Welcome to the College of Nurses Aotearoa News Update.
No. 612 Wednesday 28 September 2022
Weekly news round-up of nursing and health information in New Zealand and internationally
New Zealand news
NZ Nurses: Caring for our people 1900-1950 - Otago Daily Times
Pamela Wood is nurse who also has a PhD in history and her book is a neat balancing act between the demands of giving an historical context to the ...
Flying nurses keep smiling through the bumps | Stuff.co.nz
Flying nurse Tania Parr is an expert at smiling through the bumps.
The registered nurse and flight coordinator has been on the job for 13 years now, and has seen a lot of changes, from the days when she was “pulled off the floor” in ICU to work in an unpressurised plane to recent work ferrying patients home during the floods.
New Auckland City Hospital 'Earn and Learn' programme to help tackle nursing staff shortage
Cleaners, hospitality workers and caregivers at Auckland City Hospital could soon be healthcare assistants.
It's part of a new "Earn and Learn" programme aimed at upskilling employees to help tackle the desperate shortage of nursing staff.
Battle looms over incentive payments
A battle is looming over incentive payments for additional shifts to fill desperately under-staffed hospital wards. NZNO members are vowing to stop doing them completely for the week of October 3-9 in a national protest while Te Whatu Ora says there won’t be any need for them after September 30 anyway.
Bonnie Matehaere appointed as new Assistant Director of Nursing - YouTube
Bonnie Matehaere has been appointed the new Assistant Director of Nursing in the Mid Central District.
International news
Australian nurses speak out over hospital and aged care understaffing - 9Now - Nine
Amanda Short has been a nurse for 40 years but retired early due to overwhelming stress over the last 12 months.
Emory School of Nursing celebrates state-of-the-art Emory Nursing Learning Center
The Emory University Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its new Emory Nursing Learning Center (ENLC) in downtown Decatur on Friday, September 16.
Where have all the nurses gone? And how do hospitals get them back? - Cleveland.com
CLEVELAND, Ohio — When COVID-19 swept the globe, the world took note of the people who were responsible for managing an unprecedented number of critically ill patients.
Nursing Associations Applaud Legislation to Remove Practice Barriers
SILVER SPRING, MD – The American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology (AANA), the American Association of Nurse Practitioners® (AANP), the American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM) and the American Nurses Association (ANA) are joining together to strongly support the Improving Care and Access to Nurses (ICAN) Act. We applaud the introduction of this legislation by Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA) and Rep. Dave Joyce (R-OH), which marks an important step in further recognizing the vital role advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) have in our nation’s health care system.
Survey: 1 in 5 nurses would not pursue career again - Fierce Healthcare
Though a majority of nurses said they were glad they entered the field, according to a new survey, about 1 in 5 added they probably would choose a different career if given a chance to do it again.
“Just a nurse”: The devaluation of the nursing profession is undeserved
“I am just a nurse.”
These are the words my professors had me swear by oath to never speak during my first day of nursing school. I have never uttered these words because I have never believed them. I’ve always respected the nursing profession and, in general, disagree entirely with devaluing a much-needed component of a functioning society.
Nurse shortage could reach more than 1M by end of year - ABC7 Chicago
CHICAGO (WLS) -- Some are calling it a national crisis: a shortage of nurses. The problem was percolating even before the pandemic. Now, the projected deficit could be more than 1 million nurses by the end of the year.
Scotland's student nursing intake 700 short of target - BBC News
The number of student nurses recruited in Scotland this year is 700 short of the government's target.
University admissions service Ucas figures show that out of 4,837 nurse and midwife places funded for 2022-23, just 4,130 students have been accepted.
Plan to recruit Nepal nurses for NHS puts them 'at risk of exploitation' - The Guardian
Plans to recruit nurses from Nepal to help plug shortages in the NHS will expose workers to an “unacceptable risk” of exploitation and should be ...
Nurses wanted for Staffordshire 'virtual wards' - BBC News
Up to 95 nurses are needed to staff new "virtual wards" in Staffordshire.
The NHS said the project aimed to deliver "hospital-equivalent care to patients" in their own home or another community setting.
Aged care
New report: Digital transformation vital to meet future aged care needs
New Zealand's aged care sector must embrace digital transformation if ... with the chief executive of New Zealand Nurses Organisation saying there ...
Māori have tools to take dementia head on
Researchers from the University of Auckland have found elderly Māori with dementia can reduce their symptoms in a te reo Māori setting such as a marae.
Cancer issues
Māori men are being 'let down': Prostate Cancer Foundation
New Zealand men - especially, Māori men - are being "let down" by Pharmac, the Prostate Cancer Foundation NZ says.
Covid
An Official Inquiry into the Covid-19 Pandemic Response – It’s Time and it’s Vital
The Government has acknowledged the need for a formal review of the Covid-19 pandemic response. In this blog we explain how it is now time to announce the process and timetable for such an official inquiry. We note that all sudden mass fatality events with 10+ deaths since 1936 in Aotearoa NZ have resulted in an official inquiry. Ensuring an inquiry has lasting usefulness will depend on the depth and scope of the terms of reference, taking a forward-looking and depoliticised approach. Effective follow-up of recommendations through legislation, active implementation, and enforcement by Government will also be required. (See here a very short video summary of this blog, and here for a longer video.)
