Welcome to the College of Nurses Aotearoa News Update.
No. 457, Wednesday 14 August 2019
NATIONAL NEWS
Registered nurse prescribing in community health
A successful trial has helped pave the way for a managed roll out of limited nurse prescribing in community settings
Army of Māori nurses needed to fight disparities in the health system
Only 8 percent of nurses were Māori and Ms Nuku wanted to double that to help increase the voice and influence of Māori in the health system, she ...
Cutting edge technology boosts nursing students’ learning
Imagine being able to see inside a patient, exploring how different conditions affect the human body and how to fix such ailments, all with the peace of mind that the patient is completely safe at all times.
Good progress hiring extra nurses: DHB
Last year, as part of the settlement to the long-running employment dispute between DHBs and members of the New Zealand Nurses Organisation ...
Lack of nurses at Auckland City Hospital leads to man wetting himself twice
A man is questioning the lack of nurses on hospital wards after he wet the bed twice while he was left alone for hours. Paul Sisson was admitted to ...
Significant shortage: Mental health nurses hard to find in Canterbury
The shortage of nurses elsewhere in New Zealand has been described as a crisis. In July, the New Zealand Nurses' Organisation suggested the army ...
Allied Health and nursing staff in rural Southland seeking pay equity
Allied Health and nursing staff at rural hospitals in the south are seeking wages similar to Southern District Health Board standard after being excluded from settlements last year.
Nursing 'crisis': 208 nurses needed at Counties Manukau DHB
Nurses at Middlemore Hospital say they are facing burnout and worry about putting patients at risk due to a staff shortage as the hospital tries to fill more than 200 full-time nursing positions.
No CPR for rest home resident who choked to death on mashed potato
An elderly rest home resident who was choking on mashed potato died without the nurse who responded to her attempting CPR, the Health and Disability Commission has found.
SICK TO DEATH
Why the New Zealand health system is still failing Māori
Māori are more likely to die from cancer, heart failure and many more medical conditions than non-Māori – and it’s not just about poverty or lifestyle factors. Is denial about the cultural failings of our health system costing people's lives?
AGING AND AGED CARE
New Zealand study shows positive effect of music and dance on older adults with dementia
Stereotypically viewed as passive and immobile, a University of Otago, New Zealand, pilot study has shown the powerful influence music and dance can have on older adults with dementia.
Dementia survey shows Kiwis scared, but not prepared
It’s one of the biggest challenges facing the country’s health system - one that will cost the economy $4.5 billion and affect more than 170,000 New Zealanders by 2050.
CANCER
The patients to benefit from new cancer funding
The announcement that Pharmac will fund two new cancer drugs from December has been met with huge jubilation by the groups that have lobbied so hard for this.
CHILD AND MATERNAL HEALTH
Pre-school health checks topping the success charts in Whanganui
"You need good links and good networks, and we work with public health nurses, Plunket nurses, iwi organisations, Tamariki Ora and early childhood ...
Starship children's hospital facing critical care capacity issues, cancelling operations
New Zealand's national children's hospital is struggling with capacity issues in its neonatal and paediatric intensive care units.
Manurewa's preventable illness problem: thousands of children affected, foundation says
Thousands of children are hospitalised every year with preventable illness, prompting a drive to improve childhood health in south Auckland's Manurewa.
Māori health advocate calls for changes to 'appalling' Māori child welfare, uplift protocol
A midwife and Māori health advocate is calling for changes to New Zealand's "appalling" and "inherently racist" state welfare system.
Epilim: Hundreds of babies exposed to medicine known to cause birth defects
Hundreds, if not thousands, of unborn babies have been exposed to a medicine known to cause serious birth defects. Officials are accused of being too slow in reacting to the threat. Blair Ensor reports.
Baby dies with high levels on alcohol in tiny body, experts call for better awareness
There is not enough awareness in New Zealand about the dangers of consuming alcohol while breastfeeding.
ETHICAL ISSUES
Abortion Legislation Bill passes first reading in Parliament
The Abortion Legislation Bill has passed its first reading in Parliament, after MPs made heartfelt contributions on both sides of the debate.
INFECTION CONTROL
Tuvaluan community drives message to improve skin infection rates
A community-driven approach has played a vital role in a project that has reduced by more than 40 percent the rate of skin and soft tissue infections among under 25-year-olds in West Auckland’s Tuvaluan community.
MENTAL HEALTH
Rangitīkei practice offering free counselling could be replicated
A Rangitīkei practice that offers free counselling sessions is calling on other communities to replicate a similar model.
PATIENT SAFETY
Health board and air rescue service charged in relation to patient's fall
Hawke's Bay District Health Board and air rescue service Skyline Aviation have appeared in court in relation to a man who was seriously injured and later died after falling from a stretcher.
PUBLIC HEALTH
NZ’s flu season may have peaked
The latest influenza surveillance shows a continuing drop in numbers of flu and flu-like illnesses around the country for the fourth week running.
RESPIRATORY
Improving health equity the focus of new TB guidelines
The Ministry of Health has today released new Guidelines for Tuberculosis (TB) Control in New Zealand 2019, an important step towards eradicating the disease and improving health equity.
