News bulletin 11 May 2016

on 11 May

Welcome to the College of Nurses Aotearoa News Update.
No. 299 11 May 2016

 

From NZ media this week

Record number of nominations for Southern Nursing Excellence Awards
They face all manner of situations, usually with a smile on their faces.
And now it's their time to shine.
As part of International Nurses Day, Southland will celebrate the efforts of its nurses with the Nursing Excellence Awards on May 12.
Read more here

NGO nurse takes on the Skills Matter NESP programme - and wins!
Trudy George is a 51-year-old registered nurse at Odyssey’s residential co- existing disorders service in Counties Manukau. She came to nursing later in life after working in accounts and as a gym instructor – and after having raised five children.
Read more here

International Nurses Day pays tribute to hard working carers
Jane Sutton says caring for patients reaching the end of their lives is the most rewarding job she has had.
The Hospice West Auckland Kowhai Suite manager and nurse is just one of many being recognised on International Nurses Day, May 12.
Read more here

Improving health systems’ resilience
Thursday marks International Nurses Day – the annual celebration to mark the contributions nurses make to society around the globe, as well as commemorating the birthday of one of the world’s most famous nurses, Florence Nightingale, born in Italy on May 12, 1820.
Read item here

NZ health system ignores Māori tikanga - study
Māori cancer patients feel uncomfortable when they use mainstream healthcare because Māori tikanga - or culture - is ignored, new research has found.
Read more here

Warren Lindberg - Maori Health Symposium
Warren Lindberg joins Wallace to talk about the challenges facing Maori in the health system today.
Listen here

Improvements to health of Maori children
Maori children are more than twice as likely as Pakeha children to grow up in households experiencing significant hardship, and fare worse in most indicators.
But the new report by the University of Otago-based Child and Youth Epidemiology Service shows increasing numbers of Maori pre schoolers are getting early childhood education. There's also been a halving of school suspensions for Maori students, an increase immunisation rates, fewer young Maori smoking, and falling hospitaliszion rates for Maori children for injuries from assault, neglect or maltreatment. Dr Mavis Duncan is one of the co-authors of the study and the acting director of the Child and Youth Epidemiology Service.
Read more here

Calculator to help fight sudden infant death
A calculator has been developed to predict the chances of a baby dying in its sleep and to bring down the number of infants passing away suddenly.  
Read more here

Paging Dr Google: AI set to dominate medical field
Human doctors are likely to become redundant in the near future, two Kiwi health experts warn.
As technology advances, artificial intelligence (AI) could be the future of healthcare -- in the long-term, it's cheaper than regular doctors and it lessens the chance of human error.
Read more

Pasifika more likely to suffer anaphylaxis - study
New research shows increasing numbers of people are being hospitalised with severe allergic reactions from food - particularly Pacific Islanders.
Read more here

Aged care

Concern as more older migrants left alone
The growing number of elderly Chinese migrants entering New Zealand to reunite with family and being left alone is a major concern, an immigration expert says.
Read more here

Cancer

Push for bowel cancer screening programme
A business case for a national national screening programme to detect and treat bowel cancer is being finalised.
Health advocates say lives can be saved if the Government expands a pilot screening programme, with the Cancer Society making funding for a national programme one of its top wishes for this month's Budget.
Read more here

Emergency medicine

EDs frustrated by patients with minor injuries
Emergency departments around the country are under increasing strain, but up to 10 percent of ED visits may be unnecessary.|
Minor ailments including colds, ulcers and even paper cuts are distracting doctors and nurses from those who really need emergency care.
Read more here

Mental health

Professor calls for inquiry into mental health services
Professor Max Abbott, Dean of the Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences at Auckland University of Technology, is calling for an independent commission of inquiry into mental health services.
Read more here

A spate of insane killings prompts review of Wellington's mental health services
A spate of killings and other attacks by mentally ill people has sparked a review of Wellington's mental health services.
On Friday a 30-year-old man was found not guilty due to insanity of murdering Kapiti nurse Cathy Stewart in February last year.
Read more here

