News bulletin 23 September

on 23 September

Welcome to the College of Nurses – News Update.
No. 269 23 Sept 2015


From NZ media this week

Nurses welcome more paid leave for parents of preemie babies
The Neonatal Nurses College, Aotearoa welcomes the news that parents of premature babies will now be entitled to more parental leave. The extra weeks will apply from birth until the 37 week "due date". After that the usual 18 weeks of paid parental leave will begin.
http://www.voxy.co.nz/health/nurses-welcome-more-paid-leave-parents-preemie-babies/5/231381

Nurses tickled pink to hit road
It's big, bright pink and carries important advice and information for women, and yesterday NZ Breast Cancer Foundation's Pink Caravan started a national tour in Whangarei.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/northern-advocate/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503450&objectid=11510166

Snooping MidCentral Health nurse censured
A Palmerston North Hospital nurse who snooped on patients' medical records has been censured by the Health Practitioners' Disciplinary Tribunal.
Elizabeth Raju was sacked in 2014 after a hospital audit revealed the confidentiality breaches.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/71898856/snooping-midcentral-health-nurse-censured

More than one MidCentral nurse sacked for snooping
An audit into snooping behaviour by prying staff at Palmerston North Hospital resulted in multiple dismissals.
Former nurse Elizabeth Raju was sacked by MidCentral District Health Board in 2014 after an audit revealed a breach of patient confidentiality and was censured by the Health Practitioners' Disciplinary Tribunal.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/news/71942067/more-than-one-midcentral-nurse-sacked-for-snooping

Nurses failed to manage patient's pain, says Health and Disability Commissioner
A district health board's nurses have been instructed to ask surgical ward patients every hour if they have any pain or need any other basic nursing care.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11512922

Nurse leadership: having the bottle to make a difference
Outrage at yet another bottle store opening in her down, but far from out, community stung Christchurch practice nurse Karen Carpenter into action...
http://www.nursingreview.co.nz/issue/august-2015/nurse-leadership-having-the-bottle-to-make-a-difference/#.VfYIGenVRfs

Graduate incomes: How nursing stacks up...and falls down
How does a young nurse's income stack up against peers who become teachers or lawyers? Why does the average income of nurse graduates plateau and fall after five years?
http://www.nursingreview.co.nz/issue/august-2015/graduate-incomes-how-nursing-stacks-up-and-falls-down/#.VfYFk-nVRfs

Aged care

Paul Spoonley: We need total rethink on ageing
New Zealand, like the UK, is beginning to see the arrival of the post-war baby boom population reaching their 60s -- and living longer. Demographers talk about numerical ageing -- the arrival of many more into the 65-plus age groups, and structural ageing -- the fact that the proportion of the NZ population over 65 will grow from 13 per cent to 21 per cent by 2031.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503462&objectid=11510830

Drugs, alcohol and smoking

Fetal alcohol damage costing 'conservative' $1b
Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder is costing New Zealand up to $1 billion a year in lost productivity, new research suggests.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/health/news/article.cfm?c_id=204&objectid=11509878

HBDHB helping kids affected by drinking during pregnancy
A programme developed by the Hawke’s Bay District Health Board (HBDHB) is at the leading edge of the country’s response to children affected by drinking during pregnancy.
http://www.voxy.co.nz/health/hbdhb-helping-kids-affected-drinking-during-pregnancy/5/231208

Ethical issues

Redesigning Dying
Dying is in serious need of a redesign. This is the point of BJ Miller's TED talk that was given several months ago and is now available to watch at the TED talk website. If you haven’t seen it
yet, I encourage you to 
watch it
BJ, the Executive Director of the Zen Hospice Project and a true leader in palliative care, gives an inspirational talk about the certainty of death, the current approach our health care system takes to care for the dying, and various “design cues” we can take including our need to lift our sights to making life more wonderful rather than less horrible as death approaches. 
This talk is a great reminder that as a community we can use our natural creativity to rethink dying.  Not to go against it, but as BJ says in his talk:

"We can design towards it. Parts of me died early on, and that's something we can all say one way or another. I got to redesign my life around this fact, and I tell you it has been a liberation to realize you can always find a shock of beauty or meaning in what life you have left, like that snowball lasting for a perfect moment, all the while melting away. If we love such moments ferociously, then maybe we can learn to live well -- not in spite of death, but because of it. Let death be what takes us, not lack of imagination."
http://bit.ly/1K7Vwy8

BJ Miller: What really matters at the end of life
At the end of our lives, what do we most wish for? For many, it’s simply comfort, respect, love. BJ Miller is a palliative care physician at Zen Hospice Project who thinks deeply about how to create a dignified, graceful end of life for his patients. Take the time to savor this moving talk, which asks big questions about how we think on death and honor life

