Welcome
to the College of Nurses Aotearoa News Update.
No. 319 5 October 2016
National
news
Safer Nursing 24/7
Shift
work is inevitable for hospital nurses, but it can disrupt their sleep and
increase the risk of harm to patients as well as nurses themselves.
Read more here
One in four
Marlborough hospital staff aren't washing their hands enough
Doctor
and nurses are still not washing their hands often enough, according to a
recent report.
Hand
hygiene at the Nelson Marlborough District Health Board dropped 6 per cent in
the past six months, with only 75 per cent of staff reaching compliance.
Read more here
Maori not accessing
mainstream health services: Ngai Tahu
The
Southern District Health Board needs to work more closely with Maori health
providers if it is serious about closing the health gap between Maori and
non Maori, a Ngai Tahu leader says.
Donna
Matahaere-Atariki, a Ngai Tahu representative on the SDHBs Disability
Support Advisory Committee, said Maori were not getting access to some health
services.
Read more here
Aged
care
New help for the lonely elderly
New phone line offers help for elderly immigrants
and those who live alone.
Read more here
Health
funding and research
Canterbury District
Health Board budget cuts cause long-term concern
The
Canterbury District Health Board’s $37 million budget shortfall may be just the
beginning of its money woes. A review of its finances obtained by The Star
shows it is expecting its budgets to fall short every year until 2021.
Gabrielle Stuart looked at what five years of belt-tightening could look like
for the community.
Read more here
Canterbury District
Health Board's financial crisis only the beginning
Community
services are worried about the effect five years of district health board
shortfalls could have on them.
Read more here
Billion dollar
underfunding of healthcare claims 'nonsense', says John Key
Prime
Minister John Key has rubbished claims of healthcare underfunding, as junior
doctors nationwide prepare to strike over being forced to work up to 12 days
straight.
Resident
Doctors have said "enough is enough" as four years of negotiations
for better working hours break down
Read more here
Healthcare funding
under the microscope as DHB elections loom
MidCentral
District Health Board has jumped $1 million into the red in less than
two months, prompting concern from those expected to govern it.
MidCentral reported
a $2.3m deficit in 2015-16 and is already $1m down in 2016-17 in
what hospital management has labelled an "endless winter
Read more here
Mental
health
Pasifika need better
access to mental health services
A
New Zealand NGO specialising in Pasifika health issues says new approaches may
be needed to address rising cases of mental illness.
Read more here
Patient
safety
Doctors tell of
falling asleep at wheel, making drug errors because of shifts
Junior
doctors have recalled falling sleeping while driving and giving patients the
wrong medication as they prepare for strike action planned over long work
hours.
Read more here
Public
health
Dramatic
drop in rheumatic fever episodes in Northland
Northland DHB is seeing positive results from a
campaign to get children treated for Strep Throat A. First-time episodes of
rheumatic fever have dropped from 15 in 2014 to five cases in 2015 and in 2016
just one case was reported. It is likely that the focus on early identification
and management of strep throat, much greater access for children at risk to
free treatment via schools and pharmacies, and an extensive national and
regional communications strategy have contributed to the recent decline.
Read more here
Heavy use of digital screens concerns optometrists
on children's eye damage
Too much
screen use is taking its toll on young people's eyes, with children as young as
five having to get treatment, Canterbury optometrists say.
Many patients
had dry eyes, eyestrain or headaches, they said.
Read more here
Online
help for parents of preschoolers with ADHD symptons
A University of Auckland trial involving
families of pre-school children with ADHD symptoms is the first in the world to
demonstrate that children’s symptoms and parents’ stress can be improved with
an online intervention.
Read more here
Social
health
Peter Dunne: NZ needs
Child Poverty Act to keep Govt accountable for poor kids
Simply
measuring and targeting child poverty isn't enough, says Peter Dunne.
He
wants an entire Act created, which the Government is accountable to every three
years.
Read more here
Telehealth
and e-health
Shared
health information for over 800,000 people
Four out of five South Island district health
boards (DHBs) are now securely sharing relevant, electronic, patient health
information, which means better, safer and more coordinated care for over
800,000 people.
Read more here
International
news
Robots--not people--may solve healthcare’s nursing
shortage
Developing
technologies may offer a possible solution to the nation's shortage of nurses.
Finnish think
tank EVA estimates that robots could be employed to
do as much as a fifth of nurses’ work. And some hospitals in other countries
are already taking advantage of them.
Read more here
A third of
Australia's nurses are thinking of leaving the profession
Nursing had
become "too dangerous" for Catherine Taylor before she left the
profession.
Ms Taylor
resigned in April from her job as a nurse in an acute mental health care unit
in south-west Sydney.
Read more here
Workplace
How to Write an
Incident Report
Incident
reporting is the responsibility of all team members. This article will provide
you with a clear overview of writing an effective incident report, what to
include and how to describe the situation objectively.
Read more here
Suzanne Gordon: Why introductions matter
The other day, I was invited to give a seminar on
interprofessional teamwork to a group of residents and attendees at a
prestigious university medical center in Europe. The first thing people did
when they trooped into the room was introduce themselves to me. Since there
were about 25 people in the room, no one really expected me to remember their
names. But each and every one of them went through the drill.
Read more here
Articles
of interest
Glasgow Coma Scale:
How to Improve and Enhance Documentation
The
Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) is an international tool used to measure the level of
consciousness for traumatically injured patients. One Level I and 3 Level II
Trauma Centers in our Health Care System perceived a deficiency in the
documentation of the GCS. An audit was performed and insufficient documentation
was confirmed. An educational plan was developed and implemented to improve
documentation. A reaudit was performed to determine the success of these
interventions. Although improvement was demonstrated, additional action was
taken to enhance documentation in the electronic medical record.
Read more here
Electronic
Documentation and Nurse-Patient Interaction
This
author explored the culture of nurse-patient interactions associated with
electronic bedside documentation. Data were collected through passive
participant observation, audiotaping of nurse-patient interactions, and
interviews with nurses. Nurses acknowledged that they need to share their
attention between the patient and the computer. They stated that prioritizing
patients' needs while completing the required electronic documentation was
demanding. Stationary computers challenged the logistics of the exchange. Understanding
the adaptation of caregiving necessitated by bedside electronic documentation
will have a positive impact on developing systems that interface seamlessly
with nurses' workflow and encourage patients' active participation in their
care.
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
4 October 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
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