Avoidable early deaths costing New Zealand economy $3.1 billion annually
Investment in the physical health care of people with mental illness could recoup millions for the New Zealand economy says the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists who have released a report which calculates the economic cost of premature death of people with mental illnesses including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, psychoses and severe anxiety and depression to be $3.1 billion (1.3% of GDP) annually, and the cost overall to be $12 billion (5% of GDP).
Read more here

Pharmacy

Could 'cannabis clubs' work in New Zealand?
Leading drug researcher Dr Chris Wilkins from Massey University’s SHORE and Whariki Research Centre is calling for the adoption of a not-for-profit club model for cannabis, allowing regulated cannabis products to be sold legally. His proposal foreshadows an annual international conference on drug policy being hosted by Massey next week.
Read more here

Medicines NZ welcome $124m investment in new medicines
Medicines New Zealand is pleased that the New Zealand Government has today announced a $124 million increase over four years for investment in new medicines.
Read more here

Doctors' criticisms force Medsafe to reconsider pharmacists selling the pill
Health officials may be forced into an embarrassing backtrack after a recommendation that pharmacists be allowed sell birth control pills without a doctor's script.
The controversial issue was put back on the agenda this week after harsh criticisms by the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners that Medsafe's decision-making was flawed and risked
harming patients.
Read more here

Primary Health care

Pharmacists team up to help Kiwis beat flu
Kiwis take an average of around four sick days off work every year, costing the economy a staggering $1.4 billion.
The dreaded flu is one of the main culprits, affecting one in every five Kiwis.
Read more here

Public health

Rotavirus vaccine has led to decrease in hospital admissions for gastroenteritis
A vaccine introduced to prevent gastroenteritis in Kiwi children has halved the number of infant admissions to hospital in the last five years.
Ministry of Health acting director of public health Dr Stewart Jessamine said the vaccine for rotavirus was added to the national immunisation schedule in July 2014 and was available to babies born
from early May that year.
Read more here

Social health

State of the State report: Government needs to focus on 'root causes'
The Government should adopt a 'social investment' approach to help Kiwis avoid poor life outcomes, a new report says.
Released on Monday by NZ Institute of Economic Research (NZIER) and Deloitte, State of the State New Zealand 2016 followed a six-month review of government finances and future burdens to
New Zealanders.
Read more here

From International media this week

Nurse Residency Programs Can Impact Oncology Nursing Practice, Outcomes
SAN ANTONIO, Tex.—An innovative and robust nurse residency program that includes an evidence-based practice project, can impact oncology nursing practice and outcomes, according to a presentation at the ONS 41st Annual Congress.1
Read item here

Academics defend nurse PhD impact on practice
Academics have defended the important contribution nurse PhDs make to healthcare practice, following suggestions that they are often “interesting academically” but not always useful.
Read item here

Articles of interest

Patients’ confidence in coping with arthritis after nurse-led education; a qualitative study
BMC NursingBMC series – open, inclusive and trusted201615:28
The aim of this study was to explore how patients with chronic inflammatory polyarthritis described coping with their disease after a nurse-led patient education program and compare these experiences to patients in a control group who did not receive any education.
Read more here

Nurses' hospital orientation and future research challenges: an integrative review
This study aimed to describe the research on registered nurses' orientation processes in specialized hospital settings in order to illustrate directions for future research.
Read more here

From the Ministry of Health

Te Ohonga Ake: The Determinants of Health for Māori Children and Young People in New Zealand: Series Two
This report, which focuses on the underlying determinants of health for Māori children and young people, aims to:
Provide a snapshot of progress in addressing many of the determinants of health including child poverty and living standards, housing, early childhood education, oral health, tobacco use, alcohol
related harm, and children’s exposure to family violence.
Assist those working in the health sector to consider the roles other agencies play in influencing child and youth health outcomes related to these determinants.
In exploring the underlying determinant of health for Māori children and young people, each of the indicators in this year’s report has been assigned to one of four sections:
The wider macroeconomic and policy context
Socioeconomic and cultural determinants
Risk and protective factors
Health outcomes as determinants. 
Read more about The Determinants of Health for Māori Children and Young People in New Zealand: Series Two on the Otago University website.

Read report 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 10 May 2016.

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