Welcome to the College of Nurses – News Update.
No. 145, Wednesday 20 March 2013
From NZ media this week
Medical staff 'held back disaster planning'
Reluctant doctors and nurses stood in the way of effective disaster planning in New Zealand hospitals before the Canterbury earthquakes, a new study says.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/8427836/Medical-staff-held-back-disaster-planning
Editorial: Rest home treatment abhorrent
Far too often we read of cases involving the neglect or abuse of young children.
Such cases evoke a strong response. Often we feel disgust and anger at those who commit offences against the most vulnerable members of our society
http://www.bayofplentytimes.co.nz/news/editorial-rest-home-treatment-abhorrent/1793353/
Health workers who cared for dying student named
The names of four health workers involved in the care of a medical student who died at Auckland City Hospital can now be revealed.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10872036
Naming individual health professionals a dangerous precedent
19 March 2013: The New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) is extremely disappointed and disturbed that the High Court has overturned a Coroner’s decision and named individual health professionals. NZNO agrees with the ASMS that naming the individuals involved in his care sets a dangerous precedent.
http://www.nzno.org.nz/activities/media_releases/articletype/articleview/articleid/1446/naming-individual-health-professionals-a-dangerous-precedent
Coroner criticised by GPs
College says recommendations not based on clear understanding of roles in health sector.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10872336
Blaming and shaming’ sets dangerous precedent“
‘Blaming and shaming’ the healthcare professionals involved in the care of Zachary Gravatt sets a dangerous precedent and will not help improve the care or safety of other patients in the health system,” says Dr Paul Ockelford, Chair of the New Zealand Medical Association.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/GE1303/S00060/blaming-and-shaming-sets-dangerous-precedent.htm
Dangerous Precedent Threatens Vulnerable Hospital Specialist Workforce”
“The New Zealand Medical Association is right to criticise the decision of the High Court to overturn the Coroner and remove name suppression in a case where the Coroner found no fault with individual health professionals.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/GE1303/S00062/dangerous-precedent-threatens-hospital-workforce.htm
Primary Care for Pacific People: A Pacific and Health Systems Approach
Pacific peoples have poorer health status across a wide variety of measures compared to the total New Zealand population. They also appear to have the least advantage from changes to the delivery in primary care. This report presents evidence to support improvements in primary care delivery to Pacific peoples.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/GE1303/S00061/primary-care-for-pacific-people.htm
DHB specific
DHBs at forefront of family violence initiatives
Health professionals are taking a lead role in identifying and helping those vulnerable to abuse, with all 20 DHBs having set up Violence Intervention Programmes (VIPs), Associate Health Minister Jo Goodhew announced today.
http://www.nzdoctor.co.nz/un-doctored/2013/march-2013/14/dhbs-at-forefront-of-family-violence-initiatives.aspx
Consortium appointed to plan Chch's Health Precinct
A newly appointed consortium has this week begun planning Christchurch’s world-class Health Precinct, Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee has announced.
http://www.voxy.co.nz/health/consortium-appointed-plan-chchs-health-precinct/5/150010
$600m for health sector rebuild
The $600 million redevelopment of Christchurch's earthquake-hit health sector will be the "largest and most complex building project in the history of New Zealand's public health service", the Government says.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/business/the-rebuild/8440396/600m-for-health-sector-rebuild
Mental health
Open talks on suicide needed: Coroner
New Zealand's chief coroner believes cyberbullying suicide inquests should be opened up to the public to prevent more teens taking their own lives.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/8436653/Open-talks-on-suicide-needed-Coroner
Fears some could buckle under drought stress
The national drought could fuel an increased suicide rate among highly stressed farmers, health professionals fear.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/8427856/Fears-some-could-buckle-under-drought-stress
Bank pressure leads to suicides - trust
Every year, 20 rural people in Nelson and Marlborough kill themselves, says Top of the South Rural Support Trust co-ordinator Ian Blair of Blenheim.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/news/8424152/Bank-pressure-leads-to-suicides-trust
Branch event: 'Can we prevent suicide?', 3 April, Christchurch
The Canterbury Branch of the Royal Society of New Zealand presents a public lecture by Dr Annette Beautrais, University of Auckland.Suicide is a tragic event for any family. In New Zealand completed and attempted suicides are a major clinical and public health challenge. More than 500 suicides are reported every year, a rate consistent over many years. Unfortunately, suicide is difficult to predict and to prevent. This talk examines risk factors and interventions to prevent suicide. Effective prevention strategies include means restriction, responsible media coverage, general public education, and primary care physician education. In at-risk people, pharmacotherapy, and/or psychotherapy can help. As well as individual treatment, community, social, and policy interventions are needed.Annette Beautrais was Principal Investigator with the Canterbury Suicide Project for 20 years and now works at the University of Auckland. Her research interests include: suicide attempt outcomes; means of suicide; media reporting; suicide clusters; national suicide prevention strategies and Emergency Department screening and intervention for suicide risk.
