Welcome
to the College of Nurses – News Update.
No. 241 February 25
2015
From NZ media this week
Scholarships encouraging more Māori to become
nurses
Twenty seven young Māori
nursing students were awarded scholarships to Whitireia’s nursing school from
Capital & Coast District Health Board (CCDHB) last week.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/GE1502/S00051/scholarships-encouraging-more-maori-to-become-nurses.htm
Use of Green Prescriptions
rocket ahead
Health
Minister Jonathan Coleman says the health benefits of Green Prescriptions
continue to be demonstrated, as more and more people take medical advice to get
fit and eat well to help tackle their health problems.
http://www.nzdoctor.co.nz/un-doctored/2015/february-2015/17/use-of-green-prescriptions-rocket-ahead.aspx
'Cutting edge'
mannequin will help save lives
We
know that patients can be harmed when we intend to do good. Research shows
problems occur when there's a communication problem
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/66342990/cutting-edge-mannequin-will-help-save-lives
Toddler given 10 times
recommended dose of codeine
A
three-year-old boy had to have his stomach pumped after nurses mistakenly gave
him 10 times the recommended dose of codeine before surgery.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/66543874/toddler-given-10-times-recommended-dose-of-codeine
One in four Kiwi babies miss out on core health checks
One in four babies is not receiving all of its core health
checks in the first year of its life, according to new data.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/health/news/article.cfm?c_id=204&objectid=11406307
Smokefree cars driving us to 2025
There has been a lot of
noise nationally about the banning of smoking in cars with children . It has
been on the TV and in the paper and it’s the subject matter of much discussion throughout
New Zealand communities. Additionally the new Associate Minister of Health
Minister Hon Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga has indicated that his party is supportive of
the move. The question on many people’s minds, and which has not really been
identified in the media yet is what are the actual impacts of second hand smoke
for our kids? What benefit to our children would banning smoking in cars
actually bring?
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/GE1502/S00055/smokefree-cars-driving-us-to-2025.htm
Auckland nurse stabbed by mental health patient
A nurse has been stabbed while visiting a mental health
patient in South Auckland.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11406041
From International media
1 in 10 Nurses Assaulted by Patients
Across
the country, nurses are the most likely to be injured doing their jobs. For
many nurses, back and joint pain is a fact of life but so is the risk of
violence. According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and
Health, health care workers are at a 5 times greater risk for assault than
people in other professions.
http://m.wxxinews.org/?utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F#mobile/24617
Hospital To Nurses: Your Injuries Are Not Our
Problem
The case of Terry Cawthorn and Mission Hospital, in
Asheville, N.C., gives a glimpse of how some hospital officials around the
country have shrugged off an epidemic.
http://www.npr.org/2015/02/18/385786650/injured-nurses-case-is-a-symptom-of-industry-problems
Nurses unions propose solution to injuries, patient safety
The American Nurses Association reports 8
out of 10 nurses say they frequently work with joint or back pain. The nursing
profession has the highest rate of on-the-job injuries of any other in the
country. According to many the solution to both problems: more nurses on staff
at hospitals.
http://wrvo.org/post/nurses-unions-propose-solution-injuries-patient-safety
Health practitioners face new international
criminal history check
The international criminal history of nurses, midwives and allied
health professionals will go under the microscope for the first time.
http://healthtimes.com.au/hub/patient-safety/45/news/kk1/health-practitioners-face-new-international-criminal-history-check/420/
Health practitioners face hair testing for drug use
Nurses,
midwives, doctors and allied health professionals with restrictions on their
registration linked to past substance abuse will soon face routine hair
testing.
http://healthtimes.com.au/hub/staff-performance/47/news/kk1/health-practitioners-face-hair-testing-for-drug-use/616/
Robert Gordon University stops nurse masks training
Aberdeen's Robert
Gordon University has stopped using life-like prosthetic masks - designed to
help trainee nurses - amid claims they could add to the stigmatisation of those
with mental health problems.
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-31486442
Nursing by the Numbers: How many nurses is enough?
DULUTH,
Minn. (NNCNOW.com) --- Lower nursing levels are linked to high patient death
rates. That's the finding of a new Minnesota health study. But how many nurses
are enough? Who gets to decide? And how much are we willing to pay? That
answer, depends on who you ask.
http://www.northlandsnewscenter.com/news/Nursing-by-the-Numbers-How-many-nurses-is-enough--292141401.html
Ebola
Nursing by the Numbers: How many nurses is enough?
