Kai Tiaki: Nursing New Zealand articles from December 2008

Kai Tiaki: Nursing New Zealand archives from December 2008

Dignity and democracy.(Editorial)
December 1, 2008... Shortly after the election last month, a nurse told me she was moving to Australia. "It's hopeless; nurses are no better off than we were ten years ago and now it's back to the worst of the '90s!", she complaimed. Sadly, I have heard...

Looking for contributions from PHC.(Letter to the editor)
December 1, 2008... The Practice Nurse Journal is relevant to all nurses working in primary health care (PHC), including those who work outside general practice. The editorial committee is actively seeking material for publication from nursing colleagues...

Memories of the Orbell sisters.(Letter to the editor)
December 1, 2008... I would like to talk with nursing friends and associates who worked with, or were trained by, Elizabeth Bamford Orbell (Betty), OBE, and her sister Audrey Hastings Orbell, OBE. Born and educated in Christchurch, both made a significant...

Following a nursing pathway.(Letter to the editor)
December 1, 2008... I have recently published the story of my 50 years of nursing. A Nursing Pathway is not an autobiography; rather, it's an account of training in the hospital-based system, of travel, and of nursing in Europe and North America, as well as in New...

Seeking positive aged-care stories.(Letter to the editor)
December 1, 2008... An article about my recently published book The Art of Caregiving was punished in your November issue ("Understanding Caring", news and events, p8). White the book is aimed at those working in the aged-care sector, it is relevant to all nurses...

Biography of a remarkable nurse.(Letter to the editor)
December 1, 2008... I am about to publish the biography of my Late cousin, Keitha Alcorn. The book will be called Keitha--A Great New Zealand Nurse. The forward explains why today's nursing generation might want to learn about the life and accomplishments of this...

The President comments ...(Letter to the editor)
December 1, 2008... As the year draws to an end I find myself reflecting on the year that has been. It makes me think about the areas I have been involved in and how I could have done things better--I guess hindsight is a wonderful thing. It has been a busy...

2008 best of the best awards.((A) MUSING ON NURSING)
December 1, 2008... "At Christmas I no more desire a rose Than wish a snow in May's new-fangled mirth; But like of each thing that in season grows." (1) We're a soft lot at the Te Henga Section of the Nurses' Marxist Union. We get carried away with seasonal...

Meeting to debate name change.(NEWS AND EVENTS)(Conference notes)
December 1, 2008... Representatives from NZNO's 14 primary health care (PHC) sections, colleges and other groups have been invited to a meeting in Wellington on January 27 in an attempt to reach a decision on the formation of a college of PHC nurses. The...

Initiative to boost Maori members' involvement.(NEWS AND EVENTS)
December 1, 2008... In a major new initiative, NZNO is launching a programme to foster union activism among Maori members. NZNO has received $74,000 from the Employment Relations Education (ERE) Contestable Fund to boost Maori involvement in NZNO and at their...

Helping Maori members' voices be heard.(NEWS AND EVENTS)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... NZNO's policy analyst Maori Leanne Manson (right) believes joining NZNO will give her a chance to use her clinical skills to influence policy and lift the profile of Maori nurses. "As a policy analyst, I will be able to influence nursing...

Historic aged-care negotiations begin.(NEWS AND EVENTS)
December 1, 2008... Historic negotiations between NZNO and the Service and Food Workers' Union (SFWU) Nga Ringa Tota and many small residential aged-care operators got underway earlier this month. The vast majority of these residential aged-care operators have...

NZNO's membership changing rapidly.(NEWS AND EVENTS)
December 1, 2008... The face of NZNO is changing rapidly. Recently released membership figures show dramatic changes in the ethnic makeup of membership. New Zealanders now comprise 55 percent of members, down from 77 percent in 2005. Europeans now make up just...

Hawke's Bay 'Project Incubator' wins awards.(NEWS AND EVENTS)
December 1, 2008... Hawke's Bay District Health Board's "Project Incubator", which helps forge links between Year-13 high school students and those working in the health sector, won two Health Innovations Awards (HIA) last month. The project involves health...

Association aims to meet Tokelau community health needs.(NEWS AND EVENTS)(Tokelau community are a group of Polynesian emigrants)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... Supporting the health and well-being of Tokelau people in New Zealand is the primary aim of the recently Launched Tokelau Nurses' and Health Workers' Association of New Zealand, Te Malama O Te Tauhunu. The association was Launched in a...

Health and disability commissioner act under review.(NEWS AND EVENTS)(Conference news)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... The third review of the Health and Disability Commissioner Act 1994 and the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers' Rights is currently underway. The Commissioner is required to undertake a review of the legislation every five years....

New health minister promises nursing council elections.(NEWS AND EVENTS)
December 1, 2008... A regulation will be drawn up to enable the election of three nurses to Nursing Council, new Health Minister Tony Ryall told a meeting with NZNO president Marion Guy, Te Runanga kaiwhakahaere Brenda Close and NZNO chief executive Geoff Annals...

Strategies to reduce workplace bullying.(NEWS AND EVENTS)(Survey)
December 1, 2008... Every health care organisation should provide employees with education and training on how to recognise signs of bullying behaviour and how to instigate a complaints procedure. This is one of the recommendations of nurse researcher Hayley...

NZNO staffer in parliament.(NEWS AND EVENTS)(New Zealand Nurses Organisation)(appointment of Iain Lees-Galloway as member of parliment)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... Former NZNO communications adviser Iain Lees-Galloway, who was elected MP for Palmerston North last month, will be the only Labour MP in the new Parliament representing a provincial city. Although elected on a reduced majority from that enjoyed...

