Welcome to the College of Nurses Aotearoa News Update.
No. 436, Wednesday 13 March 2019
Weekly news round-up of nursing and health information in New Zealand and internationally
NATIONAL NEWS
Virtual patients – using holograms as a teaching tool
A life-size hologram helped first year Otago Polytechnic nursing students hone their clinical reasoning skills. Dr Liz Ditzel and Emma Collins report on their trial of using a virtual reality app.
Nurses' impassioned plea in favour of pay equity: 'We can't afford to live in the communities we work in'
Fresh off their own pay-negotiation win, nurses are working to ensure their voices remain heard in the wider – and still raging – fight for pay equity.
Opinion: Erin Meads – primary care nursing invisible for too long
Some general practice websites don’t even mention their nursing staff – others share only their first names. Erin Meads argues that 2019 is the year for primary care nursing to become more visible and its value given greater recognition
Select committee confirms inquiry into how health system treats Māori
Why Māori suffer worse health than other New Zealanders will be investigated by Parliament.
The Māori affairs select committee will hold an inquiry into Māori health inequalities, its chairman and Labour MP Rino Tirikatene confirmed.
Maori, Pasifika experience isolation, bias in health policy
A new study has found some Maori and Pasifika leaders often experience isolation, bias, and racism on government health advisory groups. A senior lecturer in Maori Health at Auckland University of Technology, Dr Heather Came, interviewed six Maori and Pasifika leaders with at least ten years experience advising district health boards. She tells our reporter Te Aniwa Hurihanganui their views are frequently ignored.
New Zealand's high poison deaths a concern, expert says
Experts are calling for tighter restrictions on some mental health drugs following new figures that reveal an alarming number of people have died after taking them.
First compassion in health conference
Short GP visits, stretched staffing in hospitals, and burnout can undermine health professionals’ ability to practice in the compassionate, caring way that they would like to.
AGED CARE
Resthome nursing shortage: 'Worst it's been in last 12 months'
Resthomes say they are exhausted by the constant struggle to find nurses to replace those they lose to better paid jobs in public hospitals.
Urgent need for dementia services in New Zealand
A growing demand for services is placing pressure on New Zealand’s largest provider of free dementia support services, Dementia New Zealand.
DHBs
Why Canterbury's health system is doubling down on its drive for change
Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB) chief executive David Meates is in no doubt. His health system is doing world-leading things.
DHBs face million dollar bills after underpaying holiday pay
Thousands of health workers may be owed millions of dollars because of years of underpayments under the Holidays Act.
EMERGENCY MEDICINE AND SERVICES
St John pushes to have first aid training compulsory in all New Zealand schools
More than 4000 Christchurch students will be among the first in the country to be given first aid training as part of a St John initiative to have it introduced to the national school curriculum.
HEALTH TECHNOLOGIES
Midland regional e-prescribing system to prevent harm
The five Midland region DHBs are planning to implement a regional electronic prescribing and administration system to prevent medication errors harming patients.
PAIN
Chronic pain widespread with too few specialists, clinics - report
One in five people suffers from chronic pain that can wreck relationships, jobs and lives, new research shows.
PHARMACY
Antibiotic resistance: Global study suggests NZ among least exposed
A global study has compared levels of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria in sewage samples from around the world, and the findings suggest New Zealand is among the least-exposed countries.
PUBLIC HEALTH
Hospital bosses want anti anti-vax campaign
Hospital bosses want a national campaign to counter what they say are the damaging messages being put out by anti-vaccination lobbyists.
Poor leadership to blame for declining public health
Epidemiologist, Professor of Preventative medicine, and former WHO adviser Sir David Skegg says New Zealand's public health system is failing.
He's published a new book The Health of the People, in which he criticises politicians for being short sighted, and says a lack of leadership is to blame for the health status of New Zealanders slipping behind those in comparable countries.
Calls for meningococcal vaccines to be funded for 'at-risk' university students
Pharmac is considering funding meningococcal vaccines for children, adolescents and young adults.
Immense pressure for vaccines as Christchurch measles outbreak number reaches 25
Suspected measles patients at a Christchurch medical practice are being told to wait in their cars, before masked nurses escort them to an isolation room.
Measles and MMR vaccination in NZ: The facts
An outbreak of measles in Canterbury has prompted huge demand for vaccinations, but what is the disease and how serious is it really? This Q&A explainer lays out the facts ...
Ministry issues reminder to stay safe from influenza-like illness
The Ministry of Health is reiterating its message to New Zealanders to keep safe from influenza-like illnesses, in light of an increase in reported cases around the country.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
New Gold Coast trial of mental health nurses proving to benefit patient
MENTAL health nurses are on the front line in emergency care as a calming presence in one of Gold Coast Health's most stressful and under pressure ...
Parliament: Shorter nursing diploma, greater support for mid-career nurses
SINGAPORE - Starting this year, enrolled nurses who did well during their Institute of Technical Education (ITE) training can apply for a shorter diploma programme to become registered nurses, Senior Minister of State for Health Amy Khor announced in Parliament on Wednesday (March 6).
Nurses use social media to spread word on importance of vaccinations
At a time when some have become wary of vaccination, nurses have turned to social media to make people aware of the importance of immunization for the prevention of disease, particularly the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine due to ongoing cases of measles in the US. In a tweet, ANA President Earnest Grant said, "In January alone, there were 79 confirmed cases of measles, a disease declared eliminated from the U.S. in 2000. As nurses, it is our responsibility to educate patients on recommended vaccines."
Nurse (3/6)
Hospitals Finding New Ways to Integrate PAs and NPs
NATIONAL HARBOR, Maryland — Although the number of hospitals using nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs) has increased over the last couple of years, many hospitals continue to underuse them, according to the most recent Society of Hospital Medicine State of Hospital Medicine report.
WELLBEING
Q&A: Why Nurses Should Practice Self-Care
Psychiatric nurse Jonathan Llamas, RN-BC, shares his insights
ARTICLES OF INTEREST
Innovation in Primary Healthcare: can it improve health sector productivity and health outcomes? Sandra Moore
Health systems everywhere are facing significant challenges – demand pressures from an ageing population, a rise in chronic health conditions, and greater community expectations as more new health treatments are developed. There are three possible responses to this: increasing health funding (increasing inputs), rationing health services (restricting outputs) or increasing productivity through innovation (doing things differently and more efficiently). This article looks at innovation in New Zealand’s primary healthcare sector and recent attempts to measure its impact across the health system.
Access full pdf of issue here. Scroll down to page 62 for article
Analysis of interviews to uncover the effects of nurse prescribing on the doctor-nurse relationship
THE AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING
VOLUME 36 ISSUE 2
The introduction of nurse prescribing has had a profound effect on how patients obtain a prescription. Yet very little has been researched about the effects of nurse prescribing on the professional relationship between nurses and doctors since its introduction. It was this lack of enquiry that led to this research study to see if this relationship has changed since the introduction of the nurse prescriber.
Download Article
MINISTRY OF HEALTH
Bowel Cancer Quality Improvement Report 2019
The report measures the quality of care and outcomes for people diagnosed and treated for bowel cancer in New Zealand and provides a baseline for ongoing quality improvement.
This publication presents the first results using the Ministry’s National Collections to calculate quality performance indicators for bowel cancer.
The primary audience for this publication includes those who deliver care to people with bowel cancer and manage the delivery of health services.
The report identifies opportunities to drive quality improvement in bowel cancer diagnosis and treatment services leading to better outcomes for people with bowel cancer.
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 12 March 2019
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