Welcome to the College of Nurses Aotearoa News Update.
No. 420, Wednesday 31 October 2018
NATIONAL NEWS
Army of nurses call for Māori health
The New Zealand Māori Council is backing calls for a new deal for Māori health.
The council gave evidence to the Waitangi Tribunal’s health claim last week on the need for Māori to be in control of any health spend
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Indigenous nurses take charge of health strategy
KERRI NUKU INTERVIEW CLICK HERE
Nurses are being called on to play a greater role in reducing the incidence of non-communicable diseases like diabetes, obsesity and heart disease here and in the Pacific.
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Seven out of 20 DHBs made plans for $38m safe staffing fund
Immediate relief of stretched nursing workload areas is still some time away for most DHBs with seven plans submitted to date for the $38m short-term extra staffing fund.
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Hunt on for nurses at Waikato DHB in wake of safer staffing agreement
Increasing nurse numbers is a focus for the Waikato District Health Board, but it's going to be a challenge.
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Historic Christchurch Nurses' Memorial Chapel re-opens
Christchurch's historic Nurses' Memorial Chapel re-opened its doors for the first time since it was devastated in the Canterbury earthquakes.
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AGED CARE
Kaumātua concerns highlighted in new report
It is expected that the number of people 85 and over will triple in the next thirty years and by 2021 one in eight Māori will be over 65.
Te Pou Matakana Chair Merepeka Raukawa-Tait says, "With the unprecedented growth in our Kaumātua numbers we, as the Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency, are listening to our elders to understand what they need and what their concerns are - to inform our approach to future services."
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CANCER
'Urgent action needed' to prevent 8,000 cancer diagnoses each year
Around 8,000 New Zealanders are diagnosed with potentially preventable cancer each year and bold action is needed to curb the dramatic harm caused by the "big three" risk factors: obesity, alcohol and tobacco.
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Alarming number of Kiwis failing to slip, slop and slap, study finds
Despite New Zealand having the highest rate of melanoma skin cancer in the world, an alarming number of Kiwis are not being sun smart.
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DHBs
Waikato DHB launches crackdown on expected $56m deficit
Waikato District Health Board is heading for a $56m deficit - but it's trying to shrink the figure.
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Health cuts feared as boards ordered to reduce deficits
District health boards (DHBs) have been asked to improve their finances and tackle deficits, raising the possibility of cost-saving service cuts for boards deeply in the red.
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ETHICAL ISSUES
Law Commission proposes repealing criminal offences for abortions
The Law Commission has outlined abortion law reforms that would remove abortion from the Crimes Act and repeal the need for two doctors to authorise the procedure.
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Alternative approaches to abortion law: ministerial briefing paper
This ministerial briefing paper provides advice to the Minister of Justice on alternative approaches that could be taken in New Zealand’s abortion laws if the Government decides to treat abortion as a health issue. It describes three alternative legal models:
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HEALTH ECONOMICS
One Year On: The cost of accessible healthcare
The coalition government has been in power for a year, how has our healthcare system changed?
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HEALTH TECHNOLOGIES
Digital devices to eliminate human error on wards
Patient lives are set to be saved by digital devices designed to eliminate human error.A $31,000 pilot scheme has been launched at Wairau Hospital, in Blenheim, to trial a hi-tech e-observation system.
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MENTAL HEALTH
History repeating - New Zealand's mental health inquiries
New Zealand’s mental health system has been repeatedly pulled apart in major investigations, the latest of which is reporting back next month. Jess McAllen looks at the history and recurring themes of the past 30 years.
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Population growth drives suicide rate down, but total number of deaths still rising
New Zealand's suicide rate has experienced a significant drop, but mental health advocates warn we still have a "significant problem".
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TOBACCO, DRUGS AND ALCOHOL
Increasing alcohol tax could benefit health, study finds
Increasing the excise tax on alcohol would likely result in fewer people dying or being injured in vehicle crashes – and generate savings for society, according to a just-published New Zealand study.
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INTERNATIONAL NEWS
NURSES REPORT GAPS IN QUALITY AND SAFETY COMPETENCIES BASED ON EDUCATION
New RNs with bachelor’s degrees feel better prepared in safety and quality measures than those with ADNs.
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Suspended Cooks nurses re-instated
The suspension of 14 nurses in the Cook Islands has been lifted.
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NHS to train nurses in using safe staffing tools
The Safer Nursing Care Tool is the only tool to have an evidence base for its use
NHSI has created a new course to help ensure consistent safe staffing plans
Modular part time programme will start in February 2019
Read more here
ARTICLES OF INTEREST
Brownie, S. M. (2018), The economic impact of nursing. J Clin Nurs, 27: 3825-3826. doi:10.1111/jocn.14182
Economics includes “the condition of a region or group as regards material prosperity” (Oxford Dictionaries, 2017). The links between material prosperity versus poverty, health status and quality of life are well documented as are the devastating impacts of population disparities on the aforementioned indicators (Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, 2012). Poor health affects the ability of people to work, generate income and care for their families—a widely understood conundrum. In short, economic position impacts health status, and health status impacts economic prosperity.
Read more here
Bagnasco, A. , Timmins, F. , Aleo, G. and Sasso, L. (2018), Double Jeopardy – Missed care for the vulnerable in community settings. J Clin Nurs, 27: 3827-3829. doi:10.1111/jocn.14541
Inequitable access of the world's population to quality health services is still a problem, despite the fact that good health and well‐being are recognised as fundamental human rights (United Nations, 2016). Reducing inequities in health is a major focus of international policy (World Health Organization, 2015), and in the context of an ever‐ageing population, world recession and limited resources and to promote independence in health, community care schemes are gaining increasing popularity (Phelan, McCarthy, & Adams, 2017).
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RESOURCES ONLINE
Critical Appraisal Tools
A range of critical appraisal tools are available for download in pdf or doc format from the Joanna Briggs Institute
Read 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 30 October 2018
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