract infections could kill.Research warns such a situation could potentially cast us back to a Victorian-style era of medicine in which tens of millions of people die annually and the global economy loses US$100 trillion (£63 trillion) in output. [ + ]

An even greater motivation for women looking to conceive and already pregnant to consume a healthy diet for has been established: the link to asthma severity during pregnancy. [ + ]

[embed]https://youtu.be/f_5DCfGKdaA[/embed] [ + ]

The Norfolk Island Government has granted Australian medicinal cannabis company AusCann a license to grow and export the crop with harvests beginning in May 2016. [ + ]

Medicines Australia, the pharmaceutical industry representative body primarily responsible for the drugs listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) has announced two key appointments today, both of whom hail from an Abbott government background. [ + ]

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 Among the important dialogue about the problem addiction poses to society, a critical piece of the puzzle is being overlooked and needs to be acknowledged in order to re-dress the balance of this problem. That dialogue is about recovery. [ + ]

Yesterday’s 2015-16 Federal Budget announcement held a lot of news for the medical sector. While we will be exploring each of the sections in further details over the next few days, here is a summary of the key points from the Government’s proposal to reduce national debt and stimulate the economy. [ + ]

There is already plenty of emerging evidence that casual gamers have improved social, emotional and problem-solving skills as well as games providing a good way for kids to learn about technology. But now we have proof that gaming is good for the brain. [ + ]

Australia’s health records system has taken a leap forward thanks to an announcement from Health Minister Sussan Ley over the weekend, changing the currently floundering opt-in service to an opt-out service, much to the approval of health practitioners. [ + ]