Welcome to the College of Nurses Aotearoa News Update.
No. 452, Wednesday 10 July 2019
NATIONAL NEWS
Māori nurse acknowledged with award
Stella Williams (Te Rarawa, Te Aupōuri and Ngā Puhi) is this year’s winner of the Waitematā DHB’s Te Kauae Raro Māori Nursing and Midwifery Award, in recognition of her achievements and hard work in the health sector.
College of Midwives elects first Māori president
The New Zealand College of Midwives has elected its first Māori president, Nicole Pihema.
Treatment of hospital staff 'appalling'
Otago Daily Times
Also, there is a feeling among those nurses that they are being bullied out of their jobs. The Otago Daily Times met two former and six present nurses ...
Māori Development Ministry, Te Puni Kōkiri, accused of failing Māori and breaching Treaty
Waitangi Tribunal claimant Kerri Nuku is furious.
She represents four thousand Māori nurses and health workers in the New Zealand Nurses Organisation and gave evidence against Te Puni Kōkiri, the Māori Development Ministry last year during the Waitangi Tribunal Health Services and Outcomes Inquiry.
Simon Wallace: Why are aged care nurses so undervalued?
New Zealand Herald
Why are registered nurses who work outside of District Health Boards (DHBs) so undervalued? All registered nurses are highly trained and skilled ...
Former Auckland nurse supports coalition troops in Iraq
Press Release – New Zealand Defence Force. As one of several military nurses supporting coalition troops in Iraqs Camp Taji, New Zealand Army ...
AGING AND AGED CARE
Rest-home falls short in audit
Meanwhile, the St Kilda rest-home has brought in a new nurse manager ... The latest audit, undertaken by Health and Disability Auditing New Zealand for ... The Otago Daily Times understands the nurse manager at the time of the ...
REPORT: NEW ZEALAND’S RESPITE CARE SYSTEM IS IN CRISIS
A new report, prepared by the New Zealand Carers Alliance in association with Alzheimers NZ and IHC, documents the significant problems facing the respite system, many parts of which are broken and need fixing.
CANCER
'Miracle drug' Keytruda approved for use earlier in melanoma treatment
A cancer treatment described as a "miracle drug" by many patients has been approved for use in melanoma patients before their cancer spreads and becomes advanced.
DHBs
Government offers $1.7b to help DHBs with cost of new builds
District health boards across the country could save millions on new builds after a $1.7 billion cash lifeline from the Government.
Unstable leadership, growing deficit and 'change fatigue': Waikato DHB critiqued in review
Frequent leadership changes, poor oversight, and a lack of financial literacy are just some of the issues uncovered in a damning review of Waikato District Health Board.
Senior clinicians tell Hawke's Bay DHB they fear for safety of patients due to pressure and under-investment
Senior clinicians in Hawke's Bay have told the Director-General of Health that the region's health services are in dire shape due to under-investment and have compared the situation to one in Britain where hundreds of patients died due to inadequate care.
DIABETES
Two new studies have been launched to help address the high rates of diabetes in New Zealand.
Diabetes is a chronic disease that occurs when the pancreas is no longer able to make insulin, or when the body cannot make good use of the insulin it produces.
EDUCATION
$1.5m study hub at Southland Hospital officially launching next month
Student interns working at Southland Hospital will be given a boost from next month with a $1.5 million study hub officially opening.
MENTAL HEALTH
When it’s easier to get meds than therapy: how poverty makes it hard to escape mental illness
The poorer people are, the higher their chances of contending with domestic violence, crime, social conflict, homelessness and unemployment.
New suicide prevention programme Every Life Matters attracts support
Those working in suicide prevention are largely supportive of a new Government road-map to tackle the problem.
OBESITY / SUGAR
Fighting obesity at grass roots level in South Auckland
A group of South Aucklanders who have lost hundreds of kilos between them say health authorities need to get back to grass roots to fight obesity there.
Obese patients stuck in hospital because nowhere suitable for discharge
Four severely overweight patients have been stuck at Middlemore Hospital for months because there is nowhere suitable for them to be discharged to.
PHARMACY
Pharmac has spent tens of millions on OxyContin, blamed for America's opioid crisis
Pharmac has spent tens of millions of dollars funding a painkiller at the centre of the American opioid crisis. Experts say it has created a whole new population of drug users. National Correspondent Tony Wall investigates.
