News bulletin 20 August

on 20 August

 

Welcome to the College of Nurses – News Update.
No. 216 Wednesday 20 Aug 2014

 From NZ media this week

Kiwi pair head to Ebola crisis
Two New Zealand nurses are en route to Sierra Leone to help fight the Ebola crisis.
Wellington health co-ordinator Sharon Mackie, 45, and Whangarei nurse Donna Collins, 48, will arrive in the African nation on Thursday (local time) where they will undergo four days of specialised training.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/10381049/Kiwi-pair-head-to-Ebola-crisis

INTERNATIONAL FRAMEWORKS FOR NURSING RESEARCH
When Associate Professor Dr Clare Harvey came to EIT from Flinders University of South Australia, she brought funding for several research projects on which she had been previously collaborating with colleagues in Australia and the USA.  As well as taking on the role of Postgraduate Programme Coordinator in EIT’s School of Nursing, she gathered together teams of researchers from within the school to further two of those projects and bring a New Zealand focus to each.
http://www.eit.ac.nz/2014/international-frameworks-for-nursing-research/

Survey to assess standard of nursing care
Patients will rate their experience at Waikato Hospital as part of an initiative to improve nursing care.
Hospital nurse managers will ask five patients from 25 wards a series of questions to gauge their overall priorities and level of satisfaction.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/10381079/Survey-to-assess-standard-of-nursing-care

Not enough nurses: MP
Nurse-to-patient ratios in Dunedin Hospital's emergency department are being stretched to as many as one to 10, Dunedin North MP Dr David Clark says.

http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/312430/too-few-nurses-mp


Rural Women NZ/Access Homehealth scholarship awarded to BOP nurse

The 2014 Rural Women NZ/Access Homehealth scholarship has been awarded to Bay of Plenty nurse Ellen Walker.

Ellen is studying to become a rural health nurse practitioner, and will use the $3000 scholarship to help fund her post-graduate diploma studies at the University of Auckland.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK1408/S00310/rural-women-access-homehealth-scholarship-awarded-to-nurse.htm


NZ's biggest hospital undergoes 'nursing revolution'

A new programme implemented at Auckland Hospital has increased the time nurses are spending bed-side while giving patients more of a say in their care.

http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/nz-s-biggest-hospital-undergoes-nursing-revolution-6059088


NetPs have place - UCOL

Nurse entry to practice programmes (NetPs) are needed for nursing graduates who require work experience as registered nurses, the academic leader of UCOL's Nurse Education Team says.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/wanganui-chronicle/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503426&objectid=11310328


Abuse, assault rise on wards

Assaults and verbal abuse of frontline health staff is rising in Marlborough but the problem could be worse, with incidents being under-reported by staff, a Blenheim registered nurse says.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/marlborough-express/news/10397866/Abuse-assault-rise-on-wards


From international media sources this week


Specialist nurses take over continence and stoma prescription services

Patients who use continence or stoma products in the borough will now receive their prescriptions from specialist nurses.

Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust has taken over the prescription services meaning patients will have easier access to expert staff and support for their conditions.

http://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/88866/specialist-nurses-take-over-continence-and-stoma-prescription-services

NPs and PAs perform office procedures beyond their medical training, study finds
Amidst the primary care shortage, mid-level providers like nurse practitioners(NPs) and physicians assistants (PAs) perform procedures for which they may not have formal training across primary care offices around the country, a newstudy published in JAMA Dermatology revealed.
http://www.fiercepracticemanagement.com/story/nps-and-pas-perform-office-procedures-beyond-their-medical-training-study-f/2014-08-19

Nurse practitioners help fill the care gap
LOUISVILLE – Nurse practitioner Bob Hobbs once came within days of closing his doors to patients because a doctor who gave him permission to write prescriptions was leaving the state and he couldn't find another one quickly enough.

http://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/local/2014/08/17/nurse-practitioners-help-fill-care-gap/14190521/


Nurse fitness drive hopes to grow

A project which sees student nurses in southern Scotland take part in an exercise programme could become a formal part of their training.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-28834720

DHB specific

Review slams DHB's mental health service

A litany of systemic failings have been uncovered by an investigation into the mental-health service at Palmerston North Hospital following two apparent suicides within three weeks of each other.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/10390919/Review-slams-DHBs-mental-health-service


Wanganui joins drive for health

Wanganui will be in the front line of a new Government initiative to combat obesity.

The Healthy Families NZ initiative will be led by Maori health agency Te Oranganui and receive $2 million funding over the next four years.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/wanganui-chronicle/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503426&objectid=11309681


Health Board makes plans as Ebola spreads abroad

Whanganui District Health Board has a plan in place for an Ebola outbreak.

