Welcome to the College of Nurses Aotearoa News Update.
No. 411, Wednesday 22 August 2018
NATIONAL NEWS
Eketahuna’s nurse-led healthcare rouses interest
Eketahuna set up one of the country's first nurse-led health clinics 30 years ago and is still going strong, reports the Hawke's Bay Herald.
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New grad ACE placements up – Chief Nurse’s Office exploring employing all
Nursing Review talks to the Ministry of Health’s acting Chief Nursing Officer Dr Jill Clendon about exploring the employment of all new grads under the Safe Staffing accord, safe staffing commitments and the challenge post-strike of boosting the numbers entering nursing.
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Safe staffing and healthy workplaces a Ministry priority
Ministry of Health’s acting Chief Nursing Officer Dr Jill Clendon says the safe staffing accord sends a clear message the health sector is committed to the safety of all staff and patients.
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Nurses pay becomes treaty issue
Maori nurses are preparing to put a claim for pay equity for Maori nurses to the Waitangi Tribunal.
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Nurses claim health board could have prevented Hillmorton break-out
Nurses at Hillmorton Hospital say a serious incident where a mental health patient broke through a set of locked doors should never have happened.
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AGED CARE
Concern for those held in aged care facilities without consent
A new report published by the Human Rights Commission raises concerns about the legal and human rights safeguards for an estimated 5000 elderly New Zealanders in secure dementia units and psychogeriatric facilities.
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Read report here
Spotting the Signs of Elder Abuse
Abuse can happen to any older person. Learn about the different types of abuse, how to recognize the signs, and where to get help.
Download here
Waikato elderly care home found to have further problems
Just months after a Waikato rest home was ordered to refund $10,000 for poor care of a 92-year-old, an audit has revealed a multitude of problems there.
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ASTHMA AND ALLERGIES
Patients with allergies at 'ongoing and significant' risk from hospital food, report shows
Hospital food services pose an "ongoing and significant risk" to patients with food allergies, the Auckland District Health Board has reported.
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CANCER
National Bowel Screening Programme already making a difference
It's just four months since the National Bowel Screening Programme was launched in the Southern district, but it's already making a real difference to the lives of many residents and their families.
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Counties Manukau Health to adopt Cxbladder tests
Counties Manukau is New Zealand’s second largest DHB and serves an estimated population of over half a million people, representing approximately 12% of New Zealand’s population. Now patients living in the area will have faster, more accurate and less invasive testing for bladder cancer, thanks to the adoption of Cxbladder, a suite of simple to use, urine based tests that can be used across the diagnosis and monitoring pathway.
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Another DHB Adopts Cxbladder for urology patients
Tipping point has been reached with the remainder of New Zealand’s DHBs now rapidly signing up to use Cxbladder for urology patients undergoing testing for bladder cancer. Today’s announcement follows hot on the heels of this week’s signing by Counties Manukau DHB, with more than 50% of New Zealand’s population now with access to Cxbladder, a simple to use, non-invasive and highly accurate test for urothelial cancer, including bladder cancer.
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New study shows vast majority of melanomas are self-detected – with home-grown technology here to help
A new New Zealand study published this week confirms that the vast majority of melanomas are self-detected.
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Aretha Franklin's death shines light on treatment options in NZ
The death of American soul singer Aretha Franklin from pancreatic cancer has put the spotlight on the treatment options available to New Zealanders.
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CHILD AND MATERNAL HEALTH
Children's Minister 'alarmed' at numbers of proven child abuse
More than 10,000 Kiwi children were recorded as being abused last year - something the Children's Commissioner has labelled New Zealand's "enduring shame".
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EMERGENCY MEDICINE AND SERVICES
Virtual reality training helps hospital staff survive a disaster
An Auckland hospital is getting ready for the chaos of a big earthquake thanks to a serious game.
Researchers with Massey University have been trialling virtual reality to evacuate Auckland City Hospital after such an event.
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ETHICAL ISSUES
Proposed euthanasia bill in NZ 'needs tweaking'
The wording of proposed euthanasia legislation should be tightened to ensure it only applies to the terminally ill, members of an Australian advisory panel say.
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HEALTH FUNDING AND RESEARCH
Otago researchers call for more transparency around health funding formula
University of Otago researchers are calling for more transparency and dialogue around the formula used to distribute funding between the country’s 20 district health boards, integral to the functioning of the New Zealand health system.
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HEALTH TECHNOLOGIES
Missed cancer symptoms prompt overhaul of health boards' IT systems
Years of underinvestment is being blamed for the "ageing and fragmented" IT systems used by district health boards (DHBs) nationwide, with the Government eager to move with the times and upgrade crucial systems.
