Welcome to the College of Nurses Aotearoa News Update.
No. 367 Wednesday 27 September 2017
NATIONAL NEWS
RN prescribing reaches 1st anniversary
Exactly a year on from registered nurse prescribing becoming a legal reality there are now more than 80 RN prescribers.
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New grad jobs up once again but more than 270 new nurses still job-hunting
Job numbers were up but so were applicants, leading to just under half of new graduate nurses being successful in the latest job round.
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NZNO Award – Services to Nursing and Midwifery 2017
This year there are two recipients of the NZNO Services to Nursing and Midwifery Award. Dr Helen Snell and Pepe Sinclair. NZNO President Grant Brookes presented the awards at the Annual Conference at Te Papa this week.
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Staff in pyjamas say "Let's Get Moving"
Pyjama-wearing hospital staff have been highlighting the debilitating impact on patients of spending long periods in bed.Research shows that, for the over 80s, spending 10 days in bed can age their muscles by 10 years. Tauranga Hospital staff donned their PJs this week to showcase the issue and launch the Let’s Get Moving campaign.
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The real emergency in New Zealand's health system
A better diagnosis
Where he once treated car-crash casualties, Middlemore Hospital intensive care specialist David Galler now sees wards full of people with preventable diseases. He says there’s a better way of doing things – but a lack of will to embrace it.
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Midwife reprimanded after speaking out about horrors in South Auckland
A sick midwife who posted a heartfelt message about the horrific situations she came across in South Auckland has been forced to take it down.
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Support floods in for reprimanded midwife's heartfelt message
A sick midwife's heartfelt message about horror cases in South Auckland has struck a chord with other midwives around the country.
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ASTHMA AND ALLERGIES
NZ’s third leading cause of death on the back burner
Ministry of Health targets are reviewed annually to ensure they align with health priorities, however New Zealand’s third leading cause of death still has no defined national health target with dedicated funding behind it.
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CHILD AND MATERNAL HEALTH
Number of New Zealand children hospitalised with malnutrition doubles as food costs bite
Malnutrition is putting twice as many kids in hospital compared with 10 years ago, as food prices continue to bite into household incomes.
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Southern kids have higher rates of debilitating bowel diseases
Kids in the South Island are up to three times more likely to suffer debilitating inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) than their northern counterparts.
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ETHICAL ISSUES
Fertility doctor says overseas sperm could help desperate Kiwi parents
A leading fertility clinic is looking at ways to deal with strict controls on sperm and egg donations, in an effort to address a bulging waiting list for assisted reproduction treatments.
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Say no to payments and secrecy, says donor-conception expert
The suggestion of paying people to donate their eggs or sperm to help childless women conceive is at odds with the Kiwi culture of helping out others in need, says an expert in donor-conceived offspring.
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HEALTH FUNDING AND RESEARCH
DHB deficits to stay under wraps until after election, Health Ministry says
The Ministry of Health has received District Health Board financial results for the last two months but is refusing to release them before the election.
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INFECTION CONTROL
A 100 per cent hand-washing rate 'not practically achievable' in hospitals
Maternity and emergency room staff are the least likely to have washed their hands at Waitakere Hospital.
Healthcare workers were expected to wash their hands 80 per cent of the time, according to national health targets.
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MENTAL HEALTH
Long waiting times for young people seeking mental health help
One in 10 young people seeking mental health help across the country will be on a waiting list for more than two months.
Ministry of Health figures from the Nationwide Service Framework showed the number of young people accessing non-urgent mental health services was steadily rising.
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OBESITY / SUGAR TAX
Otago study finds solving obesity epidemic can start at home
Fighting the wave of adolescent obesity in New Zealand could be as simple as establishing family rules and routines around food consumption and limiting screen time, a new University of Otago study has found.
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PUBLIC HEALTH
Measles outbreaks most common among teens and those in their 20s
Teenagers 15 years and older are the most likely group of New Zealanders to contract measles, according to figures from The Institute of Environmental Science and Research.
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SOCIAL HEALTH
Chart: Pacific and Māori more affected by poverty-based illness
Heath spending has been a major issue over the course of the election campaign, but some health organisations say it should be part of a bigger picture effort to tackle poverty.
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INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Some Illinois nurses can now diagnose and treat patients, prescribe medication
The next time you need to see a doctor, you might be able to get treatment from a nurse instead. That’s because some nurses just got expanded capabilities in Illinois.
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Genetic Testing Puts Nurses at Frontline of Answering Patients’ Emerging Concerns
Genetic testing and new gene therapies may raise new questions for patients, and as front-line health workers, nurses could be the ones answering questions about how they related to health.
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New toolkit helps nurses use genomics in patient care
Nurses and other health professionals looking to integrate genomics into patient care now have access to an online toolkit with more than 100 resources, part of a new website launched by the National Human Genome Research Institute.
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WORKPLACE
How to stay safe on social media
We’ve all heard stories of the pop star, footy player or president who has gotten themselves in trouble with a late night, drink in hand, ill-advised tweet. The consequences for nurses on social media can be far more important.
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ARTICLES OF INTEREST
Standout nurse leaders...What's in the research?
Nursing Management: September 2017 - Volume 48 - Issue 9 - p 16–24
Nursing leadership differs from general leadership due to the influence of clinical practice. Simply put, nurse leaders have a responsibility to influence and improve the healthcare practice environment.1 But, what exactly are the characteristics of great nurse leaders? Let's review the recent research...
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“Keeping on track” − Hospital nurses’ struggles with maintaining workflow while seeking to integrate evidence-based practice into their daily work: A grounded theory study
Background
Evidence-based practice is considered a foundation for the provision of quality care and one way to integrate scientific knowledge into clinical problem-solving. Despite the extensive amount of research that has been conducted to evaluate evidence-based practice implementation and research utilization, these practices have not been sufficiently incorporated into nursing practice. Thus, additional research regarding the challenges clinical nurses face when integrating evidence-based practice into their daily work and the manner in which these challenges are approached is needed.
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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 26 September 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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