Welcome to the College of Nurses Aotearoa News Update.
No. 335 15 February 2017
NATIONAL NEWS
Call for more nurses to prescribe the pill
Giving more nurses throughout the country the ability to prescribe the contraceptive pill would give more people access than allowing pharmacies to sell it, Family Planning says.
Read more here
Third junior doctor strike likely if no resolution
A third junior doctor strike is possible, but it may be avoided if a resolution is found.
Resident – or junior – doctors across the country have already walked off the job twice in the past five months in protest over working hours and rosters.
Read more here
Doctors' college apologises over 'unfortunate experiment'
After 30 years a public apology has been made from the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, recognising the women affected in what became known as the Unfortunate Experiment at National Women's Hospital.
Read more here
Victory for medicinal cannabis campaigners as laws are loosened
Seriously ill patients seeking medicinal cannabis to ease their symptoms will no longer have to take their cause right the way to the top, but access to the drugs will remain tightly controlled.
Read more here
South Island health system closes information gaps
Hospitals across the South Island will soon be sharing relevant patient health information electronically for the entire South Island population.
Read more here
MENTAL HEALTH
Coleman says mental health system is 'high quality' as industry delegates cry for help
Health Minister Dr Jonathan Coleman has hit back at accusations the mental health system is in crisis, following cries from employees in the sector and a damning report about services in Wellington.
Read more here
Wai Research to study Māori mental health
Wai Research – the research arm of Whānau Waipareira – will carry out a 12 month project that could refocus services for Māori mental health.
Read more here
PALLIATIVE CARE
The communication skills of health professionals
Palliative care medical specialist, Anne O'Callaghan on improving communication between health professionals and terminally ill patients and their families. Her recently completed PhD looked in part, at how junior doctors use and enhance the communication skills learned at medical school within a hospital working environment.
Listen here
PATIENT SAFETY
Waikato Hospital works to improve patient flow through ED
Huge demands on Waikato Hospital’s busy Emergency Department has led the Waikato DHB to introduce an overflow bed policy to help move patients out of ED and improve patient safety.
Read more here
Patient Safety Week 2017 theme announced
The theme for this year’s Patient Safety Week, 5 to 11 November, will be medication safety.
This topic has been chosen for several reasons: Read more here
PUBLIC HEALTH
Government admits it is likely to fail on rheumatic fever target
The Government has admitted it is unlikely to meet its rheumatic fever target and says community clinics to prevent the illness were not up to scratch.
Read more here
148,000 more Kiwis receive First Specialist Assessments
Health Minister Jonathan Coleman says latest data shows around 148,000 more Kiwis have received a First Specialist Assessment (FSA) since 2008.
"Increasing access to specialist care is a key priority. The answer to increased demand is to do more, whether it’s assessments or operations, and that’s what the Government is focused on delivering," says Dr Coleman.
Read more here
SOCIAL HEALTH
Carolyn Henwood: Time has come for New Zealanders to clearly state how children should be treated
When Judge Carolyn Henwood explains her job to her three-year-old grandson, she tells him it's about fairness. But, as the former Chair of the Confidential Listening and Assistance Service, she says there is little fairness for the 1,100 New Zealand children who were horrifically abused while in state care until the early 1990s. She says the time has come for New Zealanders to clearly state how our children should be treated.
Read more here
Cold homes harm NZ youth health and schooling
A new study from the University of Otago, Wellington has found that young people are experiencing increased health problems, stress, and adverse social effects from cold housing.
Read more here
New report shines light on economic impact of hearing loss
Hearing loss is a significant issue facing the New Zealand population with 880,350 people in New Zealand now living with some type of hearing loss.
Read more here
TELEHEALTH AND E-HEALTH
South Island health system closes information gaps
Hospitals across the South Island will soon be sharing relevant patient health information electronically for the entire South Island population.
Read more here
Robotic nurses: No substitute for real RNs
For the past decade, care innovation has exploded with new tools and technology. Keeping up with all of the new devices and gadgets available to ease caregiver burden and increase safety is hard. One machine that’s gaining a lot of attention and investment lately is the robotic nurse, also known as the nursebot.
Read more here
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
NHS hospitals now have 'corridor nurses' because of overfull A&E departments
Hospitals are under severe pressure due to overwhelming demand and bed shortages
Read more here
Abuse of doctors, nurses as record high in SA hospitals, prompting new campaign
NURSES and doctors are being hit, verbally abused and even spat on with infected blood from violent and abusive patients in record high numbers, prompting the State Government to unveil a new campaign today to keep our frontline medical staff safe.
Read more here
Pioneering training for new nursing staff 'tested' at Trust
A PIONEERING programme that will help transform the nursing and care workforce of the future is being launched at Airedale Hospital.
Once qualified, ‘nursing associates’ will be able to support registered nurses with a range of duties, including administering medicines and care planning.
Read more here
Doctors, nurses 'bring a lot of biases' to work with Indigenous patients, study finds
Study looked at health care experiences of Indigenous people with diabetes in Canada
Read more here
Oncology Nurses Face New Stresses, Increasingly Critical Role
In the world of cancer care, there's much to celebrate. In the last two years, the FDA has approved dozens of new treatments. The vast majority of those drugs are targeted therapies — the kind that require particularly complex medical care. At the core of that care is the oncology nurse.
Read more here
WORKPLACE
How to Make Sure Your Emails Give the Right Impression
Given the avalanche of email we receive each year — 121 messages per day, on average — it’s no wonder that we have become somewhat desensitized to its impact on our professional brand. We’ll spend hours polishing our LinkedIn profiles and revising our résumés, but hastily hit send on an unintelligible missive simply because we’re in a rush. “Sent from my device, please overlook typos” is not a get-out-of-jail-free card for shoddy communications.
Read more here
WELLBEING
Well-being can improve quickly by eating more fresh fruit and vegetables
Lifting your intake of fruit and vegetables can make a difference to the way you feel in just a couple of weeks, a University of Otago study has found.
Read more here
ARTICLES OF INTEREST
Preceptor characteristics and the socialization outcomes of new graduate nurses during a preceptorship programme (pages 24–31)
Michelle Lalonde and Linda McGillis Hall
Nursing Open January 2017
The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships between preceptor characteristics (emotional intelligence, personality and cognitive intelligence) and new graduate nurse socialization outcomes regarding turnover intent, job satisfaction, role conflict and ambiguity during a preceptorship programme. To date, no studies have explored these relationships.
Read more here
FROM THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH
Health practitioner nominations sought - Ministry of Health
The Ministry of Health has recently published advertisements seeking nominations to a number of ethics committees and medical councils, including:
Nursing Council
See more details here
National Standards for Vaccine Storage and Transportation for Immunisation Providers 2017
Immunisation is an important public health measure and ensuring that vaccines are stored correctly is paramount to the success of Immunisation Programmes in reducing disease. All vaccines are required to be stored between the +2˚C to +8˚C temperature range at all times (commonly referred to as the cold chain).
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 14 February 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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