Welcome to the College of Nurses Aotearoa News Update.
No. 607 Wednesday 24 August 2022
Weekly news round-up of nursing and health information in New Zealand and internationally
New Zealand news
Nursing Council Refreshes English Language Competence Policy | New Zealand Doctor
The Nursing Council of New Zealand today announced a refresh of its English Language Competence policy.
Flight nurse clocks 1000 flights on her last day - Te Whatu Ora Taranaki | Voxy.co.nz
Flight nurse Aileen Kirby is just one of four ICU nurses at Health New Zealand - Te Whatu Ora Taranaki to reach 1000 patient flights - and she did ...
New nurses to ease hospital workforce crisis - Waatea News: Māori Radio Station
Te Whatu Ora’s chief medical officer says help could soon be on the way for understaffed hospitals and primary care.
Posters put up at Waitakere Hospital complaining about 'nursing crisis' torn down ahead of Health Minister's visit, nurse says
Signs placed in a corridor within Waitakere Hospital complaining about pay and shortages were removed by staff ahead of a visit by Health Minister Andrew Little, a nurse says.
New Zealand announces new partnership to develop Tonga's resilient health workforce
Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta has concluded her visit to Tonga, meeting the Minister of Health Dr Saia Piukala and frontline healthcare workers in Nuku’alofa.
ICU head shuts down Act's criticism over intensive-care bed numbers - NZ Herald
An authority on New Zealand's intensive care resources believes Act's claim of poor improvement in ICU bed numbers doesn't account for the years of training ICU staff often require.
The cost of a health crisis: 'It's not worth my health and my sanity'
When registered nurse Becky walked across the Christchurch Arena stage to collect her nursing degree she was filled with hope, optimism and pride.
International news
Burnt out with intentions to leave: We need ‘NurseKeeper’
They are burnt out, exhausted and severly underpaid. And they also happen to be one of the country’s most critical segments of the workforce, that effectively underpins everything else.
UK equips nurses with smart goggles to see more patients | The Straits Times
The virtual reality headsets will help nurses transcribe medical records and automate admin work. Read more at straitstimes.com.
Exodus of medical staff a global issue: MOH - FBC News
The Ministry of Health is looking to address the exodus of medical staff, which has led to staff shortages and workers clocking long hours.
Acute violence: new care model to improve hospital staff safety
The Sydney Local Health District (SLHD) will implement a new care-model where a specialised experienced team will be available 24/7, to aid in preventing and responding to acute work-related violence.
Aged care
Staff shortages force closure of Upper Hutt nursing home after almost 100 years in operation
An aged care facility which has survived almost 100 years will close due to staff shortages.
St Joseph's Home of Compassion in Upper Hutt has been seriously affected by the nursing shortage, and up until now has been running on "fumes", says its co-chief executive.
Aged Care Commissioner calls for 'urgent intervention' on workforce issues | Stuff.co.nz
Carolyn Cooper has only been in the aged care watch dog role since March but is already calling for “urgent Government intervention” to address critical staffing shortages.
Cancer issues
New mobile cancer scan unit hitting the road to help ease barriers, wait-times
A new mobile cancer diagnosis scanning unit aims to improve access to healthcare for Kiwis living in rural or deprived parts of the country, and help cut wait-times.
Children and young people
Scabies rife at Auckland preschools, with 56% of surveyed children affected
Scabies are rife at some Auckland preschools – and are often misdiagnosed, a new report has found. Read more
Worse health and welfare outcomes for children under 5, report finds
Children under five years old experience significantly worse outcomes in health and welfare than children over five, according to a new report. Read more
Covid
Lessons to be learned from Southern Pacific Covid response, leader says
The new Pacific Health director says Pacific providers in the south have shown their strength throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.
Covid-19: What will drive NZ's next wave?
New Zealand's next Covid-19 wave will most likely be driven by an entirely new variant, experts say – but there's so far little on the horizon with the potential to fuel another surge.
Covid-19: Aotearoa could see ‘a bit of respite’ in coming months - modeller
The country’s Covid-19 coast looks “relatively clear” on the other side of the second Omicron wave, a leading modeller says.
Education
From learner to lecturer - Muza navigates through the world of nursing - Voxy.co.nz
It was 2003 and Gladys Muza, a maths teacher, was becoming envious of her Zimbabwean friends’ travels across the world. She was ready for her own overseas adventures and wanted to head to the ‘adventure capital of the world’ - New Zealand.
Emergency/urgent care
Emergency departments feeling weight of strained health system
Winter continues to put pressure on our already struggling health system, with record numbers of patients turning to emergency departments leaving hospital staff worried they cannot keep up.
HDC cases and disciplinary actions
'Your heart goes out of your stomach' - the lasting trauma of complaints for health workers
The psychiatrist was sitting in bed when he first heard the news – a man had committed a violent act on his family, then killed himself.
“I thought ‘God no, please no, it can’t be’.”
Use of bandaging on elderly woman caused unacceptable harm and distress - HDC
The importance of applying a patient-centred approach to care, and involving family members when warranted was highlighted in a decision published by Deputy Commissioner, Rose Wall.
