Welcome to the College of Nurses Aotearoa News Update.
No. 396, Wednesday 9 May 2018
NATIONAL NEWS
Dalreen Larkin a game changer at Whanganui Hospital
Few would have guessed the effect Dalreen Larkin would have at Whanganui Hospital when she took the leap into studying nursing.
"I had a friend who was doing her training here and she had enough of me because I always talked the talk and I was too scared to walk the walk," she said. Read more here
Opinion: Jenny Carryer – Health Minister needs courage to do things differently
Professor Jenny Carryer wonders if the challenges facing the health sector keeps the Health Minister awake at night – and suggests some ‘courageous’ solutions to some of those challenges. Read more here
Racism and rough handling of patients uncovered in report
A report behind studying increases in rheumatic fever in MÄÃ���ori and Pacific people has uncovered claims of racism and ‘rough handling’ of patients suffering from the disease. Read more here
Federation established and to be operational by 1 September 2018
The Establishment Board tasked with setting up the proposed Federation of Primary Health Aotearoa New Zealand met for the second time on Monday 7 May 2018 under the chairmanship of Dame Annette King. Read more here
ASTHMA AND ALLERGIES
Asthma stats increase for M���ori/Pacific Island children
Parents are being warned to be more vigilant as a new report showing increasing numbers of M���ori/Pacific Island children being hospitalised for the disease. Read more here
Soaring asthma rates triggered by poor housing
A new report by Massey University shows the number of New Zealand children hospitalised with asthma has almost doubled since 2002.It also found more than 6,000 children under the age of 15 were hospitalised with asthma in 2016. Read more here
Native bush keeps asthma at bay - study
New Zealand children who spend more time in parks and surrounded by nature are less likely to develop asthma, a study has found. Read more here
CANCER ISSUES
Exclusive: Auckland DHB surgeons demand change as big gaps in cancer care found
Surgeons have demanded an urgent "sea change" at one of the country's largest health boards and accused management of recklessness. Read more here
Exclusive: Cancer care held back by 'internal politics' as surgeons demand urgent changes
As surgeons warn that in-house politics is threatening one of Auckland DHB’s cancer services, patients suffer the consequences, writes Nicholas Jones. Read more here
DHBs
New Dunedin Hospital site revealed
Health Minister Dr David Clark has confirmed the new Dunedin Hospital will be built on multiple blocks in central Dunedin, including all of the former Cadbury factory site. Read more here
Christchurch's Hillmorton Hospital 'inadequate', unsafe and leaky
Christchurch's Hillmorton Hospital campus is one of the oldest mental health facilities in the country. Inadequate buildings combined with overcrowding post-quake puts staff and patients at risk. CECILE MEIER reports. Read more here
Ministry told cash-strapped DHB what to tell ministers
The Health Ministry drafted a letter which the chair of the cash-strapped Canterbury District Health board then sent to the government saying it could work with existing funding. Read more here
DIABETES
Type 2 diabetes slowly rising in Auckland kids
New research shows increasing numbers of children and teens under 15 in Auckland are developing type 2 diabetes, and that rates among Pacific and MÄÃ���ori children are up to 18 times higher than for European children. Read more here
EDUCATION
World-leading ‘life-like’ surgical training programme expands in NZ
The University of Auckland welcomes increased funding from ACC for NetworkZ™, a world-leading ‘life-like’ surgical training programme, created by researchers at the University. The programme has been so successful it will be expanded across all district health boards (DHBs) by 2021. Read more here
EMERGENCY MEDICINE AND SERVICES
Air ambulances highlight pressures on rural medical emergency services
OPINION: Most medical emergency response services in New Zealand operate on the passion and commitment of the people who provide it. Read more here
END OF LIFE CARE
ICU specialist says up to a third of end-of-life treatments are futile
Medical specialists need to get better at communicating risk to frail patients to avoid futile treatment on people who are going to die anyway, an intensive care clinician says. Read more here
ETHICAL ISSUES
Medical Museums: scholastic, or just sickening?
