Welcome to the College of Nurses Aotearoa News Update.
No. 330 4 January 2017
NATIONAL NEWS
Whanganui nursing students just perfect
Whanganui students have achieved a 100 per cent pass rate in state nursing exams.
And overall UCOL nursing students in Whanganui, Palmerston North and Wairarapa set to graduate in March achieved a near-perfect pass rate in their Nursing Council State Final Examinations.
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Hawke's Bay DHB learning lessons from stunning results with Alaskan health initiatives
So staggering were the improvements in health outcomes for an Alaskan community that Hawke's Bay District Health Board's general manager of Maori Health invited them to Hawke's Bay for a workshop.
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Further Strike Action by Resident Doctors Planned for the New Year
New Zealand’s Resident Doctors have voted to take further strike action in support of settlement of their MECA (Multi Employer Collective Employment Agreement) which will cease to exist at the end of February 2017 unless renewed before then.
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Hospital's new measures helping patients doze off
Patients at North Shore Hospital are getting a better
night's sleep thanks to a new pilot scheme.Good rest helps recovery and repair, but noisy wards aren't the best environments for sweet dreams.
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Northern Ontario medical school model thought to be right fit for Waikato
Waikato's leaders must present a united front if a pitch for a Waikato medical school is to win Government backing, says a visiting academic.
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Additional funding for eye health care service improvement
The Ministry of Health says work is ongoing to improve the delivery of ophthalmology services available across New Zealand.
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Medicinal Cannabis – harms or benefits? Who decides?
Wellington researchers are calling for doctors to be more involved in the debate around cannabis as a medicine. In a recent article in the New Zealand Medical Journal, Dr Giles Newton-Howes, from the University of Otago, Wellington, and Dr Sam McBride, from the Capital & Coast District Health Board, say that although cannabis has a long history of medicinal use, the current evidence is mixed and relatively weak
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CANCER ISSUES
Would you like a pap smear with your cup of tea?
Fear, cost and embarrassment lie behind poor rates of breast and cervical cancer screening among Maori in Canterbury, a health promoter says.
Read more here
EMERGENCY MEDICINE AND SERVICES
Hospital to repeat moves to block drunk friends and relatives
Drunk friends and relatives of patients were blocked from entering Wellington Hospital's emergency department on New Year's Eve.
Read more here
MENTAL HEALTH
Maori admitted to mental health services at higher rates than non-Maori
Darryn Williamson's descent into schizophrenia and paranoia began as he was walking home from the dairy.
He was just 24 years old and found himself being restrained by police.
Read more here
OBESITY
New sports facility aims to tackle Hawke's Bay obesity
Health officials hope a new sport and wellbeing facility planned for Hawke's Bay will make a big dent in the region's obesity figures.
Read more here
PHARMACY
Kiwis' wintertime use of antibiotics soars, fuelling fears of drug-resistant superbugs
Kiwis' use of antibiotics has soared, indicating widespread inappropriate use for viral coughs and colds, experts say.
Antibiotic use increases by 43 per cent in wintertime and this, plus a 49 per cent increase in consumption of antibiotics prescribed in the community over nine years, is fuelling fears about the increasing resistance of dangerous bacteria to the life-saving drugs.
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PRIMARY HEALTH CARE
Green prescriptions: 'Finding things that'll work for you'
Chris Crosbie was so impressed with his "green prescription" programme, he signed up to volunteer.
Crosbie's doctor referred him to the programme to improve his general health.
Read more here
TOBACCO, DRUGS AND ALCOHOL
High rate of pregnant smokers a 'sad statistic'
Nearly 15 per cent of Kiwi women continue to smoke during pregnancy, a rate which tobacco control groups said "hasn't budged".
Read more here
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
NEW PILOT PROGRAM CONNECTS NURSES WITH HIGH-NEED PATIENTS
A nationwide effort to prevent medical emergencies before they reach the hospital has come to Montana in the form of a pilot program that disperses nurses into patients’ homes, doctor appointments and daily habits.
Read more here
Government to spend $2 million to employ six specialist ‘meth nurses’ throughout Perth
MORE than $2 million will be spent employing six nurse positions to specialise in patients under the influence of drugs and alcohol in a bid to expand the state’s Meth Strategy.
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 3 January 2017
If you have any feedback about content - what parts are most useful or what you would like added - please email admin@nurse.org.nz
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