Welcome to the College of Nurses – News Update.
No. 225 Wednesday 22 October
2014
From NZ media this week
Whitireia celebrates ten years of Pacific
nursing
Friday this
week will see Whitireia celebrating the tenth anniversary of its Bachelor of Nursing Pacific programme
http://www.whitireia.ac.nz/news/Pages/Whitireia-celebrates-ten-years-of-Pacific-nursing.aspx
Dunedin ICU
Staff Celebrate Patient Safety Milestone
Staff at
Dunedin Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU) are celebrating 1,000 days with no
Central Line Associated Bacteraemia (CLAB). CLAB is a blood stream infection
caused by central line catheters which can lead to longer hospital stays and
associated costs estimated to be between $20,000 and $54,000 (HQSC). Their
prevention is vital in the fight against healthcare associated infections and
DHBs across the country are working to reduce the occurrence of CLAB.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/GE1410/S00103/dunedin-icu-staff-celebrate-patient-safety-milestone.htm
Head nurse leaves health
board post
The Nelson Marlborough District Health Board's
director of nursing and midwifery has stepped down following a dispute with
management, the Marlborough Express understands.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/10623609/Head-nurse-leaves-health-board-post
Call to measure
cracks in treatment
New Zealand has a "moral imperative" to better
measure how many people fall through the cracks of its healthcare system, a new
report says.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/10627027/Call-to-measure-cracks-in-treatment
Hospital policies improved after fatal falls
Hospital policies have been improved following the deaths of
three people at South Island hospitals over a three-year period, a coroner
says.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11345436
Maori & Pacific Island Children
Overrepresented in Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) Due to Chickenpox -
Study
Maori and Pacific Island
children are over represented in admissions to paediatric intensive care in NZ
for serious chickenpox complications with an almost threefold and sixfold
increase respectively.1 Furthermore, long-term disability, usually neurological
damage, were suffered by 31% of the 26 children admitted to paediatric
intensive care overall, according to a 10-year study review.1
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/GE1410/S00134/maori-pacific-island-children-overrepresented-in-icu.htm
Haste urged over Pasifika health in NZ
A researcher tracking the health and well-being
of Pacific children in New Zealand is urging the Government to act with haste
to provide more support.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/pacific/257305/haste-urged-over-pasifika-health-in-nz
Heart study aims to end guesswork
Maori and Pasifika people will benefit from research
professor says is long overdue
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11343648
From international media sources this week
Pressure affecting care standards, warn nursing staff
More than half of
nurses and midwives say lack of time and resources negatively affects their
ability to carry out their role to a high standard, according to a major survey
commissioned by unions.
http://www.nursingtimes.net/5075896.article?WT.tsrc=email&WT.mc_id=Newsletter1
Jeremy Hunt tells nurses 'path to lower cost
is the same as the path to safer care'
The
NHS would be able to afford more nurses if it could deliver safer care, Jeremy
Hunt will tell health service staff today.
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/jeremy-hunt-accused-of-blaming-nurses-for-nhs-staffing-shortages-9796849.html
National STI Guidelines for GPs and Nurses
Australia’s
First National Primary Care Guidelines for Sexually Transmissible Infections
(STIs)
After more
than two years in the making, the first Australian guidelines for sexually
transmissible infections (STI) for use by primary care professionals are now
available.
http://prwire.com.au/pr/47519/national-sti-guidelines-for-gps-and-nurses
Ebola
Kiwi nurses undergo extra Ebola management
training
Kiwi nurses are undertaking extra training to deal with
Ebola if it hits New Zealand.
http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/auckland/news/nbhea/218924298-kiwi-nurses-undergo-extra-ebola-management-training
Ebola: NZ isolation wards
on stand-by
Isolation wards at hospitals around the country
are on stand-by around the clock in preparation for the possibility of a
patient carrying the deadly Ebola virus arriving in the country.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11343601
Wellington Hospital prepared for Ebola
Wellington Hospital has confirmed it is one of
three designated receiving hospitals for any patient suspected to be carrying
the Ebola virus which has killed almost 4500 people to-date.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11342855
Hospital 'totally ready' for Ebola
New infectious diseases unit
ready to meet deadly challenge
Middlemore Hospital is "totally
ready" for an Ebola outbreak, Health Minister Jonathan Coleman said
yesterday after visiting the hospital's new infectious diseases biocontainment
unit.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/health/news/article.cfm?c_id=204&objectid=11344409
Ebola: Kiwis shouldn't be 'overly worried' -
PM
Kiwis shouldn't feel "overly worried" about the
threat to New Zealand of the deadly disease Ebola, Prime Minister John Key
says.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/health/news/article.cfm?c_id=204&objectid=11343471
B.C. nurses say province unprepared for Ebola
The discovery of three suspected Ebola cases in Metro
Vancouver has exposed a glaring lack of preparation to deal with the disease,
according to the B.C. Nurses’ Union.