TOBACCO, DRUGS AND ALCOHOL
New Zealand's alcohol toll: 8000 premature deaths, $70 billion social cost
Alcohol Action New Zealand says about 8000 New Zealanders have died prematurely in the past 10 years because of hazardous drinking.
Well-being must include alcohol reform - advocacy group
As beer lovers kick their knees up at Beervana, an advocacy group against the social and health impacts of alcohol says the government and its predecessors have been ignoring the issue of alcohol harm.
Major report into reducing alcohol harm ignored for almost a decade
Successive governments have been accused of turning a blind eye to a drug that sees thousands of Kiwis end up in jail cells, hospitals and early graves.
WOMEN’S HEALTH
Women denied treatment for gynaecological problems deemed 'non-urgent'
Women in South Auckland are being denied treatment for incontinence and other gynaecological problems deemed "non-urgent" because the DHB is too busy to see them.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Burnout affects 3 in 10 nurses at nursing homes, study finds
Thirty percent of registered nurses at nursing homes report high levels of burnout, according to a study published July 23 in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
The study aimed to examine the relationship between RN burnout, job dissatisfaction and missed care in nursing homes. Researchers conducted a cross-sectional secondary analysis of linked data from the 2015RN4CAST-US nurse survey and LTCfocus. The data represented 687 direct care RNs at 540 Medicare- and Medicaid-certified nursing homes in California, Florida, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Lawsuit expected in Samoa over baby deaths
The Samoa Ministry of Health is expected to be hit with a multimillion dollar lawsuit from the families of two babies who died from wrongly mixed vaccinations.
Review: Nurse internships, transition programs reduce turnover
A review of 53 articles found that internships and residency programs increased retention rates for new nurses by 24%, while transition-to-practice programs were associated with an 18% decrease in turnover. The findings were reported in the International Journal of Nursing Studies.
Nursing in Practice (8/5)
New Article: The Regulatory Implications of Engaging Registered Nurses in Diagnosis
A new article in the Journal of Nursing Regulation (JNR) notes that the Institute of Medicine (IOM, which was recently renamed the National Academy of Medicine) called for a reexamination of the registered nurse (RN) role in diagnosis in their report, Improving Diagnosis in Health Care. Additionally, the report’s top recommendation is, “to promote team-based diagnosis, specifically calling for the patient and nursing staff to be integral members of the team and contribute to the diagnostic process.”
WORKPLACE
What could the legalisation of cannabis mean for employers?
If cannabis is legalised employers will need to strike a balance between encroaching on the lawful activities employees might engage in during their own time, and ensuring employees are safe and productive at work. Most of us spend a significant amount of our adult lives at work. Arguably employers can only control what an employee does in their personal time as far as those activities impact their ability to safely and productively perform their role.
ARTICLES OF INTEREST
Cardwell, R. , Gray, R. , Davis, J. and McKenna, L. (2019), The illusion of clinical credibility and its importance to nurse education, practice and science. J Clin Nurs. Accepted Author Manuscript. doi:10.1111/jocn.14961
Opinions on how, what, where and who is best to educate, is a topic repeatedly discussed amongst nurses of all levels, qualifications and years of experience.
Whilst visiting a hospital to see students on clinical placement, a tearoom conversation with the nurse manager and staff discussing nurse education, was overheard. “The problem with nurse academics is they have no idea about the realities of the clinical environment, how can they possibly get these students ‘work ready’, when they haven't even set foot in a hospital for years? They're not clinically competent.”
There is unquestionably a perception among nurses in clinical practice that nurses working in academia are distant from the day‐to‐day clinical issues that are faced in ‘real life’ nursing.
Reddy R, Welch D, Lima I, et al
Identifying hearing care access barriers among older Pacific Island people in New Zealand: a qualitative study
BMJ Open 2019;9:e029007. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2019-029007
Objectives Hearing loss is one of the most prevalent conditions affecting older people. In addition, there is little known about the factors influencing the uptake of hearing services among underserved communities. Our objective was to identify the barriers to accessing hearing care services among older Pacific Island people in New Zealand.
This article is not freely available but may be accessed through databases and libraries to which readers have access.
Tabakakis, C. (., Mcallister, M. , Bradshaw, J. and To, Q. G. (2019), Psychological resilience in New Zealand registered nurses: The role of workplace characteristics. J Nurs Manag. Accepted Author Manuscript. doi:10.1111/jonm.12815
Aim : To investigate the impact of workplace factors on psychological resilience in registered nurses.
Background : Nursing is characterised by persistent workplace adversity. Psychological resilience has been postulated as a means to mitigate the effects of workplace adversity. There is little research that examines the role of workplace factors (i.e. practice environment and bullying) in shaping resilience.
CONSULTATION
09 Aug 2019 - Abortion Legislation Bill
Public submissions are now being invited on this Bill
The closing date for submissions is Thursday, 19 September 2019
Hon Ruth Dyson, Chairperson of the Abortion Legislation Committee, is calling for public submissions on the Abortion Legislation Bill. The bill seeks to have abortion services provided like other health services. It would do this by decriminalising abortion, modernising legislation related to abortion, and better aligning the regulation of abortion services with that of other health services.
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 13 August 2019
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