Welcome to the College of Nurses Aotearoa News Update.
No. 408, Wednesday 1 August 2018
Weekly news round-up of nursing and health information in New Zealand and internationally
NATIONAL NEWS
Teddy bears will help Hawke's Bay children understand surgery
Only a select few are allowed into the theatre during surgery.
But at Royston Hospital teddy bears are on that list.
Read more here
Nurses' union recommends DHBs' latest offer
District Health Boards have made a new pay offer to nurses, and their union says they should accept it.
Read more here
Pay equity settlement for mental health and addiction workers signed
Health Minister David Clark has signed a $173.5 million pay equity settlement for mental health and addiction support workers that brings them into line with care and support workers.
Read more here
Health Minister offers agreement to ensure safe staffing levels for nurses with industrial dispute still not resolved
The Health Minister has offered a joint agreement to ensure hospitals have safe nurse staffing levels, and said it is "clear we've been asking too much of our nurses and their workloads are not sustainable".
Read more here
Minister reassures nurses
District health board chief executives will be held to account if safe staffing levels for nurses and midwives are not in place by 2021, Health Minister David Clark says.
Read more here
AGED CARE
St John connecting patients with falls prevention services across New Zealand
No matter where they live, elderly patients who have fallen or are at risk of falling can now be referred to local falls prevention services by ambulance staff, helping them avoid further falls in the future.
Read more here
CANCER
2500 new melanoma cases diagnosed in NZ each year - study
New Zealand's place in the sun comes at a price.
The just-released 2018 skin cancer index by derma.plus showed almost 2500 new melanoma cases were diagnosed in New Zealand each year.
Read more here
DENTAL
Thousands of kids missing out on annual dental checks and hundreds need general anaesthetic
More than 4000 Manawatū schoolchildren have missed out on annual dental checks because of a backlog stretching back years, while hundreds suffered dental problems so bad they needed treatment under general anaesthetic.
Read more here
DHBs
Hawke's Bay DHB plunged into $6m deficit after challenging year
The Hawke's Bay DHB has reported a financial deficit of $6.8 million for the 2017/18 year, reflecting what has been described as the most difficult year of the past eight.
Read more here
DIABETES
Patients seeing great results from treatment change
Treatment changes made last year have reduced the number of hyper or hypoglycaemic – where blood glucose levels become too high or low – experienced by patients with diabetes.
Read more here
INFECTION CONTROL
Programme leads to reduction in infections after surgery
New Zealanders are now less likely to develop infections after surgery as a result of actions being taken by district health boards (DHBs) to reduce surgical site infections.
Read more here
DHB was warned of syphilis outbreak: 'They are all complicit in this'
Auckland DHB was repeatedly warned of "out of control" syphilis rates before it made cuts to sexual health positions, documents show.
Read more here
PHARMACY
Health Ministry says National's medicinal cannabis law may harm patients and wouldn't increase access
A Ministry of Health analysis of the National Party's medicinal cannabis bill says it wouldn't make cannabis products much more available than they already are, but National says the ministry is wrong.
Read more here
PRIMARY HEALTH CARE
New review launched into effectiveness of primary care delivery to New Zealanders
The Ministry of Health (MoH) and the Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRC) have jointly awarded $1.33 million to a two-year research project that will evaluate the effectiveness of primary care models in New Zealand.
Read more here
SOCIAL HEALTH
Number of hardship grants given to over-65s increases 50% in 5 years
Pensioners are increasingly turning to Work and Income for help to pay for essentials like food, power and housing.
Read more here
TOBACCO, DRUGS AND ALCOHOL
23 per cent of New Zealanders drink while pregnant, study finds
Alarming figures showing almost quarter of pregnant Kiwi women continue to drink alcohol during their first three months of pregnancy have prompted calls for the Government to take action.
Read more here
Otago researchers signal time for Government action on reducing alcohol-related harm
University of Otago experts in addiction medicine and the health effects of alcohol are questioning what the barriers are to Government action on reducing alcohol-related harm and calling for change.
Read more here
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Students sue university for uncertified nursing course
Sixty former nursing students of Christian University of Thailand in Nakhon Pathom province have filed a lawsuit with the Central Administrative Court, demanding 300,000-480,000 baht each in compensation...
Read more here
EU nurses in East Lancashire can apply for settled status early in new government pilot
A SCHEME which will see EU nurses apply for 'settled status' early to ease nursing shortage Brexit fears is to be trialled by a hospital trust.
