Welcome to the College of Nurses Aotearoa News Update.
No. 571, Wednesday 1 December 2021
Weekly news round-up of nursing and health information in New Zealand and internationally
New Zealand news
Whangārei nurse gets $20,000 scholarship to help improve Māori healthcare outcomes - NZ Herald
NZ Herald
Coral Waipo, a nurse who works with Māori, is one of five aspiring health sector workers who have been awarded a scholarship by New Zealand Health ...
Nurses protest called off after agreement reached over payments | Stuff.co.nz
Stuff.co.nz
The delay was blamed on the size of Canterbury District Health Board's nursing workforce and other complexities. A hard-fought settlement ratified in ...
Hospitals carrying 'heavy burden' after nearly 1500 staff off the job after refusing COVID-19 vaccine
Newshub
The NZ Nurses Organisation is also worried about its already ... With 30,000 nurses working in New Zealand, Weston says having 518 of them refuse ...
Hoteliers 'give hard-working health workers a restful break' | Voxy.co.nz
Voxy.co.nz
For the campaign's inaugural year, HCA has partnered with the New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) and is gifting more than 300 room nights to ...
GUEST BLOG: Ian Powell – Unionism and nursing in New Zealand
The Daily Blog
All these thoughts from central Otago to Karl Marx via Helen Kelly were in the back of my mind when I recently had the opportunity to read an external review of the performance of the New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO). Completed on 2 November 2020 it covered the preceding 24 months.
NZNO Appoints New Chief Executive | Scoop News
Scoop NZ
The New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) is pleased to announce the appointment of Paul Goulter as its new Chief Executive.
International news
Singapore Runs Short Of Nurses, Hospitals Offer Finder's Fee For Experienced Staff - NDTV.com
NDTV.com
The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened the shortage of nurses, as the need for them grows even as more of them quit their jobs.
ICU nurses: 'No more clapping by the public or lighting candles. At this stage, it's an insult'
TheJournal.ie
NURSES WORKING IN intensive care units have warned that another long winter looms as Covid-19 cases continue to rise amid ongoing staff shortages in hospitals.
35% of B.C. nurses considered quitting due to COVID-19 pressures: union survey | Globalnews.ca
Global News
A new internal report has found 35 per cent of all B.C. nurses say the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic has made them more likely to leave the profession in the next two years.
Anti-Vaxx Ex-Nurse to Face Trial for Organizing Anti-Lockdown Rallies in UK - Business Insider
Business Insider
A panel of nurses and midwives found that Kay Shemirani had denied the ... She also told national and local news outlets that vaccines are ...
As COVID-19 strains nurses, Singh says feds must ease barriers for those trained abroad
Global News
By Amanda Connolly Global News ... NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says Ottawa must make it easier for nurses trained abroad to contribute to the fight ...
More than 34,000 assaults on nurses and doctors since 2015 - The Irish Times
The Irish Times
Nurses disproportionately affected, HSE figures show. ... In 2021 to date, there have been 3,315 assaults on nurses and doctors.
Former nurse says aged care outbreak was 'chaos' | Star News - Otago Daily Times
Otago Daily Times
A former nurse at a Victorian aged care home where 45 residents died of Covid-19 has told an inquest she could never bring herself to work in the ...
Aged care / Aging population
Rest home owners consider closing instead of upgrading leaky building | RNZ News
RNZ
A group of elderly people in Porirua who thought they'd found a home to spend the rest of their lives in could be kicked out.
Cancer issues
Health workers anxious over missed cancer diagnoses as patients stay away during pandemic
Community health workers lost sleep over missing a cancer or other serious diagnosis as patients were too scared or financially stretched to go to their GP during the Covid-19 pandemic, research has found.
'More women will get cancer': Covid cuts cervical screening rates in half
Sara was diagnosed at 27. She wanted her daughter's generation to be spared her pain – but experts fear cervical cancer will be Covid's legacy. MICHELLE DUFF reports.
Covid-19
Rapid antigen tests available from pharmacies from next month
DIY Covid tests will be available in pharmacies from mid-December, while businesses will have access to them from next week.
Covid-19: Booster shots are available – who can get them, and how do you book?
Kiwis can book their booster dose of the Pfizer vaccine from today , and start being receiving them from November 29, Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins has announced.
But who does this affect? More people than you’d think, it turns out.
Healthcare workers line up for booster shots | RNZ News
RNZ
Nurses around the country are relieved to be able to get their booster shots of the vaccine, with appointments starting yesterday.
Suspected Covid patients sent to green zoned shared cubicles at Hutt Hospital, former ... - Stuff.co.nz
Stuff.co.nz
Hutt Valley DHB has strongly refuted a former nurse's claim the region could have faced a Delta outbreak due to poor infection control at its ...
Covid-19 Delta outbreak: Ten out of 15 people who have died were unvaccinated
The Ministry of Health has revealed 10 out of the 15 people who have died in the Delta outbreak were unvaccinated.
