Welcome to the College of Nurses Aotearoa News Update.
No. 416, Wednesday 26 September 2018
Weekly news round-up of nursing and health information in New Zealand and internationally
NATIONAL NEWS
Health Minister David Clark says he wants nurses to be more involved in policy making
Health Minister David Clark wants nurses to be involved in developing policies in the healthcare system, and holding governance positions.
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First Plunket NP
Plunket nurse Karen Thurston recently became Plunket’s first nurse practitioner and splits her time between Plunket nursing and working with teen parents.
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Filipino – Kiwi Nurses to Seek Help of MPs
The happiest of migrants are scheduled to seek the help of Labour MPs for various issues. Filipino-Kiwi community leaders will meet with members of Parliament on Saturday, 22 September in a gathering at the New Lynn Friendship Club in West Auckland
Read more here
NZNO Services to Nursing and Midwifery Awards presented
Each year the New Zealand Nurses Association (NZNO) presents Service to Nursing and Midwifery Awards as a way of recognising nurses or midwives who are NZNO members and who have made a positive difference to nursing or midwifery practice or practice environment.
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'Most prized' Maori health award presented
Northland mental health nurse and advocate Moe Milne (Ngati Hine, Ngapuhi) has been presented with the 2018 Akenehi Hei Memorial Award for her contribution to Maori mental health.
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Nurse’s culturally-sensitive care recognised
A putiputi (flower) who has grown into a kowhai tree.
That was the way Kaumatua Mohi Timoko described Aylah Fisher, as the Southland Hospital nurse received a New Zealand Nurses’ Organisation (NZNO) Te Runanga o Aotearoa award.
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Nurses warn Health Minister that violence is worsening
Nurses are warning that violence in hospitals is rising, saying some of them have suffered permanent brain injuries after being physically attacked on the job.
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Nurses weigh up future
Nurses are looking at how their role needs to change to meet future needs.The NZ Nurses Organisation held its annual conference in Wellington yesterday.
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Nurses' strike cost hundreds of thousands of dollars
Hospitals spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on the nationwide nurses' strike in July.
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AGED CARE
Southern DHB announces winners of 2018 Southern Innovation Challenge
The Southern DHB will fund a feasibility study into the prospect of establishing community care cottages for people living with dementia in Central Otago, after the idea was named overall winner of the Southern DHB’s 2018 Southern Innovation Challenge.
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CANCER
Patients waiting too long for bowel cancer diagnosis
Many patients throughout the country are waiting longer than they should for a colonoscopy to detect bowel cancer.
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DHBs
International recognition for Tauranga Hospital healthcare initiative
A Tauranga Hospital healthcare initiative has been recognised for its excellence at an international conference held in Australia.
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DIABETES
21-year-old woman goes blind from type 2 diabetes complications
A woman who went blind aged 21 is just one of many young type 2 diabetics experiencing serious complications due to poor management of the condition.
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HEALTH FUNDING AND RESEARCH
Underfunding of health system leads to $240m blowout - Health Minister
District health boards are $240 million in the red and current budget deficit forecasts have not been made public yet, despite being almost three months into the financial year.
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HEALTH TECHNOLOGIES
'Hugely positive' response to app for people with addictions
A one-year trial of a smartphone app to support people recovering from alcohol or drug addictions at Waikato DHB is proving successful and is likely to be extended.
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Telehealth links Thames outpatient clinics with Waikato Hospital specialists
In the Thames Outpatient department there is a simple, comfy room with a few chairs, table and a TV screen. This is where patients and doctors are linked by a very secure video/audio connection between two or more sites. In this case the participants are usually a person attending an outpatient clinic at Thames Hospital, their nurse, and a specialist consultant at Waikato Hospital.
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MENTAL HEALTH
Surge in Kiwi teens taking antidepressants, study shows
The number of New Zealand teens taking a prescribed antidepressant has increased by 50 per cent over five years.
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Mental health in the construction industry - BRANZ
The New Zealand Construction Industry has the highest percentage of suicide for employed men of any industry in this country. Most of those interviewed as part of a recent BRANZ study, while surprised at the high suicide rate, agreed there was a key driver to the high rates - the poor culture. Described as "macho" and "bullying" and including intolerance of diversity, the culture was seen to significantly contribute to poor mental health of construction industry workers.