PRIMARY HEALTH CARE
Salvation Army to trial free GP clinic in West Auckland
The Salvation Army is to trial a free GP clinic in West Auckland because it says there's an immediate demand for it.
PUBLIC HEALTH
Call for compulsory vaccinations, as NZ grapples with measles outbreak
The Government has no plans to pass legislation to increase vaccination rates, despite a major study showing law changes have worked well overseas.
Measles outbreak: Lower vaccination age sees 1555 Auckland babies immunised
More than 1500 extra children were immunised against measles in the three weeks after the vaccination age was reduced in Auckland.
Rising STI rate in NZ due to 'failure' of sexual health services
New Zealand's sexual health services are failing our marginal communities, according to an expert in the field who has called for urgent investment to curb the rise in sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
TOBACCO, DRUGS AND ALCOHOL
Drug reform impact lost in politicians' war of words
ANALYSIS: A war of words is raging over the war on drugs, as the Health Select Committee reports back on the most significant piece of drug reform legislation in 40 years.
Smokefree 2025: The ever-mutating Government plan to stamp out smoking
It's been through several iterations, and at one point was dubbed "National Party bulldust" by Winston Peters but, despite its naysayers, Smokefree 2025 has yet to go up in smoke.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Iowa nursing school creates apprenticeship program
The University of Iowa College of Nursing is adding a registered nurse apprenticeship program to its online nurse residency program using $150,000 from Iowa Workforce Development. The goal is to have 200 apprentices by October 2020. Daily Nurse (6/27)
Nurses need to understand their full worth, NP tells UN
Nurses need to understand their value beyond daily patient care, said nurse practitioner Veronica Southerland, who spoke at the United Nations about how nursing entrepreneurs and innovators can affect global health policy. "Once you realize that you have more to add to your profession and that people actually need to hear what you have to say via your experience or research that you've completed, it makes a difference," Southerland said. Nurse (6/30)
Patient experience improves when nurses have good listening skills
A nurse-led qualitative study found patients who perceived that nurses listened to them were more likely to follow their care plans and were better able to make themselves comfortable after discharge. By helping nurses to develop listening skills, nurse leaders can improve the patient experience and improve survey scores as well, researcher Nancy Loos says.
Most problems with catheter use stem from poor physician-nurse communication
Indwelling devices like catheters cause roughly 25% of hospital infections, but ongoing efforts to reduce catheter use and misuse haven't succeeded as much as health care workers would like.
Why compassion fatigue plagues nurses and how to help: Q&A with Jefferson College of Nursing's Dr. Catie Harris
Catie Harris, PhD, RN, associate professor in the graduate programs at Philadelphia-based Jefferson College of Nursing, discusses compassion fatigue, an often-ignored phenomena among nurses and caregivers who are on the front lines of trauma.
ARTICLES OF INTEREST
Changing provider behaviour to increase nurse visits for obesity in family practice: the 5As Team randomized controlled trial
cmajo May 30, 2019 vol. 7 no. 2 E371-E378
Background: There is increasing recognition that health care professionals often fail to provide meaningful obesity care in routine clinical practice. There is scant information on how to support practice change. The objective of the 5AsT trial was to assess whether a co-created educational intervention would increase the quantity of obesity visits conducted by family practice nurses.
The Art of Clinical Supervision: strategies to assist with the delivery of student feedback
THE AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING
VOLUME 36 ISSUE 3
The Art of Clinical Supervision (ACS) seminar was developed to provide health professionals with the essential knowledge, skill and attitude to support student clinical learning. This paper provides an outline of the strategies provided to participants to support the delivery of feedback to students on clinical placement.
Download Article
REPORTS ONLINE
Climate Change and Health: It’s time for nurses to act
As nurses we instinctively know that patient health is closely tied to the patient’s environment. This discussion paper on climate change and health urges nurses to consider the macro-level of our environment: planet Earth. Over the coming decades, our rapidly changing climate will pose the biggest threat to human health and well-being across every region of our planet.
LEGISLATION and CONSULTATION
Public submissions are now being invited on this Inquiries
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 9 July 2019
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