Welcome to the College of Nurses Aotearoa News Update.
No. 338 8 March 2017
NATIONAL NEWS
Leprosy kindles efforts to help
While most students were at home enjoying the summer break Otago Polytechnic nursing student Anna Watkins was in Nepal investigating leprosy.
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Mount nurse changing lives in Nepal
The 29-year-old has recently returned to the Third World country after writing a children's book in Nepalese about the importance of washing your hands, sanitisation and hygiene.
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Christchurch Hospital nurse gets parking fine after medical emergency
A Christchurch Hospital nurse given her fourth parking ticket in three years says staff are being penalised by a lack of parking options despite the important role they play in the city.
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Nine in 10 healthcare workers feel understaffed and under-resourced
Understaffing and fears of burnout among health workers could be jeopardising patient safety, and reducing access to care, unions have warned.
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More than a third of hospital staff over the age of 55
An ageing hospital workforce and rising turnover rates has sparked concerns for the future of the health sector.
More than a third of MidCentral District Health Board staff are now over the age of 55, up from just over 20 per cent five years ago.
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Unique Online Health Hub Launched to Celebrate Hapū Health
The health of whānau and hapū was celebrated at Te Mānuka Tūtahi Marae in Whakatāne on Friday 24th February, as Toi Te Ora - Public Health Service, along with many collaborative partners, launched a one of a kind online Māori health hub to local whānau, hapū and iwi.
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Mobile surgical bus marks 15 years and 21,300 operations
New Zealand’s mobile surgical bus tomorrow marks its 15-year anniversary after more than 21,300 operations in 24 towns.
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Health officials and iwi sign landmark partnership agreement
An agreement between health officials and iwi to improve Maori
health outcomes has been signed off in a national first.The partnership between the Central Primary Health Organisation and Te Tihi o Ruahine Whanau Ora Charitable Trust was cemented on Thursday when the two groups signed a memorandum of partnership
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Northern Region DHBs seek to improve access for trans people seeking healthcare
A move by district health boards to provide better service to transgender people needs
to "walk the talk", advocates say. Long waiting lists, lack of specialist staff, discrimination and too much bureaucracy confronts trans people within the current health system, they say.
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Health workers, patients protest chronic health 'underfunding'
More than 500 Canterbury patients and health workers have shared their experiences of New Zealand's health system to show it has been chronically underfunded for years, a new national campaign says.
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MENTAL HEALTH
Restraining ill prisoners outdated, inhumane - psychiatrist
Prison staff are using outdated and inhumane techniques to deal with prisoners with acute mental health problems, and need better training, a psychiatrist says
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West Coast a priority for new suicide prevention training, agency says
Suicide prevention training for West Coasters worried about the region's high rate of suicide will not be available until the end of the year.
Provisional coroner's figures show the West Coast has the highest rate of suicide in New Zealand – recording 30.6 suicides per 100,000 people in the year to June 2016.
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Ministry of Health consults on mental health patients' freedom
Experts are looking at the philosophical – and potentially life-saving – question of where freedom should begin and end for people living with mental illness.
The Ministry of Health has just finished consulting …
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Insight: Is New Zealand coping with its record numbers of cries for help?
Should it take a crisis to get help? Talia Shadwell explores how the pendulum swung from the controversial asylum days to a mental health system that some say is broken.
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PRIMARY HEALTH CARE
Insight: NZ's GP service in critical condition
Already more than half a million New Zealanders can't afford to see their GP, and family doctors fear the situation could get even worse. They are angry about what they believe is a lack of government action over the way GP visits are funded, despite recommendations for sweeping changes.
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PUBLIC HEALTH
Bold plan to deliver increase in surveillance colonoscopies
An ambitious plan aims to raise the number of publicly-funded surveillance colonoscopies performed in the Bay by more than 50% in the coming year.
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SOCIAL HEALTH
Overhaul of domestic violence laws on the way
The government plans to unveil sweeping changes to the country's domestic violence laws in the next few weeks.
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Government giving wrong message to women - NZNO
The New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) says it is short-sighted of the government to not support the first reading of the Domestic Violence - Victim’s Protections Bill and call on Minister Michael Woodhouse to at least vote it through its first reading so that surrounding issues can be heard by the Select Committee.
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TELEHEALTH AND E-HEALTH
Cardiology telemedicine clinic launches in Dunstan Hospital
Cardiology patients in Central Otago will save time, money and hundreds of kilometres of travel thanks to a new telemedicine clinic between Dunstan Hospital and the Southern District Health Board.
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Middlemore Hospital trialling a new heart monitor device
A new device to monitor heart arrhythmia is being trialled for the first time in New Zealand.
Middlemore Hospital in south Auckland is hosting a clinical trial of a new Samsung-developed device called the S-Patch which will help assess people's arrhythmia.
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INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Postcode stress: Critical care nurses take deaths of patients hard, experience PTSD symptoms
Critical care nurses often experience postcode stress and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) when they are asked to recall an unsuccessful attempt to resuscitate a patient
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RCN calls for specific law to protect nurses from patient attacks
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has said that there needs to be a specific law against verbal and physical abuse towards nurses treating the public.
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What impact will Brexit have on nursing?
The NHS faces a major shortfall in nurses – and the EU referendum result threatens to derail supply further
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ARTICLES OF INTEREST
Young people have their say: What makes a youth-friendly general practice?
Volume 46, No.1, January/February 2017 Pages 70-74
The health of young people can be considered an indicator of the health of Australia’s future population. To improve access to healthcare, the perspectives of adolescents on the design and delivery of services need to be championed. The objective of this study was to identify what young people in north-west Tasmania value when seeking healthcare at general practices.
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Editorial : Nurses are the voice to lead
Frances Hughes
Representing the single largest group of healthcare professionals, working in the heart of the community, in all settings, and caring for patients throughout the life course, nurses have the potential to be influential agents of change and innovation, not only for the health of a society but also for the numerous other dimensions of life that are affected by it.
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Better Nurse Autonomy Decreases the Odds of 30-Day Mortality and Failure to Rescue
Autonomy is essential to professional nursing practice and is a core component of good nurse work environments. The primary objective of this study was to examine the relationship between nurse autonomy and 30-day mortality and failure to rescue (FTR) in a hospitalized surgical population.
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FROM THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH
Disability Information and Advisory Services and Needs Assessment and Service Coordination Review – A Proposed Design and Framework
This report is the result of the Ministry of Health's independent review, undertaken by Sapere Research Group, of disability information advisory services (DIAS) and needs assessment service coordination (NASC) functions. The report will help inform the work the Ministry is doing over the next few years to transform the disability support system. It identifies how the interface between disabled people and support services can be improved to better support people to have a good life.
This is the final conclusion and recommendation paper in the independent review of the framework for DIAS and NASC for disability support services. This paper has Sapere’s options and analysis of the potential impacts for a revision of the framework.
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New Zealand Health Research Strategy 2017–2027: Summary of Submissions and Consultation
This document presents key themes and actions proposed in written submissions and consultation meetings on the development of the New Zealand Health Research Strategy 2017–2027.
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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 7 March 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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