News bulletin 21 November 2012

Welcome to the College of Nurses – News Update.
No. 130,  Wednesday 21 November 2012  

From NZ media this week 

Funding boost for hospices continued
Associate Health Minister Jo Goodhew today announced that the current Boost Hospice Care funding will be rolled over for a further two years. 
http://www.nzdoctor.co.nz/un-doctored/2012/november-2012/14/funding-boost-for-hospices-continued.aspx 

Thrown in at the deep end: Learning leadership the hard way
Sonia Gamblen talked to 13 clinical nurse managers about the often ad hoc and haphazard path from bedside nurse to ward leader. Her research findings prompted a call for improved leadership and management training for nurses and her own local solution.
http://www.nursingreview.co.nz/pages/section/article.php?s=Features&idArticle=24714 

NURSES UPSET OVER SECOND PILOT WITH NEW WORKFORCE(aUDIO)
 A second trial is about to get under way of a hotly debated new kind of health worker known as a physician assistant.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2538514/nurses-upset-over-second-pilot-with-new-workforce-group 

New kind of health worker in rural trial
Five rural hospital and community health organisations are about to begin using a new kind of health worker in a two-year project.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/regional/120775/new-kind-of-health-worker-in-rural-trial 

Radical plan urged to lower baby death rate
School nurses handing out emergency contraceptive pills to teenage girls are among radical changes suggested to reduce the newborn and fetal death rate in South Auckland, which is 20 per cent above the national rate
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10847504 

Baby deaths could be 'curbed by local care'
High rates of stillbirths and newborn deaths in South Auckland could be curbed by mothers-to-be using local maternity care, social worker says.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/7971263/Baby-deaths-could-be-curbed-by-local-care 

DHB specific 

Important changes to accessing personal medical records
An improved system for sharing medical records between health professionals is expected to enhance patient care on the West Coast.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/GE1211/S00063/important-changes-to-accessing-personal-medical-records.htm 

Remote access a life saver
Sabaratnam Muthukumaraswamy has been looking at x-rays and scans and giving advice on what action to take for more than 30 years at Waikato Hospital. But recently implemented technology means he can now do it remotely – saving time and lives.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/GE1211/S00064/remote-access-a-life-saver.htm 

Regional Women’s Health Service Development Plan to be considered
A development plan, released today, to support the implementation of the Regional Women's Health Service (RWHS) between the Whanganui and MidCentral District Health Boards will be discussed at the next round of the boards' statutory committee meetings.
http://www.nzdoctor.co.nz/un-doctored/2012/november-2012/15/regional-women%E2%80%99s-health-service-development-plan-to-be-considered.aspx 

Hospital plan 'secrecy' upsets pair
Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB) members want to know why they are not being consulted on a business case for Christchurch's $600 million hospital redevelopment.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/7967066/Hospital-plan-secrecy-upsets-pair 

Bright future for new health board chief
Lakes District Health Board chief executive Ron Dunham has been in the job for just a few months. The Daily Post reporter Katie Holland talks to him about how he is settling in and what the future holds for Rotorua and Taupo hospitals.
http://www.rotoruadailypost.co.nz/news/bright-future-new-health-board-chief/1626257/ 

Minister opens new Tairawhiti Health Learning Centre
Associate Minister of Health Jo Goodhew today officially opened a new Tairawhiti District Health Board facility to enhance access to training and development opportunities.
The facility, which is called Ko Matakerepo - Tairawhiti Health Learning Centre, will focus on programmes for graduate health professionals and provides a dedicated space for training programmes.
http://www.nzdoctor.co.nz/un-doctored/2012/november-2012/16/minister-opens-new-tairawhiti-health-learning-centre.aspx 

International media 

PROPOSED LAW TO LET ADVANCED PRACTICE REGISTERED NURSES WORK UNDER OWN LICENSES (WITH VIDEO)
Michigan physician shortage would be mitigated by legislation for nurses.
ANN ARBOR—Reports indicate that Michigan faces a physician shortage much larger than the national average, and it will grow as millions of Americans qualify for insurance under the Affordable Care Act.
http://nursing.umich.edu/about-our-school/news-portal/201211/2720 