Read more here
Is your hospital short on hugs? How 'cuddler' programs help NICU patients
Phoenix Children's Hospital is one of the latest hospitals to boost care for its NICU patients through a "No Baby Unhugged" grant from Huggies — a $10,000 award that supports hugging programs, where hospital volunteers hold newborns whose parents may live far away or are unable to visit due to work, childcare or other obligations.
Read more here
Hospitals Gear Up For New Diagnosis: Human Trafficking
The woman arrived at the emergency department at Huntington Hospital on New York's Long Island after she was hit by her boyfriend during an argument. Her situation raised concerns among the medical staff, which had recently been trained to be on the lookout for signs of sex trafficking.
Read more here
Medical error likely cause of Samoa baby deaths - vaccinologist
There is a high likelihood medical error was to blame for the deaths of two infants in Samoa following their MMR vaccinations, a vaccinologist and senior lecturer says.
Read more here
Nurses Shift From Bedside to Nontraditional Roles
More nurses are moving away from the stereotypical role as a bedside nurse and applying their skills to non-traditional roles.
Read more here
WELLBEING
Half of New Zealand adults aren't active enough: new report
Half of New Zealand adults aren't active for two and a half hours a week and not many of us are eating enough fruit and vegetables.
Read more here
ARTICLES OF INTEREST
Darbyshire, P. and Ion, R. (2018), The Gosport War Memorial Hospital Panel Report and its implications for Nursing. J Adv Nurs. Accepted Author Manuscript. . doi:10.1111/jan.13781
Where do we even begin? How do mere words encapsulate the full horror of the Gosport War Memorial Hospital (GWMH) report (Gosport Independent Panel, 2018) and its profound implications for nursing? Many of us thought that in our careers we would never again read anything as damning of health care and health services as the Francis Report; Darbyshire & McKenna, 2013; Hayter, 2013; Nolan, 2013). We were wrong. Politicians, hospitals, health services, educators and regulators at that time were falling over each other to reassure us that ‘lessons had been learned’, ‘things had changed’, ‘new systems were in place’ and that such disasters and failures ‘must never happen again’.
Read more here
The experiences of clinical facilitators working with nursing students in Australia: An interpretive description
Collegian, in press articles
Australian nursing students have said they learn more from their clinical facilitator than from any other educator or learning experience. Thus, there is need for more studies that focus on the actions of clinical facilitators so that expertise within this subspecialty can be developed and shared.
Read more here
CONSULTATION
National Ethics Advisory Committee calls for public feedback
The National Ethics Advisory Committee (NEAC) is calling for public feedback on proposed new standards for all health and disability research.NEAC has drafted the National Ethics Standards for Health and Disability Research, which sets out the established ethical standards that apply to all health and disability research in New Zealand.
Read more here
NEW PUBLICATIONS
Maea te Toi Ora: Māori Health Transformations
Māori clinicians and researchers explore the relationship between Māori culture and Māori mental health. The six contributing authors in the collection are Simon Bennett, Mason Durie, Hinemoa Elder, Te Kani Kingi, Mark Lawrence and Rees Tapsell and are all well known in the mental health field. Each discusses aspects of Māori and indigenous health and the importance of culture to diagnosis, patient history, understanding causes, treatment and assessment of outcomes. Along with a discussion of current research into and knowledge about health and culture, the authors provide case studies from their own experiences of working with Māori to restore well-being.
Read more here
RCN Competencies: Caring for Infants, Children and Young People requiring Palliative Care
PUBLICATION CODE : 007033
This document is a revision of the first RCN competence framework produced for nurses and health care support workers in the UK involved in the care of infants, children and young people requiring palliative care. This newly revised competence framework builds on a number of best practice guidance documents and resources.
Read more here
Every Nurse an E-nurse: Insights from a consultation on the digital future of nursing
PUBLICATION CODE : 007 013
This publication presents the detailed findings of a consultation, led by the RCN, into the digital future of nursing. The consultation took place over January and February 2018. The consultation explored 1) ideas for a shared vision of a digitally enabled health and social care service 2) the barriers and enablers to the vision becoming a reality and 3) examples of how data, information, knowledge and technology are already bringing that vision to life.
Read more here
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
World Conference on Health Promotion heading to New Zealand
For the first time, the World Conference on Health Promotion will be held in New Zealand from April 7-11, 2019.
Find out 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 31 July 2018
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