Welcome to the College of Nurses Aotearoa News Update.
No. 355 5 July 2017
NATIONAL NEWS
Does the nursing sector in NZ ‘eat its young’? (audio download)
A former registered nurse, Rebekah Kelsey, says relentless bullying by senior staff within an ADHB hospital forced to quit her job. In a recent issue of the New Zealand nurses industry magazine, Kai Tiaki, Kelsey told her story. 95bFM producer Adam Jacobson got in contact with Kelsey, asking her to describe the experiences and behaviours which led to her resignation. He also heard from Lesley Harry, the NZ Nurses Organisation’s Industrial Adviser for the DHB sector, to find out if the New Zealand health sector has a workplace bullying culture.
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Brighter Future? The missing patients
Half a million people say they can't afford to see a family doctor because of the cost, and that number refuses to fall.Whangarei GP Andrew Miller is getting worked up. His clinic, Bush Road Medical Practice, charges $38 for an adult to visit - a cost he knows some of his patients really cannot afford.
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Health system faces $101m shortfall according to nurses union
There is a $101 million shortfall in health funding in this year's budget, the nurses union says.
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Health minister rejects union's claims
|The Health Minister Jonathan Coleman is dismissing a union analysis that found the health budget is underfunded, saying it's the work of government critics.
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Patients, workers meet to make health a key election issue
Issues of substandard care and a $215 million gap in what is needed to fund the country's health services will make health a key election topic, a forum has heard.
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Brighter Future? Hard path to hauora pai
Walking across the porch of Mangere's Ngā Whare Waatea wharenui, Kura Ratapu points out the smokers' hub, a makeshift lean-to with a view out across the marae.
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Half-a-million New Zealanders didn't make GP appointment last year due to rising cost
The rising cost of visiting a doctor stopped half-a-million New Zealanders from making an appointment in the last year.
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Whānau Ora programme returning nearly twice the value
Helping young children realise the consequence of drug and alcohol use is what Waipareira TaiTamariki programme is all about.
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AGED CARE
New dementia guidelines for GPs and nurses
Associate Health Minister Nicky Wagner is encouraging primary healthcare professionals to use recently published guidelines to help identify early signs of dementia.
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HEALTH FUNDING AND RESEARCH
Leading NZ-Australian child health research institutes join forces
New Zealand and Australia’s leading child health research institutes are joining forces to advance our knowledge of how nutrition interacts with a person’s genetic make-up to shape health and wellbeing.
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INJURY PREVENTION
Teens from poor areas four times more likely to suffer untreated concussion
Concussed rugby players from poor schools are four times as likely to go untreated as those from schools in rich areas, new figures reveal.
Experts say the statistics are a major concern, as putting concussed kids back on the field risks lasting damage, and putting them back in the classroom sets them up to fail.
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MENTAL HEALTH
Triage tool to speed up mental health treatment
People in need of mental health and addiction treatment could get help sooner when a new triage tool is rolled out in the top of the south.
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There’s a clear economic argument for spending on mental health
A dollar for health means a dollar not spent somewhere else.
“Tis the season to be jolly, etc. Although it’s not Christmas, election year means an early visit from Santa for some of us.
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Figures reveal under-staffing of mental health sector
New information shows the extent of the country's shortage of psychiatrists and mental health workers.
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National Māori and Pasifika Suicide Prevention Programme
Waka Hourua is the National Māori and Pacific Suicide Prevention Programme funded by the Ministry of Health. Delivered by Te Rau Matatini and Le Va, emerging evidence has demonstrated that responding to suicide among young Māori and Pacific people requires a different approach than for other age groups and Pākehā. Suicide prevention approaches must include particular cultural, social, historical and community contexts which may influence suicide risk for young Māori and Pacific people.
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OBESITY / SUGAR TAX
Sugary-drinks tax would not punish low-income earners, study finds
Low-income earners with a taste for fizzy will not be unfairly punished by a sugary-drinks tax, a new Australian study has found.
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ORGAN DONATION
New strategy aims to boost organ donation
Health Minister Jonathan Coleman has launched a new strategy to lift the low rate of organ donation from people who have died.
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PHARMACY
New strategy from Pharmac to help Pacific communities in NZ
The New Zealand drug buying agency Pharmac has released the Pacific Responsiveness Strategy after a year of consultation with health professionals and Pacific communities.
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PUBLIC HEALTH
Low vaccination rates fuelling Auckland's mumps outbreak
Auckland Regional Public Health Service (ARPHS) is concerned not enough young Aucklanders are immunised in the face of an unrelenting mumps outbreak.