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MIDWIFERY / MATERNITY
Midwives hopeful after meeting with minister
Midwives are cautiously hopeful they will be able to finally get a better deal for community midwives.
Read more here
PHARMACY
New Zealand children’s medicine prescriptions examined
A study into the pharmaceutical use of 1.4 million New Zealand children has revealed some significant increases in the use of certain prescription medicines, as well as the positive impact of practitioner education.
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PUBLIC HEALTH
TB disproportionately affecting Maori - ESR
Migrants to New Zealand carry the highest risk of having tuberculosis, although Māori continue to suffer disproportionately from the disease compared with others born in New Zealand.
Read more here
TOBACCO, DRUGS AND ALCOHOL
'Drink is the drug of choice for baby boomers'
Up to 40 percent of older New Zealanders are engaging in hazardous drinking, a study has found.
Read more here
YOUTH HEALTH
Kiwi adolescents weigh more and are less fit than their parents were, study finds
Kiwi kids weigh more and are less fit than their parents were, a groundbreaking study has found. A comparison of more than 500 15-year-olds across two generations found children today are 8 to 13 kilograms heavier than their parents were as adolescents, and have a lower aerobic capacity – regardless of their weight.
Read more here
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Moxi the ‘friendly’ hospital robot wants to help nurses, not replace them
With so many countries around the world struggling to recruit people for the health care sector, robots could one day provide a realistic solution to help ease the growing strain placed on existing workers.
Read more here
Virtual Reality Takes Shape Inside Dallas Nursing School
Simulation labs are an important component to becoming a nurse and now virtual reality is becoming an important part of simulation programs.
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Penn Presbyterian creates 'escape room' for training staff to treat sepsis
A local hospital is using a lighter approach to educate staff on a critical problem.
Nurses and doctors at Penn Presbyterian had to solve clues, just like an escape room game, to properly diagnose and treat a mock patient with sepsis - a life-threatening response to an infection.
Read more here
WORKPLACE
How to Get Better at Reading People from Different Cultures
Body language varies significantly across cultures. What is considered rude or foolish in a Nordic country may be welcomed as warm and friendly in an African one. What a Canadian businessperson would perceive as arrogant, an American executive may see as healthy confidence.
Read more here
ARTICLES OF INTEREST
Ogunsiji O, Ng Chok H, Mashingaidze G, Wilkes L. “I am still passionate despite the challenges”: Nurses navigating the care for refugees. J Clin Nurs. 2018;27:3335–3344. https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.13863
Aims and objectives
To report the challenges faced by the nursing workforce in refugee health.
Background
Nurses are in the forefront of care provision for refugees who are recognised as one of the most vulnerable population groups in the world. The number of refugees in Australia is increasing, and more nurses are needed as care providers. Research on the challenges faced by refugee health nurses is sparse.
Read more here
Workplace aggression experiences and responses of Victorian nurses, midwives and care personnel
Hills, Danny et al.
Collegian , Volume 0 , Issue 0 ,
Background
Workplace aggression is a major work health and safety, and public health concern. To date, there has been limited investigation of population level exposure and responses to workplace aggression from all sources, and little evidence on the experiences, reporting and support-seeking behaviour of nurses, midwives and care personnel in Australian settings.
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This article is not freely available but may be accessed through databases and libraries to which readers have access.
Wahlberg AC, Bjorkman A. Expert in nursing care but sometimes disrespected—Telenurses’ reflections on their work environment and nursing care. J Clin Nurs. 2018;00:1–9. https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.14622
Aims and objectives
To describe telenurses’ reflections on their work environment and how it impacts on their nursing care.
Background
Telenursing is one of the largest healthcare settings in Sweden today; approximately 5.5 million care‐seekers call the designated number—1177—each year. Telenursing is regarded as highly qualified nursing care, and providing care over the telephone is considered a complex form of nursing. Within other fields of nursing, the work environment has been shown to affect the outcome of care, patient safety, nurse job satisfaction and burnout.
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 25 September 2018
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