Welcome to the College of Nurses Aotearoa News Update.
No. 383, Wednesday 7 February 2018
NATIONAL NEWS
Bay of Plenty graduate nurses snapped up
Graduate registered nurses in the Bay of Plenty have been quick to be offered employment, the local institute of technology says.
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Nurses excited about starting nearly full course in Timaru
Timaru nursing students Alicia Mitchell and Jane Vogel are excited about the opportunities likely to come their way from studying nursing in the town they call home.
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Surgeons look to do the right thing by their patients
New Zealand surgeons are often prepared to treat an abnormality discovered during an elective surgical procedure in the absence of patient consent, especially if the patient’s health is threatened and the risk of the additional procedure is low.
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Summer health series: more funding or wiser spending?
In part four of our series on the future of Māori health, former Ministry of Health advisor and policy analyst Gabrielle Baker looks at where social investment and health intersect and asks if we’re spending money on the right services.
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CANCER ISSUES
World Cancer Day: unfortunate words - or silence - add pain to breast cancer diagnosis
Breast Cancer Foundation NZ (BCFNZ) has released a video featuring funny ladies Urzila Carlson and Jackie Clarke acting out an awkward conversation between a newly-diagnosed breast cancer patient and her friend.
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MENTAL HEALTH
Otumoetai pilot frontline mental health in school
Otumoetai students have access to specialist mental health support at school as part of a health funded pilot focused on building children’s resilience and general wellbeing.
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A growing emergency: Why are cops looking after mental health patients in crisis?
In Wellington, Constable Sally Wiffen spent five days out of a six-day shift in Wellington Hospital's emergency department watching over people in crisis, waiting alongside the kitchen cuts and broken toes. She forced a toilet door to prevent one patient self-harming. They didn't put that in the new police recruiting video.
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Police mental health calls soar up to 250 per cent
Police are struggling under the weight of spiking mental health demand, with a new report revealing Tasman police were besieged by a 250 per cent increase in calls from 2009 to 2016.
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OBESITY / SUGAR TAX
Think tank finds no clear evidence sugar taxes have worked overseas
A report commissioned under the previous National Government has found only weak evidence a sugar tax has been effective at improving health outcomes in other countries.
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Report may be found here: http://apo.org.au/node/130951
PATIENT SAFETY
Supply of some surgical mesh products stopped, but those in stock will still be used
Surgeons will continue to use controversial surgical mesh devices to treat stress urinary incontinence (SUI) in hundreds of New Zealand women each year despite a lack of information about their safety sought by Medsafe.
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PUBLIC HEALTH
Health authorities brace for winter after deadly flu strain hits Northern Hemisphere
Health authorities are gearing up for winter as a deadly strain of the flu kills hundreds in the Northern hemisphere.
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TOBACCO, DRUGS AND ALCOHOL
Stopping smoking key reason for e-cigarette use
New research has been released which shows that vaping in New Zealand is a popular alternative for those wanting to quit smoking tobacco. A recent survey on vapers was conducted by Dr Penny Truman and colleagues at Massey University. The study found that the majority of participants started vaping in order to quit cigarettes. Results also demonstrated that vaping may be less addictive than smoking, as shown by longer delay times in the morning before vaping and a trend of reducing nicotine levels in e-cigarette liquid over time.
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INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Nurses with a mission: Send older ER patients home with help
CHICAGO (AP) — When 86-year-old Carol Wittwer took a taxi to the emergency room, she expected to be admitted to the hospital. She didn't anticipate being asked if she cooks for herself. If she has friends in her high-rise. Or if she could spell lunch backward.
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ARTICLES OF INTEREST
Measuring the outcomes of nursing practice: A Delphi study. Sim J, Crookes P, Walsh K, Halcomb E. J Clin Nurs. 2018;27:e368–e378. https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.13971
Aims and objective
To develop nursing-sensitive patient indicators to measure the outcomes of nursing practice.
Background
Nurses play an important role in the healthcare system, yet there is no consensus on how the impact of nursing work should be evaluated. Limited research has previously examined the views of clinical nurses on the important concepts for measuring nursing practice.
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Editorial: Diversity and culture: threads in a golden tapestry which nurses have the privilege to enact and the responsibility to preserve. Heaslip, V. (2018), J Clin Nurs. doi:10.1111/jocn.14187
Reflecting upon my nursing career over the last 25 years, comparing the person I was at the start and the person I am now; there is a vast difference. Prior to starting my nursing training, I had little experience of the world; I integrated with and was influenced by individuals and my local community and whilst I heard about wider aspects of UK society and the world on television, I had little direct experience. My nursing career has provided the opportunity to work with individuals from different parts of society, to learn from them and to expand my knowledge and understanding of the world. Nursing has given me the opportunity to critically examine my beliefs and values; to unpick where they came from and to challenge, when needed, beliefs I previously held which were factually incorrect or biased. As a nurse educator, I now witness the students I work with going through this same journey, as their world views expand in the light of the individuals they meet and the experiences they have.
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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 6 February 2018
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