Welcome to the College of Nurses Aotearoa News Update.
No. 618 Wednesday 9 November 2022
Weekly news round-up of nursing and health information in New Zealand and internationally
New Zealand news
Nurses constrained in their practice - New Zealand Doctor
New Zealand Doctor
Fiona Murray says there are many benefits for organisations that support nurses' professional development and use of evidence-based practice.
(Subscription required)
Kiwis with rare disorders want faster progress on 'life or death' health strategy
For Samantha Lenik, being diagnosed with Pompe disease after seven years of symptoms was a “double-edged sword”.
International news
Nurses and midwives plead case for more research funding | The National Tribune
Despite being the largest health workforce in the country, nurses and midwives receive only a tiny proportion of research funding in Australia.
Wage caps leave nurses $120,000 out of pocket, report finds - 9News
Sydney nurse and NSW Nurses and Midwives Association (NSWNMA) member Julia Farley said the report findings were devastating and would alarm her ...
Australian Nurses Federation rejects State's second wage offer, launch overflow patient ban
Vital hospital beds could be closed after the Australian Nurses Federation rejected the State Government’s second wages offer and moved into its next round of industrial action.
Nursing Leaders Call for 'Moonshot' Strategy to Address Workforce Issues
At the American Academy of Nursing (AAN) Health Policy Conference, nursing leaders encouraged the nursing community to use the elevated status of nurses gained during the pandemic by launching a “moonshot” initiative designed to tackle the greatest challenges facing the profession.
Oregon nurses union proposes legislation to cap the number of patients a nurse can be assigned
The union’s proposal, were it to pass, would make Oregon one of just three states to mandate nurse-to-patient ratios; the state hospital association says the proposed law is the wrong way to fix the problem
Launch of Mission to Recruit Registered Nurses from India - News Releases
The Honourable Dr. Andrew Furey, Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador announced today that the Provincial Government is spearheading a mission to India to recruit internationally-educated registered nurses who can fill vacancies in Newfoundland and Labrador. The mission complements other ongoing national and international recruitment activities targeting health care professionals.
Nurse mentoring scheme launched in Devon - BBC News
A new mentoring scheme has been launched by the NHS which aims to train younger staff and retain older nurses.
Nurses set to hold biggest-ever strike - BBC News
The biggest ever strike by nurses looks set to go ahead.
The Royal College of Nursing is due to unveil the results of its ballot, which ended last week, in the next few days.
Plans in place to deal with strike action by UK's nurses, government says - The Guardian
... this should it arise,” he told Sky News' Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme. ... Dowden urged nurses and others to reconsider going on strike, ...
New resource aims to empower nurses to challenge racism - Nursing Times
A new anti-racism resource has been launched to provide nurses and midwives with the right tools to discuss, explore and challenge racism in the workplace.
Forum: Moving patients to wards to ease emergency department load is problematic
The Straits Times
For acute hospitals like Sengkang General Hospital, one nursing staff member ... And 60 per cent of nursing staff have to be registered nurses, ...
Trained, experienced nurses deserve more benefits - Philippine News Agency
Philippine News Agency
MANILA – Republic Act 9173 or the Philippine Nursing Act of 2002 must be amended to provide qualified nurses with expanded and collaborative roles ...
Aged care
Families dipped into pockets in bid to save Auckland rest home - 1News
Desperate families passed the hat around to try save an Auckland rest home from closing.
Children and young people
Child Health Experts Say Urgent Action Needed To Resolve Child Immunisation Crisis
Child health experts from the Paediatric Society of New Zealand (PSNZ) and Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) are deeply concerned about Aotearoa’s low rates of immunisations for preventable and life-threatening childhood diseases like measles and whooping cough.
Covid
Covid-19: 'Variant soup' set to drive up infections - expert
An immunologist says the risk of being reinfected with Covid-19 is on the rise because immunity is beginning to wane as time drags on since people's last infections and boosters.
Education
Study made easier for scholarship winners | Stuff.co.nz
Ucol Te Pūkenga learners have been given more than $44,000 in scholarships to help with study costs .
The scholarships, funded by Ucol Te Pūkenga and local donors, were presented at a ceremony held last week.
Emergency/urgent care
Long wait-times, parked ambulances and patients in the corridors in demand-surge at ED
When Geoff Mains was taken to hospital after coughing up blood clots on Monday morning, little did he and his wife Jann know that they’d be in for the long haul.
End of life care
Assisted dying: Doctors reflect on 'emotional' and 'rewarding' first year
In one of the first assisted deaths a Waikato doctor was involved in, the patient’s last words as he was slipping off to sleep were those of gratitude: “Thank you, thank you.
Health NZ Te Whatu Ora
Revealed: The hospital radiology departments at high risk
RNZ can reveal which other hospital radiology departments are at high risk of failing to meet international standards.
They are Wellington, the Hutt and Hawke's Bay hospitals.
Southland radiology department operating without accreditation
Southland Hospital’s radiology department has been operating without accreditation since 2014.
Hospitals nationwide remain stretched to their limits | RNZ News
Dunedin Hospital has been at 108 percent capacity this week, one of several around the country still slammed by high demand.
Emergency nurses said it meant more risk for patients and stress for workers.
20,000 people wait for surgery or first look in Waikato
Almost 20,000 patients are waiting to see a specialist and have surgery in Waikato, but hospitals are already at capacity dealing with cancer and urgent cases.
Designs for Taranaki Cancer Care Centre released
Travelling to Palmerston North for treatment will be a thing of the past for some Taranaki cancer patients when the region’s new facility opens in late 2024.