Details: 7.30pm, Wednesday 3 April, C3 Lecture Theatre, University of Canterbury.Source; Royal Society of New Zealand Alert – Issue 756, 14 March 2013
Public health
Flu jab free for over 65s
If the South Canterbury District Health Board gets its way, 65 per cent of people over the age of 65 will opt for the flu jab before winter.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/news/8422682/Flu-jab-free-for-over-65s
More jabs in store for Kiwi babies
Starship paediatrician wants children vaccinated against illness which can result in vomiting and diarrhoea
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10871341
Infant deaths fall, but more to be done
Too many Maori and Pacific babies are dying from sudden unexpected death despite a record low in the number of deaths last year, health advocates say.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=10871995
Health timebomb lurks under Chch homes
Liquefied silt festering beneath Christchurch houses for the past two years could spark serious health concerns this winter.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/christchurch-earthquake/8446726/Health-timebomb-lurks-under-Chch-homes
International media
More training, bigger roles for nurse practitioners
HAPEL HILL — In an examining room at the N.C. Cancer Hospital, Matt Feinberg checks for a variety of symptoms common to cancer patients after treatment: skin problems, mouth lesions, nausea.
http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/03/09/2738147/more-training-bigger-roles-for.html
RWJF Scholars Work to Strengthen Rural Nursing
From Alaska to Kentucky to Wyoming, Robert Wood Johnson Scholars and grantees spearhead projects to improve access to high quality nursing care in remote areas.
http://www.rwjf.org/en/about-rwjf/newsroom/newsroom-content/2013/02/rwjf-scholars-work-to-strengthen-rural-nursing.html
Panel Recommends 10 Patient Safety Strategies
Ten strategies strongly encouraged for adoption; a further 12 strategies encouraged
MONDAY, March 4 (HealthDay News) -- An expert panel is strongly encouraging the immediate adoption of 10 patient safety strategies and encouraging the adoption of a further 12, according to a supplement published in the March 5 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.
http://www.nursingcenter.com/lnc/HealthdayArticle?Article_id=673991&utm_source=WhatCountsEmail&utm_medium=Nursing%20Management%20eNews&utm_campaign=NM%20eNews:%20%20March%202013,%20Issue%201
Update: overseas registration of nurses and midwives
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is committed to reviewing all its policies and procedures to ensure it acts to a high standard of regulation, protecting the public.
http://www.nmc-uk.org/Press-and-media/Latest-news/Update-overseas-registration-of-nurses-and-midwives/
Need for advanced nursing education risingA nationwide push for nurses with advanced degrees is taking place. In its 2010 report, "The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health," the Institute of Medicine called for doubling the number of doctorate-level nurses by 2020, and the Affordable Care Act’s sweeping changes demand a heavy influx of nurses in leadership roles.
http://news.nurse.com/article/20130311/NATIONAL01/103110023
Step by step: Florida nurse practitioners continue to seek full prescription privileges, collaboration with physicians
After close to two decades, the Florida Nurses Association and other professional nursing groups around the Sunshine State continue to work toward seeing the privilege for advanced registered nurse practitioners to prescribe controlled substances finally come to fruition. Some say this step, as well as better collaboration with physicians, would help extend healthcare access to more of the 20 million Floridians — an issue that continues to make headlines across the state.
http://news.nurse.com/article/20130311/SC02/103110060
Local nursing schools at forefront of teaching, recruiting diversity
As nursing student and faculty populations become more diverse, nursing schools in New York and New Jersey are putting more emphasis on teaching cultural competency.
