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About RCNA
Royal College of Nursing, Australia (RCNA) is the peak professional body for nurses. As a member you can influence a range of local and national issues by getting involved in the activities of RCNA. Read more |
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RCNA member benefit
 It's Pinktober! Order your Pink Joey® pouches from NursesHeart by clicking here. |
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Making evidence-based decisions
Board members of membership organisations are sometimes confronted with issues and questions that challenge their own personal values. One that frequently arises in health care is the question of whether to accept sponsorship money from pharmaceutical companies. On the one hand, the best interests of the membership organisation, in financial terms, mandates that the Board consider all opportunities from a disinterested perspective, not allowing personal prejudices to affect outcomes.
The Board is aware that, like many other membership organisations, RCNA is experiencing difficulties attracting sponsorship for our conferences, especially if we hold more than one in any year. We are also aware that other organisations such as the International Council of Nursing, and Australian Practice Nurses Association have accepted sponsorship from pharmaceutical companies, and that such companies were actively seeking to support nursing organisation given the expected changes to the PBS.
Information on the Code of Conduct for marketing and promoting prescription pharmaceutical products in Australia, produced by Medicines Australia to complement the legislative requirements of the Therapeutic Goods Act and Regulation, was considered. The Code, first developed in 1960 and regularly reviewed since then, covered standards for appropriate advertising, the behaviour of medical representatives and relationships with healthcare professionals.
The Board has decided that RCNA will in future accept pharmaceutical companies as sponsors, but only after research into the ethical background of those companies, including their adherence to the Medicines Australia Code.
In this way, the Board believes that RCNA will be able to provide the kind of events that our members expect, choosing which companies we will work with based on evidence rather than on a blanket policy of rejection of a particular group. An important aspect of this will be to ensure that there is no perception that the company and/or its products are endorsed by RCNA.
Dr Stephanie Fox-Young FRCNA
RCNA President |
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