Temporary Nurses Are Similar to Permanent Ones, But More Diverse
November 17, 2012 - Supplemental, or temporary, nurses aren’t really so different from permanent nurses.A new study conducted under the auspices of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Nurse Faculty Scholars program examined 24 years’ worth of data from the National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses and found that the two groups are relatively similar in many respects. They tend to have similar education and experience levels, although the supplemental nursing workforce tends to be more diverse.
http://www.nursezone.com/Nursing-News-Events/more-news/Temporary-Nurses-Are-Similar-to-Permanent-Ones-But-More-Diverse_40756.aspx 

Mercy Health to hire 30 care coordinators after successful pilot program
Mercy had nurse care coordinators closely manage 310 high-risk patients, both as inpatients and outpatients. Officials were so pleased with the results, they plan to hire 30 more of the coordinators for 2013.
http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/eaaZCcjgAFCfdRtBCidmiUCicNYkSU?format=standard 

Doctors' And Nurses' Licenses Snagged By New Immigration Law In Georgia
Hundreds of health care workers in Georgia are losing their licenses to practice because of a problem created by a new immigration law in the state.
http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Stories/2012/November/12/Georgia-immigration.aspx?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+khn+%28All+Kaiser+Health+News%29 

Still Going Strong:Johnson & Johnson Campaign for Nursing’s Future turns 10
Ten years ago a nursing shortage loomed in the United States. A shortfall of about 400,000 nurses by 2020 was projected and, between 1983 and 1998, the proportion of RNs younger than 30 had dropped from 30% to 12%, according to a 2000 article in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
http://news.nurse.com/article/20121112/NATIONAL01/111120002 

CMS rule creates reimbursement opportunities for RNs
The American Nurses Association touted a new Medicare rule that calls for paying advanced practice RNs for primary care services intended to effectively manage patients’ transitions from hospitals to other settings while preventing complications and conditions that lead to expensive hospital readmissions.
http://news.nurse.com/article/20121115/AP02/311150004 

Nurses say NHS job cuts are harming care standards
Union claims that loss of over 6,000 posts is likely to affect care for older people and those with mental health conditions
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/nov/13/nurses-nhs-job-cuts-standards 

Nurses warn of 'workforce crisis' in NHS
The Royal College of Nursing has warned of a "deepening workforce crisis" in the NHS in England.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-20301766 

How can technology better support the UK’s nurses?
It didn’t take the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) This is nursing campaign to tell us what a critical job the nursing workforce is doing here in the UK. However, the campaign is doing a good job at ‘modernising’ public understanding of what nursing — a profession that has changed beyond recognition in the past few decades — really involves.
http://www.bj-hc.co.uk/views/vox-pop.html 

FIFO medicos cost $40,000 a month
Doctors and nurses from interstate and New Zealand are being flown to hospitals in regional and remote WA to cover short-term vacancies, costing taxpayers more than $40,000 a month.
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/breaking/15411433/fifo-medicos-cost-40000-a-month/ 

Nurse wellbeing has 'direct impact' on patient care
Levels of satisfaction and wellbeing among NHS staff have a direct impact on patients’ experiences of healthcare, according to a major study by leading UK nurse researchers
http://mail.nursingtimes.net/a/hBQqNTLB7gYBnB8VhI$NshWWRSq/hig3 

Public health 

Preventing childhood obesity starts early
The most practical way to prevent childhood obesity starts prior to conception with good maternal nutrition, Professor Sir Peter Gluckman told an audience of healthcare professionals at a nutrition symposium held at Massey University’s Albany campus last week.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/GE1211/S00076/preventing-childhood-obesity-starts-early.htm 

National programme to improve endoscopy services
Health Minister Tony Ryall has announced $1.8 million is being invested over two years for the national roll out of a programme to improve endoscopy services.
http://www.nzdoctor.co.nz/un-doctored/2012/november-2012/13/national-programme-to-improve-endoscopy-services.aspx 

Screening not a cure-all
New Zealanders have over-inflated beliefs that cancer screening and preventative medicine will save their lives, according to a new study.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/health/news/article.cfm?c_id=204&objectid=10848223 

Heart drug warning from Kiwi doctor
A New Zealand cardiologist is warning patients not to stop using beta-blocker medication following an American study questioning the effectiveness of the drug.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/7966994/Heart-drug-warning-from-Kiwi-doctor 

Article of interest

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