DULUTH,
Minn. (NNCNOW.com) --- Lower nursing levels are linked to high patient death
rates. That's the finding of a new Minnesota health study. But how many nurses
are enough? Who gets to decide? And how much are we willing to pay? That
answer, depends on who you ask.
http://www.northlandsnewscenter.com/news/Nursing-by-the-Numbers-How-many-nurses-is-enough--292141401.html
Patient safety
Open for better care
CLINICIAN STORY: The role of staff relationships
in preventing medication errors
In this new video, registered nurse Teresa Cheetham talks about making a
medication error, and the role a difficult relationship with a fellow nurse
played in the error. Teresa was asked to be the second signature for a nurse
she was uncomfortable working with, when signing out the high-risk medicine
heparin. A medication error was made, resulting in a patient being administered
30,000 units of heparin instead of 3000. The error occurred due to a lack of
open communication between the two nurses and the assumptions they made about
each other's knowledge and skills.
http://www.open.hqsc.govt.nz/medication/publications-and-resources/publication/1993/
Obesity
Obesity linked to
cycle of poverty
Obese
people are more likely to be stuck in a "vicious cycle" of poverty
because they perform poorly in school and miss out on jobs, researchers say.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/66564836/obesity-linked-to-cycle-of-poverty
Health and wellness
Helping Nurses Handle Their
Professional Stress
Outnumbering physicians six to one, nurses
spend more time with patients and in many ways they are the heart of American
health care. And with medical insurance now expanded to cover millions of new
patients, the pressure on nurses (as all of health care) is growing.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-freudberg/helping-nurses-handle-their-professional-stress_b_6699008.html
Resilient Nurses, a
new Humankind public radio documentary currently airing on many local stations
and now available online. We hear moving stories of nurses on the front lines.
http://www.humanmedia.org/nurses/
Articles of interest
February 10,
2015 - Recognizing how a diverse nursing workforce can help achieve health
equity for patients from different backgrounds, nursing leaders have developed
a variety of initiatives that are showing results. Yet more work is needed to
achieve diversity in nursing that more closely resembles patient demographics.
http://bit.ly/1uQhSQg
What Makes a Good Nurse Leader?
Are there enough people
in the nursing profession who are taking on leadership roles, in health
care settings and beyond? Not yet. See how nurses are being encouraged to step
up, and whether nurse leadership might be for you.
http://bit.ly/1EXIyic
Online resources
Poster: Communicating so people will understand
This poster
for health professionals provides simple techniques for talking with people
about their health or medicines. (Downloadable)
http://www.open.hqsc.govt.nz/medication/publications-and-resources/publication/1984/
From the Ministry of Health
Using Practitioner
Supply Orders and Standing Orders in the Rheumatic Fever Prevention Programme
Guidance
for sore throat management services
In New Zealand, rheumatic
fever is a serious illness most often affecting Māori and Pacific people aged
4–19 years. It can develop after a Group A Streptococcal throat (GAS)
infection. The Rheumatic Fever Prevention Programme (RFPP) is seeking to reduce
the incidence of rheumatic fever. One of the ways in which it does this is by
improving access to timely treatment for GAS throat infections among
high-priority communities.
One component of improving
access to timely treatment is the provision of free antibiotics to children and
young adults with a sore throat who present to RFPP sore throat management
services. The RFPP enables health professionals who do not normally have
prescribing rights (eg, community health workers, nurses or pharmacists) to
administer or supply specified antibiotics under specific circumstances. This
ensures that sore throats can be treated quickly, without patients needing to
see a doctor.
This document provides
guidance for dispensing and supplying antibiotics in RFPP sore throat management
services through practitioner supply orders and standing orders. Sore throat
management services include school-based programmes, rapid response clinics and
other clinics that are part of the RFPP.
This guidance will assist
health practitioners in meeting the requirements of the Medicines Act 1981 and
Medicines Regulations 1984.
http://www.health.govt.nz/publication/using-practitioner-supply-orders-and-standing-orders-rheumatic-fever-prevention-programme
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
24 February 2015
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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