Vaccine mandate: 314 staff, volunteers have left St John | Stuff.co.nz
Stuff.co.nz
This follows news that New Zealand's 20 district health boards stood down 1309 ... about 4 per cent, left the TDHB including 20 of its 727 nurses.
Covid-19 vaccine reduces stroke risk - Stroke Foundation
The Stroke Foundation is urging people to get vaccinated against Covid-19 to help reduce the risk of a debilitating stroke.
New COVID-19 Protection Framework guidance
The COVID-19 Protection Framework, also known as the traffic light system, will replace the Alert Level system at 11.59 pm on Thursday 2 December 2021.
Get ready for the change and find guidelines about how your business can operate under the COVID-19 Protection Framework.
Do vaccines reduce your risk of long COVID? Here's what we know so far
Getting vaccinated against COVID-19 substantially reduces your risk of severe disease and diminishes your chances of catching the virus altogether.
Covid 19 Delta outbreak: South Auckland GPs facing 'burnout' monitoring home isolation patients
NZ Herald
Khar said the Government's funding package should have included more support for doctors and nurses working on the frontline.
Pasifika communities reach 'key vaccination milestones' | RNZ News
RNZ
Ninety percent of Pacific people in New Zealand have had their first ... Nurses in the Far North Vaccinating during the lockdown Photo: RNZ ...
DHBs
Covid-19: Health ministry yet to respond to requests for extra funding to boost ICU capacity
Health officials in Canterbury, Bay of Plenty and Waitematā asked for money to boost their intensive care unit (ICU) capacity weeks ago, but the Ministry of Health is yet to respond.
End of life care
South Canterbury support services make stand on End of Life Act
Anyone seeking assisted dying will not be allowed to undertake the procedure on site at Hospice South Canterbury or Highfield LifeCare in Timaru.
Health inequities
Lower-income Christchurch residents facing half-hour bus rides to nearest doctor, study finds
Nearly one in three Christchurch residents face a lengthy bus ride to get to their doctor, with lower-income locals the most locked out.
Maori health
Hospital services for Māori 'hostile and racist', review finds
“To put it simply, there is no point solving someone’s transport barrier by giving them a taxi chit if the taxi drives them towards a racist health service,” Dr Emma Espiner writes.
ProCare launches ihi - new Te Reo Maori app as part of its commitment to equity
ProCare, New Zealand’s largest network of primary healthcare professionals, has today announced the launch of a new cultural competency app called ‘ihi’ as part of its equity journey and as a way of helping staff, its network and wider stakeholders to increase their engagement in Te Ao MÄori.
Mental health
We need to talk : the long wait for health care
Mental health campaigns promote a simple message: Ask for help. But for thousands of New Zealanders living with mental health and addiction issues, the hardest part is not asking for help. It’s being told they’ll have to wait months to get into treatment. Or that they don’t qualify for help.
Inside the frontline of the mental health crisis - ASMS
A new report by the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists Toi Mata Hauora reveals 45% of psychiatrists would like to leave their job in the face of soaring demand for mental health services.
Gaps, inequities and staff shortages in maternal mental health services
An increasing number of women with maternal mental health issues such as postnatal depression are not receiving vital treatment intended to keep families together, protect babies and reduce the risk of maternal suicide.
Primary health care
Falling MMR vaccination rates and border opening raises fear of measles epidemic
Falling MMR vaccination rates in the last year have health professionals worried there could be twin epidemics when New Zealand reopens its borders: Covid-19 and measles.
Workforce
Largest ever cohort of Māori health professionals to graduate from Otago University
The largest ever cohort of Māori health professionals is set to graduate from the University of Otago.
This comes as much welcomed news to those working to address decades of inequity.
Reports and Journals online
Understanding vaccine hesitancy through communities of place
Institute for Community Studies
This UK-US collaborative study highlights the importance of tapping into local knowledge and leadership in efforts to improve Covid-19 vaccine take-up. Produced together with the Institute for Community Research and Boston University in the United States, the study explores levels of vaccine engagement in four locations: Oldham and Tower Hamlets in the United Kingdom, and the cities of Boston and Hartford in the United States. In all four localities, the survey finds the authorities’ ‘top-down’ approach to vaccine distribution and education has been ineffective, and that applying a ‘community engagement approach’ instead – involving community groups and trusted leaders in vaccine distribution and education – can improve take-up rates.
Articles of interest
The article below is not freely available but may be accessed through databases and libraries to which readers have access. Alternatively SnIPS can provide it on a cost recoverable basis
Evidence-informed implementation of nurse prescribing under supervision: An integrative review.
Fox, A., Joseph, R., Cardiff, L., Thoms, D., Yates, P., Nissen, L., & Chan, R. J. (2021).
Journal of Advanced Nursing, 00, 1– 13. https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.14992
To explore evidence reporting facilitators and barriers to implementation of nurse prescribing and provide practical recommendations for evidence-informed implementation and adoption of nurse prescribing under a supervision model.
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 of 30 November
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