Since March 22, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has listed 1069 confirmed, probable and suspected Ebola deaths in West Africa up to August 11.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/wanganui-chronicle/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503426&objectid=11309699


Health sector ready for pandemics

Mounting international concern over Ebola outbreaks in West Africa and an overload of flu cases this winter is raising questions about whether New Zealand is prepared to handle a disease pandemic. Lydia Anderson reports on a disease that last week saw Whangarei Red Cross nurse Donna Collins head to West Africa to treat victims of the deadly Ebola outbreak.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/northern-advocate/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503450&objectid=11310629

Public health

Cancer patients more likely to die in NZ

Hundreds of New Zealand cancer patients would not have died from the illness if they were faced with the same battle in Australia, according to a leading researcher.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/10387304/Cancer-patients-more-likely-to-die-in-NZ

Govt defends cancer screening progress

The Health Minister has defended progress being made to introduce national screening for bowel cancer, following studies showing death rates from cancer are much higher in New Zealand than Australia.

http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/252178/govt-defends-cancer-screening-progress


Social health


'Woeful housing' risks children's health

Children are suffering from overcrowded living conditions and risks to their health as rental housing gets not only more expensive but of worse quality, a new report says.

http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/252098/%27woeful-housing%27-risks-children%27s-health


Obesity is 'a symptom of poverty'

They are low-income workers or beneficiaries, they like sport on television but can't afford the gym, they love the ease of takeaway food and can't afford to buy healthily.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/10387625/Obesity-is-a-symptom-of-poverty


Election 2014

Election 2014: Free visits to doctor big gun on health battlefield

Parties wheel out the variations, but one policy is the focus of all.

In health, the election has become a bidding war focused on the new centre ground of free doctor visits.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11311349

Health and wellness

Need stress relief? Try the 4 A's

Expand your stress management tool kit by mastering these four strategies for coping with stress: avoid, alter, accept and adapt.

http://mayocl.in/1sZFpL1


Articles of interest


Nurse leaders' responsibilities in supporting nurses experiencing difficult situations in clinical nursing

To make nurse leaders aware of different kinds of difficult situations in clinical nursing that may cause suffering to nurses and to discuss how nurse leaders can approach and alleviate this suffering.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2834.2012.01468.x/abstract


Qualities of exemplary nurse leaders: perspectives of frontline nurses

This paper reports on a study that looked at the characteristics of exemplary nurse leaders in times of change from the perspective of frontline nurses.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jonm.12092/abstract


Looking ahead to our next generation of nurse leaders: Generation X Nurse Managers

The present inquiry identifies elements of professional success, and personal and professional fulfilment as defined by Generation X Nurse Managers.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jonm.12198/abstract

New publications

The nursing role in integrated care models: Reflecting on the United State's experience (PDF 570.7 KB)

Abstract:There is growing recognition that integrated care can improve the quality of care that individuals receive and make the best and most efficient use of limited resources.This briefing informs ongoing policy debate, facilitates international learning, and highlights the nursing contribution – a distinction less commonly made.
http://www.rcn.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/579277/004_601_WEB.pdf

Professional development

International Pacific Health Conference 2014

About the conference
The International Pacific Health Conference will be held in Auckland on 3 to 5 November 2014 at the Rendezvous Grand Hotel. It is an extraordinary opportunity for interdisciplinary dissemination of health research, practice, and knowledge. The theme of the conference is Pacific health solutions through research and practice. 

The conference is supported by the Health Research Council of New Zealand in partnership with the Ministry of Health; Secretariat of the Pacific Community; Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan; AUT University Pacific Islands Families Study; the University of Otago; John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa; Le Va; Ministry of Social Development Pasefika Proud; the University of Auckland; AUT University; and the Pasifika Medical Association.Objectives

The International Pacific Health Conference is a significant opportunity to:

convene a meeting of 300 community stakeholders, advocates, policy makers, philanthropic leaders, researchers, and students to provide an opportunity for interdisciplinary dissemination of health research, practice, and knowledge

develop strategies for effective interventions of evidence-based results to address the health challenges of Pacific communities globally.

http://pacificconference.hrc.govt.nz/

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 19 Aug 2014If you have any feedback about content - what parts are most useful or what you would like added - please email admin@nurse.org.nz

For more up to date news and information follow SNIPS at:

Facebook:  Snips Info

twitter: @SnipsInfo

                       

Back to blog entries

Areas of Interest