Dr Simon Chaplin is director of culture and society at London's Wellcome Trust, the world's second largest non-governmental funder of medical research, and co-founder of the Human Genome Project. Prior to joining Wellcome, Chaplin was Director of Museums and Special Collections at the Royal College of Surgeons. His academic research interests include the history of anatomy and medical museums. He is about to come to Auckland as a keynote speaker at a colloquium that will debate a proposed Medical Museum for Auckland. The colloquium will also coincide with the Body Worlds exhibition currently on in Auckland, which has been criticised for objectifying the dead and exploiting the human taste for the macabre under the guise of education. Read more here
HEALTH AND SAFETY
Midweek 'worst time for workplace accidents'
We may not like Mondays and we may be a bit distracted on Fridays, but in fact the statistics show Bay of Plenty people are more likely to present to hospital with a workplace injury in the middle of the week. Read more here
Chronic illness a significant issue in workplace safety - CTU
While fatalities are often at the forefront of workplace safety, New Zealand Council of Trade Unions president Richard Wagstaff says chronic illness is also a significant issue. Read more here
INFECTION CONTROL
Hand hygiene with glove use improving – but still an issue
Hand hygiene in New Zealand hospitals has majorly improved in the past eight years – including when wearing gloves – but inappropriate glove use still remains an issue. Read more here
INJURY PREVENTION
Violence 'leading cause' of facial fractures, Wellington study finds
Wellington's Hutt Hospital is zeroing in on the leading causes of facial fractures - and it doesn't make for pretty reading.Violence accounted for almost 40 per cent of the 1535 maxillofacial fracture cases referred to the hospital's Plastic, Maxillofacial and Burns Unit in the five years to 2017. Read more here
MENTAL HEALTH
NZ-specific suicide clustering guidelines created to better support communities
Suicide clusters have a devastating impact, so Clinical Advisory Services Aotearoa (Casa) has announced the first New Zealand-specific guidelines to help communities cope. Read more here
Suicide's toll on M���ori youth laid bare in new report
When Kamo High School student Mia Dunn committed suicide, just age 14, her death not only devastated her family - it added her to an alarming toll. Read more here
Study highlights link between Pasifika boxers and dementia
When a cluster of Pasifika men presented to Middlemore Hospital with dementia symptoms over a 45-month period, doctors decided to dig a little deeper into their backgrounds to look for patterns. Read more here
Here's what the mental health inquiry needs to fix
The Government has launched a $6.5 million inquiry into mental health and addiction. Health professionals and patients tell Sally Blundell what needs to change. Read more here
How the Christchurch earthquakes devastated mental-health services
Three-year-old Luke had a plan. With a small spade in hand, he would dig a hole in the preschool sandpit big enough, he told his mother, Kathryn, to bury the earthquake. A sweet strategy doomed to failure. As the aftershocks rolled through quake-hit Canterbury and as other children exhibited signs of stress, Luke showed increasing symptoms of anxiety: nightmares, persistent bedwetting, fear of loud noises, clinginess when starting school. Read more here
PHARMACY
Prescribing guidelines not always followed for patients on cholesterol-lowering drug
New Zealand prescribers do not always follow guidelines when prescribing other medicines to patients taking simvastatin, according to University of Otago researchers from the Pharmacoepidemiology Research Network. Read more here
SOCIAL HEALTH
'Tooth decay is a socio-economic disease'
Dentists in despair over the growing number of children with rotting teeth say the only real cure is ending poverty. Read more here
TELEHEALTH AND E-HEALTH
Millions to be saved through email, phone, video GP consults under Health Care Home model
A dramatic shake-up in the way patients visit their GP could spell the end of long waits and short consultations, as well as wasted healthcare. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Hospital operator HCA spends big to keep nurses on board
NEW YORK (Reuters) - HCA Healthcare (HCA.N) is raising the stakes in a fiercely competitive labor market, pledging $300 million for employee benefits that are largely designed to attract nurses, company executives told Reuters.
Read more here
B.C. nurses fight for access to new provincial PTSD labour laws
Proposed legislation includes first responders, sheriffs and correctional officers Read more here
The US can't keep up with demand for health aides, nurses and doctors
The US will need to hire 2.3 million new health care workers by 2025 in order to adequately take care of its aging population, a new report finds. Read more here
Flexible ICU visiting hours tied to less delirium and anxiety
Reuters Health) - When intensive care units (ICUs) have flexible visiting hours that allow families to spend more time at the bedside, patients may be less likely to suffer delirium or severe anxiety, a research review suggests. Read more here
JAMA: More practices rely on NPs, PAs
The number of physician specialty practices employing nurse practitioners and physician assistants rose 22 percent from 2008 to 2016, according to a study published April 30 in JAMA Internal Medicine. Read more here
WORKPLACE
To Be a Great Leader, You Have to Learn How to Delegate Well
One of the most difficult transitions for leaders to make is the shift from doing to leading. As a new manager you can get away with holding on to work. Peers and bosses may even admire your willingness to keep “rolling up your sleeves” to execute tactical assignments. But as your responsibilities become more complex, the difference between an effective leader and a super-sized individual contributor with a leader’s title is painfully evident. Read more here
ARTICLES OF INTEREST
International practice settings, interventions and outcomes of nurse practitioners in geriatric care: A scoping review
Open access - Review article Pages 61-75
Krista S. Chavez, Andrew A. Dyer, Anne-Sylvie Ramelet
Objectives
To identify and summarize the common clinical settings, interventions, and outcomes of nurse practitioner care specific to older people. Read more here
Foreign educated nurses’ work experiences and patient safety—A systematic review of qualitative studies
Aim
The aim of this systematic review was to identify the evidence contributed by qualitative research studies of foreign educated nurses’ work experiences in a new country and to link the results to patient safety competencies.
Read more here
MINISTRY OF HEALTH
Cancer: Historical summary 1948–2015
These tables contain cancer registration and death data for selected cancers by sex, from 1948–2015. Data is presented as numbers and age-standardised rates, for male, female and total population.
Data is sourced from the New Zealand Cancer Registry and the New Zealand Mortality Collection, as well as the Cancer: New Registrations and Deaths publications, Mortality and Demographic data publications and Medical Statistics of New Zealand for data relating to 1948–1960. In this edition, data for a selection of cancers was extracted and recalculated for the years 1996–2015 to reflect ongoing updates to data in the New Zealand Cancer Registry and the New Zealand Mortality Collection. For this reason numbers and rates may differ slightly from those presented in previous cancer publications and tables. Read more here
Selected Cancers 2014, 2015, 2016
These tables present numbers and rates of cancer registrations for selected cancers, by ethnic group, age group and sex, for 2014, 2015 and 2016. Read more here
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 8 May 2018
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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