Axed border testing leaves NZ flying blind on new Covid-19 variants - experts
New Zealand is on the back foot in preparing for new Covid-19 variants now requirements for international arrivals to test have ended, health experts say.
HDC cases and disciplinary actions
Inmate who died after eating sharp objects was assessed as not at risk
An inmate at an Auckland prison who died after ingesting sharp objects in his cell had been assessed as not at risk of hurting himself.
Health NZ Te Whatu Ora
Te Whatu Ora to make some health information public again | RNZ News
Some health information that has been unavailable to the public since district health boards were abolished is soon to be made available again.
Radiologists warn Health NZ of potentially fatal failures - 1News
Health authorities have been given a behind-closed-doors warning poor radiology reporting throughout the central region is endangering people's lives..
Clearing the air: ICU a mammoth undertaking | Otago Daily Times Online News
Three years after it was meant to open to receive patients, the second stage of the new intensive care unit at Dunedin Hospital remains a building site. Health reporter Mike Houlahan tours the facility and learns just how complex trying to get the multimillion-dollar ward up and running is proving to be.
Public holiday surgery cancellations disappointing for deferred patients - Te Whatu Ora
The head of Health New Zealand says she sympathises with people missing out on surgery because of the public holiday to remember the Queen.
Health research
Hope 'magic mushrooms' could help treat Kiwis with severe depression
A hallucinogenic class A drug could one day help treat of hundreds of thousands of Kiwis suffering severe depression. Read more
Injury
Birth injuries to be covered by ACC under new law passed by Parliament
Parliament has passed a law that will have Accident Compensation Commission cover the cost of injuries from traumatic births.
Pharmacy
Puberty blockers still considered safe and reversible, health ministry says
The Ministry of Health is reiterating puberty blockers are safe and reversible for young people wanting to halt potentially unwanted physical changes, after minor changes on its website led anti-trans groups to claim its position on the medicine had changed.
Pharmac seeking feedback on nusinersen and adrenaline auto-injectors funding
Te PÄtaka Whaioranga - Pharmac has initiated two consultations today, seeking feedback on the funding of two different medicines that we've heard are very important to many New Zealanders. One is for funding nusinersen (branded as Spinraza) for people with the rare genetic disorder spinal muscular atrophy, and the other is for funding adrenaline auto-injectors for people at risk of anaphylaxis.
At work
Retaining novice nurses
Takeaways:
High nurse turnover comes with costs that are great both to the nursing talent pool and to the financial resources of an institution.
Novice nurses experience the greatest risk of turnover.
It behooves administrators to develop creative strategies for supporting novice nurses, such as establishing of a New Nurse Council.
Reports and Journals online
Nurse and midwife staffing models
Tom Gotsis
PUBLISHER Parliamentary Research Service (NSW)
8 SEP 2022
This e-brief sets out the main features of legislated ratios and Nursing Hours Per Patient Days (NHPPDs), and the manner in which they are applied. It shows where in Australia each model is used, and notes that in many States and Territories the NHPPD model is being actively reviewed.
Māori Health Review
Issue 99
In this issue, we feature a NZ randomised controlled trial of 3% Kānuka oil cream for the treatment of adults with moderate-to-severe eczema, of whom 25% were Māori.
Other highlights include:
Indigenous adolescent health in NZ
- The role of Rongoā Māori in healing the land
- Acute alcohol use and suicide deaths
Articles of interest
Evolving beyond antiracism: Reflections on the experience of developing a cultural safety curriculum in a tertiary education setting.
Hall, K., Vervoort, S., Del Fabbro, L., Rowe Minniss, F., Saunders, V., Martin, K., Bialocerkowski, A., Milligan, E., Syron, M., & West, R. (2022).
Nursing Inquiry, e12524. https://doi.org/10.1111/nin.12524
There is an inextricable link between cultural and clinical safety. In Australia high-profile Aboriginal deaths in custody, publicised institutional racism in health services and the international Black Lives Matter movement have cemented momentum to ensure culturally safe care. However, racism within health professionals and health professional students remains a barrier to increasing the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health professionals. The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Strategy's objective to ‘eliminate racism from the health system’, and the recent adoption of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples led cultural safety definition, has instigated systems level reflections on decolonising practice. This article explores cultural safety as the conceptual antithesis to racism, examining its origins, and contemporary evolution led by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia, including its development in curriculum innovation. The application of cultural safety is explored using in-depth reflection, and the crucial development of integrating critical consciousness theory, as a precursor to culturally safe practice, is discussed. Novel approaches to university curriculum development are needed to facilitate culturally safe and decolonised learning and working environments, including the key considerations of non-Indigenous allyship and collaborative curriculum innovations and initiatives.
The article below is not freely available but may be accessed through databases and libraries to which readers have access.
Nurse Practitioner Leadership Essential: Ensuring a Positive Onboarding Experience for New Nurse Practitioners.
Kapu, April DNP, APRN, ACNP-BC, FAANP, FCCM, FAAN.
JONA: The Journal of Nursing Administration: September 2022 - Volume 52 - Issue 9 - p 447-448 doi: 10.1097/NNA.0000000000001180
This month's column highlights the importance of a comprehensive employee onboarding program for newly hired nurse practitioners and 6 essential components for a successful program.
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 27 September
If you have any feedback about content - what parts are most useful or what you would like added - please email admin@nurse.org.nz
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