Read more: http://bc.ctvnews.ca/b-c-nurses-say-province-unprepared-for-ebola-1.2053966#ixzz3GHaKMccA
Ebola Has Killed More Than 200 Doctors,
Nurses, And Other Healthcare Workers Since June
Ebola has now infected multiple people in America: The first
two homegrown cases of Ebola are a pair of nurses who got sick after treating
Thomas Duncan, the first person ever diagnosed with Ebola in the United States.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/dandiamond/2014/10/15/ebola-has-already-killed-more-than-200-doctors-nurses-and-other-healthcare-workers/
National Nurses Union Calls
on Obama to Protect Health Care Workers
The largest professional association of
registered nurses in the United States is "deeply concerned" by the
spread of Ebola, and is calling on President Obama to invoke his authority to
protect health care workers.
http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/ebola-virus-outbreak/national-nurses-union-calls-obama-protect-health-care-workers-n226676
Nurses Warn of ‘System Failure’ as Ebola
Spreads to US Healthcare Worker
Privatized hospitals not providing
proper training and equipment to front line workers, charges country's largest
nurses union
http://www.valuewalk.com/2014/10/nurses-ebola/
Texas nurses: We had no Ebola protocols
Nurses at the Texas hospital where a Liberian Ebola patient
died last week complain they were given few rules and little guidance on how to
treat the severely ill man, contrary to assertions by US health authorities.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/health/news/article.cfm?c_id=204&objectid=11342936
Nurses who fear Ebola have few options:
complaining, sick days or walking out
Healthcare
workers worried about Ebola can do little. They’re asking for better equipment
and training, but beyond that, workplace laws offer them few protections
http://www.theguardian.com/money/us-money-blog/2014/oct/16/ebola-nurses-walk-off-job
How are nurses becoming infected
with Ebola?
American nurse Nina Pham is the second health
worker to contract Ebola outside of West Africa while caring for patients with
the virus, despite using personal protective equipment. Authorities were quick to attribute lapses in protocol for Pham’s and Madrid nurse Teresa Romero
Ramos' infection. But inadequate guidelines for personal protective equipment
(PPE) may equally be to blame.
http://bit.ly/1t1NLCC
Ebola in the U.S.
Are nurses ready to care for these patients?
What is the best way for nurses to make sure
they are prepared to deal with a possible case of Ebola virus in their
healthcare organizations? Stay informed and ask lots of questions, said nurses
who work in infectious disease control. “The more questions we get and the more
people look at the protocols and policies and ask for training, I think the
more prepared we can be,” said Linda Greene, RN, MPS, CIC, an infection
prevention manager at Highland Hospital in Rochester, N.Y., and a former board
member of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and
Epidemiology.
http://news.nurse.com/article/20141013/NATIONAL05/310130009#.VESi8vmUeCo
Mental health
Older Kiwis taking their own lives a month
after visit to GP
Media release from Royal
Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists
A study has found that
older New Zealanders committing suicide often visited their doctors one month
before taking their lives.
http://www.nzdoctor.co.nz/un-doctored/2014/october-2014/17/older-kiwis-taking-their-own-lives-a-month-after-visit-to-gp.aspx
Pharmacy
Urgent call for review of dose levels
More than 40 per cent of pensioners in the south are taking
five or more medicines, with experts calling on the Southern District Health
Board to fund a review of medication levels.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/10632031/Urgent-call-for-review-of-dose-levels
Kiwis may be hit by higher medicine costs
A leaked document has exposed dozens of differences between
New Zealand and the United States on some of the most controversial aspects of
the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/10629198/Kiwis-may-be-hit-by-higher-medicine-costs
Social health
Looking out for vulnerable children
Protecting and keeping our
children safe from harm is a key aim of the new Vulnerable Children Act 2014.
It is also the subject of the first Issue of Policy Brief, a new publication
that has been developed and written by the Royal New Zealand College of General
Practitioners(RNZCGP) Policy Team.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/GE1410/S00128/looking-out-for-vulnerable-children.htm
Articles of interest
Lost opportunities...the challenges of
“missed nursing care”
Missed nursing care, defined as any aspect of required
patient care that's omitted (in part or whole) or delayed, doesn't come without
consequences or adverse events.1 Similar
concepts include care rationing and unfinished care.2-4 The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
reports that errors of omission are much more common than errors of commission
and often remain unreported.5Missed
nursing care, a measure of nursing process, is a poorly understood activity.5,6
http://journals.lww.com/nursingmanagement/Fulltext/2014/10000/Lost_opportunities___the_challenges_of__missed.11.aspx?utm_source=WhatCountsEmail&utm_medium=Nursing%20Management%20eNews&utm_campaign=NM%20eNews:%20October%208,%202014
From the Nursing Council
Application for prescribing rights for
registered nurses practising in primary health and specialty teams
The Nursing Council has submitted an application for designated
prescribing rights for registered nurses practising in primary health and
specialty teams. The application will be considered by the Ministry of Health
before further steps are taken to introduce a regulation enabling further
registered nurses to prescribe. This application builds on the Councils
consultation for “specialist nurse prescribing” in 2013. This proposal
was strongly supported by submitters with many considering there would be clear
benefits for patients.
http://www.nursingcouncil.org.nz/News/Application-for-prescribing-rights-for-registered-nurses
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 21 October 2014
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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