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Health project costs reveal $6.2m blowout
A national DHB computer system designed to replace health boards' ageing finance and supply chain systems blew its budget by more than $6 million.
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Whangārei medical centre offers patients video consultations
A Whangārei medical practice is believed to be the only one in the district to introduce video consultation for registered patients with minor illnesses.
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HEART DISEASE
What's your risk of a heart attack?
As death rates from coronary heart disease plummet, Donna Chisholm looks at who is most at risk of a life-threatening heart attack or stroke, and how long it takes for poor lifestyle choices to catch up with us.
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MENTAL HEALTH
The rise and rise of mental illness among our young
Mental health issues are on the rise throughout the developed world and being young doesn't make you any less susceptible. Helen Harvey reports.
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PHARMACY
Study finds growing resistance to antibiotics in New Zealand
Drugs that fight common, infectious diseases are becoming less effective in New Zealand because of an increased resistance to antibiotics, which are being over-prescribed, a new study has found.
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TOBACCO, DRUGS AND ALCOHOL
Higher alcohol tax needed to reduce harm - economist
Twenty percent of New Zealanders drink 75 percent of the country's alcohol yet are not paying to clean up the mess, an Alcohol Action forum has heard.
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The adverse health effects and harms related to marijuana use: an overview review
Background With impending marijuana legislation in Canada, a broad understanding of the harms associated with marijuana use is needed to inform the clinical community and public, and to support evidence-informed public policy development. The purpose of the review was to synthesize the evidence on adverse health effects and harms of marijuana use.
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Insight: Foetal Alcohol - Damaging Baby Brains
Conservatively, it's thought 600 children are born in New Zealand every year with some form of brain damage caused by their mother drinking alcohol, often before they even knew they were pregnant. But many experts think the real number of babies affected every year may number in the thousands. For Insight, Philippa Tolley asks what is being done to identify those affected.
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INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Samoa Nurses Association questions decision to charge nurse
The Samoa Nurses Association has questioned a police decision to arrest a nurse over the deaths of two babies before post mortem results have been released.
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Samoa police charge second nurse with manslaughter
A second nurse has been arrested and charged with manslaughter over the death of two babies following their MMR vaccines last month in Samoa.
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Nurses less likely than physicians to speak up to colleagues with poor hand hygiene
A study published in American Journal of Infection Control examined the likelihood of healthcare professionals speaking up about breaches in infection control, such as nonadherence to hand hygiene protocols.
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Women dominate nursing. So why do men still make this much more than them?
Women have always vastly outnumbered men in the nursing profession -- by a lot. In fact, today, they make up nearly 90 percent of the industry's U.S. workforce. So it begs the question: Why do their male counterparts still make so much more than them?
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WELLBEING
Burnout in the medical professions
Physician, heal thyself! How the medical professions, including dentists and vets, are working towards a better understanding of the stress their jobs cause so they can manage and prevent career burnout.
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ARTICLES OF INTEREST
European Academy of Nursing Science Summer Conference 2018: Leadership in Nursing: challenges for the future
Ghent, Belgium. 11-12 July 2018
BMC Nursing201817 (Suppl 1) :34
Meeting abstracts
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Meinert E, Alturkistani A, Brindley D, et al
Protocol for a mixed-methods evaluation of a massive open online course on real world evidence
BMJ Open 2018;8:e025188. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2018-025188
Introduction Increasing number of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are being used to train learners at scale in various healthcare-related skills. However, many challenges in course delivery require further understanding, for example, factors exploring the reasons for high MOOC dropout rates, recorded low social interaction between learners and the lack of understanding of the impact of a course facilitators’ presence in course engagement. There is a need to generate further evidence to explore these detriments to MOOC course delivery to enable enhanced course learning design. The proposed mixed-methods evaluation of the MOOC was determined based on the MOOC’s aims and objectives and the methodological approaches used to evaluate this type of a course. The MOOC evaluation will help appraise the effectiveness of the MOOC in delivering its intended objectives. This protocol aims to describe the design of a study evaluating learners knowledge, skills and attitudes in a MOOCs about data science for healthcare.
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NEW PUBLICATIONS
Three steps to better health literacy – a guide for health care professionals
This guide for health care professionals, describes the three-step model for better health literacy: 1) find out what people know; 2) build health literacy skills and knowledge; and 3) check you were clear (and, if not, go back to step 2).
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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 21 August 2018
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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