Health NZ Te Whatu Ora
Health NZ chairperson warns sector 'more dysfunctional' than he thought | Stuff.co.nz
The chairperson of the newly-minted Health New Zealand has warned the sector is “more dysfunctional” than he thought and cautioned that “defensive" attitudes risk slowing plans to overhaul the health sector.
Hospitals directed to book surgical slot for thousands of patients by month's end
Hospitals have until the end of the month to book a surgical slot for thousands of patients who have been waiting longer than a year.
South Auckland’s elective surgery backlog grows by 251% in a year
The number of people in Counties Manukau waiting more than four months for non-acute surgery has grown by 251% over the past year.
Health system
Investing in health, education and welfare can actually save money
OPINION: Our healthcare system is under enormous pressure, with staff suffering unacceptable levels of stress, and this issue pre-dates the appearance of Covid-19.
Health workforce and recruitment
Thousands of extra workers to be allowed into New Zealand | RNZ News
The government will allow some sectors to pay skilled migrant workers less than the new median wage requirements in a bid to address workplace shortages across the country.
Māori nurses say focus should be on building Māori workforce over recruiting overseas nurses
Māori nurses are calling for more Māori health workers amid growing staff ... The government was building the New Zealand-trained workforce and ...
Nursing, aged-care sectors say Government's temporary changes to relieve workforce ... - Newshub
"We would have liked to have seen an announcement around nurses, for nurses to be given immediate residency," said New Zealand Aged Care ...
Maori health
Rongoā: Māori healing working alongside modern medicine
Te Papanui, a general medical practice clinic recently opened by King Tūheitia, features rongoā practitioners, who offer advice and treatments to visiting patients, alongside doctors and other medical professionals.
Mental health
School counselling programme achieving 10% of its target
A Government scheme to get counsellors in schools is on track to achieve less than 10% of the 100,000 hours of mental health support it was expected to deliver.
Most people with gambling problems never seek help: study
Worldwide, one in every 400 adults seeks help for gambling – but a researcher says that's just scratching the surface.
Pasifika health
More health funding for Pacific communities
Pacific organisations, with a focus on health and social services, are urged to apply for support from the the new Pacific Community Health Fund. Read more
Respiratory
Asthma NZ Leverages Tech And Exponential Thinking To Slash Asthma Hospitalisations ...
Asthma New Zealand has embarked on a transformational digitalisation journey as it seeks to slash asthma and COPD hospitalisations by 50% by 2029.
At work
Can clinical (reflective) supervision help reduce workplace bullying?
Bullying in the nursing profession remains commonplace. At its worst, it can have serious negative effects on workers’ physical and mental wellbeing, workplace culture, productivity, and patient care.
Legislation
The following documents matching your alert criteria are available on the New Zealand Parliament website:
Published 22 Aug 2022, Updated 22 Aug 2022 - Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Bill
Public submissions are now being invited on this Bill
Reports and Journals online
School nursing: looking after the health and wellbeing of school children
This publication summarises school nurses' important role in the education system and includes case studies from across the country focused on how they provide an invaluable role to children. (Local Government, UK)
Articles of interest
Guaranteeing dignity and decent work for migrant nurses and health care workers beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.
Shaffer, F. A., Álvarez, T. D., & Stievano, A. (2022).
Journal of Nursing Management, 1– 4. https://doi.org/10.1111/jonm.13751
Aim(s)
The main aim of this article is to outline the devastating aftereffects of COVID-19 in terms of ethical recruitment and the respect of dignity of nurses and health care professionals.
Background
Nations experience the ominous impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of an exacerbated shortage of nurses worldwide. In this situation, migration flows of nurses are skyrocketing and the respect of the migrant nurses' dignity as human beings should be guaranteed.
‘What is this about? Let’s play this out’: the experience of integrating primary health care registered nurses with school learning and support teams.
Sanford Catherine, Saurman Emily, Dennis Sarah, Lyle David (2022)
Australian Journal of Primary Health 28, 321-329
Changes in public health profiles and moves towards inclusive models of education have led to significant number of students in mainstream schools with special health needs. Addressing these needs requires collaboration between health professionals, educators and families. Integrated models of school-based health care can facilitate this collaboration; however, there is little evidence to guide their implementation. The School-Based Primary Health Care Service (SB-PHCS) is one such service that has been established in far west New South Wales. The School-Based Primary Health Care Service embeds health district-employed registered nurses with school learning support teams to increase service access, and improve health and education outcomes for students. We conducted focus groups with nurses and learning support teams to explore their experiences of implementing the School-Based Primary Health Care Service. Focus group transcripts were analysed using framework analysis. We found that defining the role and working across systems were challenges to program implementation, whereas a collaborative culture, relationship building and flexibility in work processes facilitated the integration of nurses into the school teams. We recommend others embarking on similar initiatives involve key stakeholders early in service development, understand each other’s systems and processes, and provide clarity about the new role, but plan to adapt the role to fit the context. This study will be of interest to those involved in the implementation of integrated models of school-based health care.
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 of 23 August
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