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Julia Baird

Julia Baird is a journalist and author

Why aren't we listening to our nurse leaders?

There's no such thing as 'just a nurse'

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In Trumpian terms – and by that I mean in the terms determined by men who rate women simply according to their decorative value – Florence Nightingale was a "nasty woman". Lionised as a gentle "lady of the lamp" who wandered through hospital wards tending to wounded British soldiers during the Crimean War, we seem to have forgotten her fierceness: a young women who burned to abandon all social obligations and just work, who spurned suitors and lobbied politicians, who adored statistics and pioneered pie charts, and who revolutionised the medical establishment.

To acknowledge, or to not acknowledge? That is the question.

The hardest words for an author to write

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Writing book acknowledgments can be so fraught. It should be a moment of triumph, cheer, relief. But there are so many potential pitfalls – forgetting people, sounding like a tosser, omitting crucial research assistance, sounding like a tosser, being excessively sentimental and sounding like a tosser.

Joseph Stalin as a young, charming man.

Time to talk to girls about young, hot Stalin

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When I saw the footage of former Auburn deputy mayor Salim Mehajer verbally abusing his estranged wife, Aysha, last week I was reminded about the difference between passionate intensity and love. About how to recognise signs of aggression, manipulation, abuse or control in even the most nascent relationship – and what not to tolerate and when to walk away.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop says China faces ''strong reputational costs'' if it refuses to abide by the UN ruling.

The Liberal Party has a woman problem

Well this is getting a bit embarrassing. While Hillary Clinton is making a serious and unprecedented bid for the White House, more and more Americans are asking questions about the experiences of Julia Gillard.