Welcome
to the College of Nurses Aotearoa News Update.
No. 312 10 August 2016
National
news
Widened prescribing rights for registered nurses
Health Minister Jonathan Coleman says suitably
qualified and approved registered nurses will be able to prescribe from a list
of commonly used medicines from next month.
Read more here
Extension
of nurse prescribing rights welcomed by Waikato DHB
Prescribing
nurses at Waikato Regional Diabetes Service (left to right): Vickie Corbett,
Vikki Lowe-Reid and Helen Ashton with clinical nurse manager Susan Ryan.
Absent: Christine Bierre, Maria Wynen, and Bryan Gibbison who are the others in
the team of six diabetes nurses with prescribing rights.
Waikato DHB
is a strong supporter of nurse prescribing rights, and was one of the first to
embrace the opportunity for nurse practitioners and then diabetes nurses to
gain authority to prescribe.
Read
more here
Nurse assessments to
assist with doctor shortage
A
shortage of doctors this month means nurses will be assessing patient needs at
Buller Health Medical, but the General Manager Buller Kathleen Gavigan says
people should not delay seeking help if they need medical attention.
Read more here
Nurse practitioner working closer to home
The Ngatai whānau’s world turned upside when patriarch,
Enoka had a stroke late last year leaving him unable to walk, speak or swallow.
The close knit Matapihi whānau was told he needed 24 hour care in a nursing
home.
Read more here
Disability
Public have their say
on creating a better future for disabled New Zealanders
A
nationwide conversation is under way on how to create a better future for
the one in four New Zealanders with a disability.
The New
Zealand Disability Strategy will guide the direction of government
agencies on disability issues for the next decade, once launched in
December.
Read
more here
Mental
health
Study finds mental
health patients no better off behind locked doors
A
15-year study has concluded that there is no benefit in locking up many
mentally ill patients.
Read
more here
Obesity
Obesity rates won't
improve until health professionals attitudes do, Ministry nurse says
New
Zealand's growing obesity problem won't change until health
professionals change their attitudes towards patients, a Ministry of
Health nurse says.
Read
more here
Fast food chains
target poor areas - marketing expert
Fast
food can seem like an easy option for families with low incomes, but it makes
them targets for fast food chains, a marketing expert says.
Read
more here
Palliative
care
Hospice funding
enables innovation
As
New Zealand’s population ages, hospices face an increasing number of referrals
for their services. Last year, New Zealand’s hospices provided care and support
for more than 18,000 people and their families – a number expected to grow
significantly over the next decade.
Read more here
More palliative care positions to be established
Health Minister Jonathan
Coleman says up to 60 new palliative care positions are being established as
part of the Government’s $76.1 million boost for hospices.
Read more here
Strategy for palliative
care reflects shift in approach - Waikato DHB
Palliative care specialist
Peter Kirk says the new Waikato Palliative Care Strategic Plan reflects "a
big shift in our approach to palliative care that has been happening for a few
years now".
That shift includes better
coordination, more focus on what patients and their families want, a changing
view of when and how patients interact with palliative care, and a push for
equity and improved access to services and support particularly for Maori and
rural people.
Read more here
Pharmacy
Life-saving melanoma drug rollout to cost DHBs
'millions'
District health boards face costs of more than
$1 million to deliver long-awaited new melanoma drugs to patients.
Read more here
Primary
health care
$17.2m funding boost
to support Syrian refugees' health
A
funding boost of $17.2 million over four years will help support 500 Syrian
refugees arriving in New Zealand.
Health
Minister Jonathan Coleman said the funding in Budget 2016 will help support
refugees arriving over the next two years.
Read
more here
Social
health
Open wide… Smile NZ to
provide free dental care for low income Kiwis in August
Low
income adults are eligible for free dental treatment from 8-14 August through
Smile NZ – a joint initiative run by the Southern Cross Health Trust and New
Zealand Dental Association (NZDA).
Read
more here
Telehealth
Advances in telehealth help join the DOTs for
tuberculosis patient care
The delivery of tuberculosis treatment to
patients around Auckland has greatly improved thanks to video conferencing
technology that has enabled virtual health consultations resulting in optimal
use of public health staff resources and time.
Read
more here
Tobacco,
drugs and alcohol
Radical law change needed
to meet 2025 smoke-free target - researchers
Sale
of tobacco needs to be put in the hands of not-for-profits or health agencies,
researchers say.