Mental health

Suicide prevention plans in place for all DHBs
Health Minister Jonathan Coleman says all DHBs now have plans in place to help them, in partnership with their local communities, prevent and respond to suicide.
Tomorrow is World Suicide Prevention Day - the international theme for 2015 is Reaching out and Saving Lives.
http://www.voxy.co.nz/health/suicide-prevention-plans-place-all-dhbs/5/231278

Public health

Increased uptake of free GP visits for under 13s
Health Minister Jonathan Coleman says 98 per cent of general practices across the country are now offering free GP visits for children aged under 13.
http://www.voxy.co.nz/health/increased-uptake-free-gp-visits-under-13s/5/231346

From International media this week

Rather than turn hospitals into expensive resorts, healthier patients require happier nurses
In 2012, Medicare began to use the results of patient satisfaction surveys to calculate how much they would pay hospitals. They called it the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey—a short questionnaire asking patients what they thought of their stay—and used it to withhold up to 1.5% of revenue from hospitals that scored poorly. In an industry that survives off of razor-thin margins, hospitals heard the message loud and clear: protect your money by keeping patients happy.
http://qz.com/497426/rather-than-turn-hospitals-into-expensive-resorts-healthier-patients-require-happier-nurses/

Korea’s nurses walking away from careers that are too tough
Ms. Kim, a 28-year-old nurse at a university hospital in Seoul, quit her job in June after nearly six years - though she would have preferred to quit a year earlier.
http://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=3009081&cloc=joongangdaily%7Chome%7Cnewslist1

ANA and OADN call for seamless education transition
To meet the needs of patients in today’s healthcare system, nurses must be able to move easily through nursing education programs, from associate degree levels to BSN and higher, two major nursing groups said in a statement released in August.
https://news.nurse.com/2015/09/10/ana-and-oadn-call-for-seamless-education-transition/

Association of 12 h shifts and nurses’ job satisfaction, burnout and intention to leave: findings from a cross-sectional study of 12 European countries
Objectives 12 h shifts are becoming increasingly common for hospital nurses but there is concern that long shifts adversely affect nurses’ well-being, job satisfaction and intention to leave their job. The aim of this study is to examine the association between working long shifts and burnout, job dissatisfaction, dissatisfaction with work schedule flexibility and intention to leave current job among hospital nurses.
http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/5/9/e008331.full

Quebec nurses say nurses-only clinic is a success
Nurse-only clinics are a cost-effective way improve access to health care, according to the Quebec Nurses Federation.
http://montreal.ctvnews.ca/quebec-nurses-say-nurses-only-clinic-is-a-success-1.2557492

Nurses in England and Ireland working longer shifts with higher risk of burnout, research says
Nurses in England and Ireland are more likely to work shifts of 12 hours or more leading to a higher risk of burnout, an international study has found.
http://www.itv.com/news/2015-09-11/nurses-in-england-and-ireland-working-longer-shifts-with-higher-risk-of-burnout-research-says/

Work and management

How to Work with People Who Aren’t Good at Working with People
Twenty five years after the term “emotional intelligence” was first introduced by academics, thousands of independent scientific studies have highlighted the importance of managing your own and others’ emotions in relation to career successjob performanceentrepreneurship, and leadership.
https://hbr.org/2015/05/how-to-work-with-people-who-arent-good-at-working-with-people

Health and wellness

Work stress just as bad as second-hand smoke
Whether due to unpaid overtime or an overbearing boss, many people suffer stress at work.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/health/news/article.cfm?c_id=204&objectid=11509704

Articles of interest

Nursing roles and responsibilities in general practice: three case studies
INTRODUCTION: Primary care nursing teams may now comprise registered nurses (usually termed practice nurses), nurse practitioners, physician assistants, enrolled nurses, and primary care practice assistants, clinical assistants, or nursing assistants. There is a need to understand how practitioners in the different roles work with patients in the changed environment. The aim of this study was to describe the different configurations of health professionals’ skill-mix in three dissimilar primary care practices, their inter- and intra-professional collaboration and communication, and to explore the potential of expanded nursing scopes and roles to improve patient access.
Léonie Walker, Jill Clendon, Katherine Nelson
https://www.rnzcgp.org.nz/assets/documents/Publications/JPHC/September-2015/OSPWalkerJPHCSeptember2015.pdf

Professional development

The Regulatory, Medicolegal, and Security Aspects of Telemedicine
Have we got the rules right?
Medicine is regulated to protect patients and has been since long before the digital age.
As new ways of providing care have been developed, regulations have been adapted and enhanced, but have these changes kept pace with the care that is now able to be provided by telemedicine?
We will explore this question by bringing together an expert group of regulators, service providers, and clinicians to provide their views, before you have a chance to contribute yours.
Thursday 22 October 9am to noon
Air Force Museum, Wigram, Christchurch
$149 inc. gst
Register at www.hinz.org.nz

Workshop convened by the New Zealand Telehealth Forum.
The National Health IT Board funded the establishment of the Forum because it recognises telehealth is an important component of an integrated model of health care.


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 14 Sept 2015

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