http://news.nurse.com/article/20130311/NY01/103110036
Articles of interest
An Increase In The Number Of Nurses With Baccalaureate Degrees Is Linked To Lower Rates Of Postsurgery Mortality
An Institute of Medicine report has called for registered nurses to achieve higher levels of education, but health care policy makers and others have limited evidence to support a substantial increase in the number of nurses with baccalaureate degrees. Using Pennsylvania nurse survey and patient discharge data from 1999 and 2006, we found that a ten-point increase in the percentage of nurses holding a baccalaureate degree in nursing within a hospital was associated with an average reduction of 2.12 deaths for every 1,000 patients—and for a subset of patients with complications, an average reduction of 7.47 deaths per 1,000 patients. We estimate that if all 134 hospitals in our study had increased the percentage of their nurses with baccalaureates by ten points during our study’s time period, some 500 deaths among general, orthopedic, and vascular surgery patients might have been prevented. The findings provide support for efforts to increase the production and employment of baccalaureate nurses.
http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/32/3/579.full?ijkey=Frq3eovfeIAS.&keytype=ref&siteid=healthaff
RESILIENCE IN THE HEALTH PROFESSIONS: A REVIEW OF RECENT LITERATURE
Clare M McCann, Elizabeth Beddoe, Katie McCormick, Peter Huggard, Sally Kedge, Carole Adamson, Jayne Huggard
All health professions face numerous stressors within their clinical practice, including time pressures, workload, multiple roles and emotional issues. Frequent workplace stress can impact on the physical and mental wellbeing of health professionals and result in burnout and, in some cases, traumatic stress-like symptoms. These outcomes can impact not only on the wellbeing of health professionals but also on their ability to practise effectively. It is therefore imperative that a preventive approach is adopted. Developing resilience-promoting environments within the health professions can be explored as a means to reduce negative, and increase positive, outcomes of stress in health professionals.This literature review seeks to elucidate the processes and characteristics (both individual and contextual) that enhance resilience in the health professions. It explores relevant literature from five health professions (nursing, social work, psychology, counselling and medicine) to identify the individual and contextual resilience-enhancing qualities of each profession.Commonalities and differences between the disciplines are identified in order to arrive at a definitive explanation of resilience across health professions. Implications for clinical practice and recommendations for further research are also discussed.
http://www.internationaljournalofwellbeing.org/index.php/ijow/article/view/153/311
From the Ministry of Health
What does ASD look like? quickcard-English
This resource is for people who might come across adults or children who might have an autism spectrum
disorder (ASD).
http://www.health.govt.nz/publication/what-does-asd-look-quickcard-english
Reports online
UK: Annual Report of the Chief Medical Officer Volume Two, 2011: Infections and the rise of antimicrobial resistance
Source: Department of Health (UK)
From Press Release:The second volume of Professor Dame Sally Davies the Chief Medical Officer’s annual report provides a comprehensive overview of the threat of antimicrobial resistance and infectious diseases.The report highlights that, while a new infectious disease has been discovered nearly every year over the past 30 years, there have been very few new antibiotics developed leaving our armoury nearly empty as diseases evolve and become resistant to existing drugs.In addition to encouraging development of new drugs, the report highlights that looking after the current supply of antibiotics is equally important. This means using better hygiene measures to prevent infections, prescribing fewer antibiotics and making sure they are only prescribed when needed.
http://web.docuticker.com/go/docubase/69869
Journals online
Children: no. 82 Summer 2012
Journal of the Office of the Children’s Commissioner
Full text online and including these articles
http://www.occ.org.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/10172/CC_Children82_2012.pdf
NZ Children: How well is our health system currently serving our children?
By Dr Nikki Turner, Director, CONECTUS and The Immunisation Advisory Centre, University of Auckland,GP, Pacific Health Centre, Strathmore, Wellington
Children’s right to health: exciting new UN initiatives
By Paul Hunt, Professor, University of Essex, UK, and Waikato University, NZ
Making the most of our investment in child health services
By Dr Pat Tuohy, Chief Advisor Child and Youth Health, Ministry of Health
Best practice health services for tamariki and rangatahi M¯aori
By Dr Paula Thérèse King BHB, BMus, MBChB, DCH, MPH (Dist)
Best practice health care Services for Pacific children in New Zealand
By Dr Teuila Percival, QSO, MsChB, FRACP Consultant Paediatrician & Director Pacific Health Research,University of Auckland
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 Wednesday 20 March 2013
If you have any feedback about content - what parts are most useful or what you would like added - please email admin@nurse.org.nz
For more up to date news and information follow SNIPS at:
Facebook: Snips Info
twitter: @SnipsInfo
Back to blog entries
Menu