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Research expert believes chickenpox could be eradicated from NZ
About 60,000 Kiwis are infected with chickenpox (varicella) every year. Of those, several hundred are hospitalised with some cases resulting in serious medical complications and occasionally death, says Dr Helen Petousis-Harris, Director of Research at the Immunisation Advisory Centre and The University of Auckland.
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TOBACCO, DRUGS AND ALCOHOL
Pathways to achieve smokefree NZ by 2025
New modelling research has shown the major ways for reducing smoking on the path to New Zealand’s smokefree goal by 2025. University of Otago, Wellington researchers are calling for these new measures to be considered by the New Zealand Government.
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INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Study aims to help emergency nurses better identify human trafficking victims
Healthcare professionals are in a unique position to identify and rescue victims of human trafficking. Nearly 88 percent of them seek medical treatment during captivity, and of those, 68 percent of them are seen in the emergency department (ED). Unfortunately, many victims slip through the cracks and remain "hidden." A study released today (June 26, 2017 at 12:01 a.m.) in the Emergency Nurses Association's Journal of Emergency Nursing aims to help emergency nurses better identify victims of human trafficking. The study details an evidence-based project that shines a spotlight on the importance of formal education, screening, and treatment protocols for emergency department personnel to guide identification and rescue victims of human trafficking.
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Mississippi health system forms a clinically integrated network that partners doctors and nurse practitioners
North Mississippi Health Services' decision to form a clinically integrated network came with a dilemma. In its corner of Mississippi, nurse practitioners provide about 53% of patient's primary care. Most networks only include doctors, but that didn’t make sense for NMHS.
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Trial to help Canberrans with chronic illnesses adjust to home life after hospital
Canberrans with chronic diseases will get a little extra help to adjust after a stint in hospital as part of a new one year trial. The "transitions of care" pilot program, staffed with an occupational therapist and two registered nurses, was set up to people to better manage their condition after hospital.
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Visit from a nurse practitioner can ease transition from hospitalization to primary care
A meeting with a nurse practitioner prior to discharge could improve communication between hospital staff and primary care providers, easing the transition after hospitalization and improving patient outcomes.
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12-hour shifts up fatigue, lower job satisfaction among nurses, new research shows
A systematic review, published in the Journal of Nursing Education and Practice, investigated the impact of 12-hour shifts on nurses' health, wellbeing and job satisfaction. The review also compared the impact of 12-hour shifts to 8-hour shifts.
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ARTICLES OF INTEREST
Literature review: Why do we continue to lose our nurses?
THE AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING
VOLUME 34 ISSUE 4
Pete Goodare, BN, RN, Grad Cert Clinical Teach/Learning (nursing), Grad Dip Acute Care (nursing), MClinN (acute care nursing)
The Mater Hospital, North Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Nurses encompass the largest professional constituent of the health care workforce in most countries, resulting in the impact of a shortage of these professionals, as immense. A projection in the shortage of nurses is upon us, and the margin in the reduction of these health professionals is thought to be worse than any of the preceding cyclical reductions. More than half of the nursing profession feel they are underpaid and overworked, resulting in the likelihood of patient’s needs not being met, significantly increasing. Lengthy hours, quality of working environments, lack of leadership and the ageing population and workforce, can all be seen as influential factors, in which have the potential to leave this profession in a situation of calamity.
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“Teamwork in hospitals”: a quasi-experimental study protocol applying a human factors approach
BMC NursingBMC series – open, inclusive and trusted 2017 16:34
Effective teamwork and sufficient communication are critical components essential to patient safety in today’s specialized and complex healthcare services. Team training is important for an improved efficiency in inter-professional teamwork within hospitals, however the scientific rigor of studies must be strengthen and more research is required to compare studies across samples, settings and countries. The aims of the study are to translate and validate teamwork questionnaires and investigate healthcare personnel’s perception of teamwork in hospitals (Part 1). Further to explore the impact of an inter-professional teamwork intervention in a surgical ward on structure, process and outcome (Part 2)
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FROM THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH
Increasing Deceased Organ Donation and Transplantation: A National Strategy
Organ donation is a very special gift. It is voluntary and the decision of family and whānau on behalf of their loved one will always be respected.
This strategy is to encourage and make it easier for New Zealanders to make their donation wishes known to family and whānau. It also aims to help people make the most appropriate decision with the best possible support and confidence.
The strategy was developed through a comprehensive process. It involved reviewing international experience of successful efforts to increase donation rates, reviewing the current system in New Zealand, and drawing on the advice of an expert advisory group and a sector working group, as well as public consultation.
The strategy acknowledges live organ donation, and the entire donation and transplantation process.
The strategy also recognises that improving organ donation is everyone’s responsibility. The public, clinicians and the government all have a role.
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 4 July 2017
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