Read more here
International
news
Nurse-driven protocols
shorten ED stays, study finds
When
nurses are allowed to administer certain treatments in the emergency
department, instead of physicians, it can shorten ED stays for patients with
fever, chest pain, hip fractures and vaginal bleeding, according to a study
in Annals of Emergency Medicine.
Read more here
Nurse trainer uses Swift dance routine to
ingrain hand-washing technique
A dynamic dance routine devised by a nurse
trainer in Northern Ireland is helping hospital and care home staff remember
the key stages of hand-washing.
Read more here
Holistic, integrated
care models improve care gaps, costs
Although
there are many potential interpretations of the term, one aspect of
patient-centered care means providers must take a holistic approach to care
that addresses mental, spiritual and physical health, according
to a
column in Hospitals & Health Networks.
Read
more here
More
nurses taking on doctors' responsibilities
More nurses
here are taking on greater responsibilities, including those previously handled
by doctors.
Since 2012,
the National Healthcare Group (NHG) has seen a rise in the number of nurse-led
clinics, which are run by registered nurses or advanced practice nurses -
senior nurses who have at least a master's degree in nursing.
Read more here
Workplace
Two-Thirds
of Managers Are Uncomfortable Communicating with Employees
I
used to show up five minutes late everywhere I went, believing that the
universe generally accepted a margin of five minutes. One day a client and
mentor named Nancy looked me in the eye and said something in a kind but
no-nonsense way: “Part of the image you are projecting to people is that you
are always late. Don’t let it get in the way.”
Read
more here
Articles
of interest
5 tips to prevent work stress from infiltrating
home life
Work-related stress is not
confined to the office. Many people struggle to manage job stress and its
effects, often at the expense of their families, other personal relationships
and overall health.
According to a recent
article in the Harvard Business Review,
a study published in the Health and Safety Executive found 43
percent of days lost to illness in 2015 in Great Britain were related to
stress. Another study by American Psychological Association found work and
money are the two most common stressors, and high prevalence of stress is
linked to irritability, anger, nervousness and anxiety. These behaviors easily
spill over from one's place of work to their home, straining relationships and
adversely affecting health.
Read more here
Primary care NPs:
Leaders in population healt
Abstract:
A 2012 Institute of Medicine report calls primary and public healthcare workers
to action, tasking them with working together to improve population health
outcomes. A Practical Playbook released in 2014 enables this public
health/primary care integration. Primary care NPs are in an excellent position
to lead the charge and make this integration happen.
Read more here
From
the Ministry of Health
Pharmacy Action Plan 2016–2020: Analysis of
submissions
The draft Pharmacy Action Plan was released for public consultation from 12
October to 23 November 2015. There was strong engagement in the consultation,
with 101 written submissions received. Submissions were comprehensive, of a
high standard and reflected the views of a broad range of stakeholders.
In addition, 24
face-to-face meetings were held, including three consumer meetings.
Overall, there was strong
support for the Pharmacy Action Plan.
Many submissions were
complex and detailed. Given the volume of information received and the breadth
of views expressed in the responses, and in the interests of clarity, this
document does not include every response received for each question but instead
summarises the key themes that emerged from the consultation.
Read more here
Indicators for the Well Child / Tamariki Ora
Quality Improvement Framework: March 2016
The Ministry of Health, in
partnership with sector experts, developed the Well Child / Tamariki Ora
Quality Improvement Framework, drawing on New Zealand and international
research.
The Framework has three
aims: focusing on family/whānau experience; population health and best value
for the health system; and setting quality indicators to audit health system
performance.
This is the sixth Well
Child / Tamariki Ora quality indicators publication, and shows areas of
excellence and areas for improvement. The quality indicators help support the
Ministry of Health, DHBs and providers of Well Child / Tamariki Ora and related
child health services to identify and prioritise areas for national and local
quality improvement.
Read more here
The above information has been collated for the
College of Nurses Aotearoa (NZ) Inc by Linda Stopforth, SNIPS and is provided
on a weekly basis. It is current as at Tuesday
9 August 2016
If you have any feedback about content - what parts
are most useful or what you would like added - please email admin@nurse.org.nz
For more up
to date news and information follow SNIPS at:
Facebook: Snips Info
twitter: @SnipsInfo
Back to blog entries
Menu