Palmerston North Hospital's much-needed critical care units 7 years away
New critical care units at Palmerston North Hospital could be more than seven years away, despite concerns about intensive care being raised more than a decade ago.
Health workforce and recruitment
Te Whatu Ora funding to support nurses to join the workforce
Nursing Council of New Zealand
Te Whatu Ora has two funds that provide financial support for nurses to join the nursing workforce.
The Return to Nursing Workforce Support Fund supports New Zealand trained nurses who are not currently working to return to a nursing role.
Fast track nurses to fix Nth Shore Hospital woes - National - RNZ
The National Party is renewing it's calls on the government to include nurses in the fast track to residence program, as a workforce shortage of four-thousand grips the industry.
Concern health professionals from ethnic backgrounds lost to other countries
New Zealand could be losing diverse young health professionals to other countries.
Ethnic communities say it is common for the children of immigrants to study medicine and dentistry overseas. For some it's the lure of bigger places and broader horizons, while for others it's the capped number of spots in New Zealand universities.
Health worker shortage: Te Whatu Ora Bay of Plenty needs to fill 382 vacancies - NZ Herald
There are 382 vacancies at Te Whatu Ora Hauora a Toi Bay of Plenty as health worker shortages continue to plague the country.
Medical worker shortage keeps Northland's Rawene Hospital closed after-hours | Stuff.co.nz
A shortage of both doctors and nurses continues to keep one of New Zealand’s most remote hospitals closed for after-hours care, a situation critics say could lead to disaster.
One business, 185 job ads: Why Ryman needs so many staff | Stuff.co.nz
Private healthcare businesses across the country are struggling to recruit staff as global worker shortages affect the domestic market.
The country’s largest retirement village operator, Ryman Healthcare, is the employer with the highest need.
Maori Health Authority
Pou unveiled but Hamilton health project $6.5m short, Government urged to put up pūtea
As an ambitious $15 million Hamilton health initiative comes to life, 28 carved pou (poles) will surround it as kaitiaki (guardians).
Māori Health Authority: Nominations open for Te Tai Tokerau iwi-Māori partnership board
Northland iwi leaders are urging whānau with health backgrounds to put their names forward for the new partnership board under Te Aka Whai Ora – Māori Health Authority.
Mental health
Te Whatu Ora investigates alleged assault of patient at Middlemore mental health unit - RNZ
A violent attack on a staff member at Middlemore Hospital on Thursday night has left the New Zealand Nurses Organisation looking for answers from ...
'Appalling' facilities, 'good care' | Otago Daily Times Online News
Newly retired Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand-Southern mental health nursing director Heather Casey fully expects to miss the people and patients she has worked with for the past 30 years, but will shed few tears at departing Wakari Hospital itself.
Mental health unit could close due to 'significant' lack of staff | Stuff.co.nz
An in-patient mental health unit at Christchurch’s Hillmorton Hospital may be closed because there are no people to staff it.
Staff make formal complaint about plight of hospital's mental health patients | RNZ News
Mental health patients are sometimes stranded for days in North Shore Hospital's emergency department waiting for a bed on a ward, and other patients are not on heart monitors when they should be.
Health Minister responds to mental health woes at North Shore ED | RNZ News
Health Minister Andrew Little says the reason mentally ill patients needing acute hospital care are facing long wait times is due to a lack of beds and community discharge placements.
Midwifery and maternity
Midwife vacancy rate almost 25% for Health NZ workforce | Stuff.co.nz
There is almost a 25% vacancy rate among midwives in the Health NZ workforce, with worries conditions could worsen over summer.
NZ Midwifery Council Drops The Words 'Mother' And 'Woman'
The Midwifery Council of NZ is updating its Midwifery Scope of Practice guidance for midwives to entirely remove the words 'mother' and 'woman'.
Public health
Meningococcal cases increasing again after disease 'almost disappeared' in 2020
Cases of deadly meningococcal disease have risen after it “almost disappeared” in the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic, leading to a renewed push for the Government to “step up” to prevent new outbreaks.
Tobacco, drugs and alcohol
Drug overdose deaths rising 54% in five years 'should be ringing alarm bells'
Fatal drug overdoses in Aotearoa have risen 54% in the past five years, which advocates say is “simply unacceptable”.
Reports and Journals online
Homeless and Inclusion Health Nursing Case Studies (UK)
Raising awareness and understanding of Homeless and Inclusion Health Nursing and demonstrating the value of this specialist role.
Infection Prevention & Control Research Review
Issue 18
This issue features research investigating the effectiveness of an optimised hygiene intervention for reducing the incidence of Clostridioides difficile infection in hospitals
Other highlights of this review include:
Unidirectional airflow for reducing bacterial contamination
- Monkeypox transmission in healthcare facilities
- Optimising IPC programmes and practice
Child Health Research Review
Issue 20
Welcome to the latest issue of Child Health Research Review. Comments for this issue have been provided by Dr Thorsten Stanley from the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, University of Otago.
Articles of interest
Nursing's curious inattention to the impact of name mispronunciation.
Thorne, S. (2022),
Nursing Inquiry, 29: e12529. https://doi.org/10.1111/nin.12529
Although nursing students across the globe spend considerable time and effort in the mastery of correctly pronouncing polysyllabic medical and pharmacological terminology as a basic professional competency, it seems a fair observation that they are given far less guidance in the matter of pronouncing the names of the patients they will encounter in the course of their careers.
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 8 November
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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