PHC nurses to vote on new pay deal.(NEWS AND EVENTS)(New Zealand Nurses Organisation)(primary health care)
December 1, 2008... NZNO members working in primary health care (PHC) are this month voting by postal ballot on a new multi-employer collective agreement (MECA). Ballot papers were to have been received by NZNO by December 15. NZNO's negotiating team was...

Extended roles outside RN practice scope.(NEWS AND EVENTS)(Registered nurses)
December 1, 2008... Registered nurses (RN) working as first surgical assistants (RNFA) and as colposcopists are practising outside the RN scope of practice, according to the Nursing Council Nurses working in these extended roles must apply to Nursing Council...

Experienced nurses needed now.(NEWS AND EVENTS)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... Counties Manukau District Health Board (CH-DHB) is to employ 27 experienced Filipino nurses next year in a short-term initiative to help assuage the nursing shortage. The DHB has been in direct negotiations with the Philippines Overseas...

Kidney transplant story inspires others.(NEWS AND EVENTS)
December 1, 2008... In January 2008, Christchurch Hospital cardiac nurse Claire Johnston donated one of her kidneys to long-time nursing colleague Lynsey Farra (see Kai Tiaki Nursing New Zealand, March 2008, "Donating a kidney to give a colleague a chance of...

Hawke's Bay festival for women.(NEWS AND EVENTS)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... A women's health festival and seminar in Waipukurau in October attracted more than 300 women, and some men, from the central Hawke's Bay community. The day was organised by staff from the Central Hawke's Bay (CHB) Health Centre and was entitled...

Bras in their thousands for Vanuatu.(NEWS AND EVENTS)(Rotary Club of Orewa, New Zealand)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... Pacific Uplift has now collected around 4000 bras to send in its first shipment to Vanuatu, a four-fold increase in the numbers of donated bras over the last two months. The bras are being collected in response to requests from women in the...

Why dignity at work is imperative for nurses: a nurse, long interested in the impact of nursing work on nurses themselves, embarked on research exploring what dignity at work might mean for nurses.(RESEARCH)
December 1, 2008... Dignity in the work lives of nurses is a topic that has occupied much of my thinking for the last three years--actually probably the last 23 years--but until studying for my postgraduate diploma in 2007, I did not have a focus to go with my...

Never give up: a photographic essay by Alan Knowles on Wellington outreach nurse Jane Ginnane and her work among the city's homeless and disadvantaged.
December 1, 2008... Wellington outreach nurse Jane Ginnane had just had "one hell of a day". While walking down Willis Street on the way to the Te Aro Health Centre where she has worked for the past 10 years, she came across a man collapsed on the pavement....

Boosting Maori and Pacific nursing numbers: boosting the number of Maori and Pacific nurses working at Counties Manukau District Health Board requires a range of approaches and a commitment to the long haul.(NEWS FOCUS)
December 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Counties Manukau District Health Board's director of nursing Denise Kivell is a pragmatist, a very good juggler, metaphorically speaking, and patient. These talents stand her in good stead in her role in the DHB...

Journeying from beneficiary to nurse: a ground-breaking initiative in South Auckland is helping women on the domestic purposes benefit get into nursing and a pilot programme in Counties Manukau is assisting Pacific-trained nurses gain New Zealand registration.(NEWS FOCUS)
December 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] You're Maori aren't you? Are you interested in nursing?" These two simple queries from a Work and Income New Zealand (WINZ) worker launched single mother-of-two Lee-Ann Waddell on a journey which has just seen her...

Passionately supporting Pacific nurses.(NEWS FOCUS)(Anne Fitisemanu)
December 1, 2008... Anne Fitisemanu (right) is a passionate advocate for Pacific staff at Counties Manukau District Health Board (DHB). Of Niuean and Samoan descent, she has a background in teaching and marketing and works for the DHB's Pacific Health Unit as...

Defeating the twin issues of racism and discrimination: aboriginal nursing pioneer Sally Goold has spent her life helping to break down barriers for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people wanting to become nurses. It has often been a lonely road.(PROFILE)
December 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Pioneering Aboriginal nurse Sally Goold is driven by one overarching vision: to see an increase in indigenous Australian registered nurses (RNs) to reflect the indigenous Australian population, and for all nurses in...

Remembering 100 years of mental health nursing registration: the profession of mental health nursing has come a long way in the last 100 years. Gaining due recognition for this specialty has been, at times, a rocky road.(HISTORY)
December 1, 2008... Few nurses will be aware that 2008 marks the centenary of mental health nurses gaining national registration in New Zealand. One hundred years ago, the names of 57 New Zealand men and women were recorded in a new Register of Mental Nurses....

I wanted to cry--I did! Although nurses in Fiji must cope with few resources and poor working conditions, their ability to improvise and their thirst for knowledge impressed one New Zealand nurse.(NURSING OVERSEAS)
December 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] We don't know how lucky we are! Or in the immortal words of Fred Dagg, "We simply don't know how propitious are our circumstances!" In August last year that was brought home to me after a seven-week voluntary...

Ruminating on nursing competencies and other matters: a previously undiscovered fragment of Shakespearean writing casts an intriguing prescient, even--light on the Nursing Council's competency review process.(HISTORY PERHAPS?)(Viewpoint essay)
December 1, 2008... I was ruminating, yet again, about how to get my nursing development team (NDT) to sign off a few competencies, when I stumbled upon a recent literary discovery. I was relaxing with a little Shakespeare the other night, and came across...

Celebrating success in 2008.(TE RUNANGA)
December 1, 2008... The past three months have seen significant membership developments for Te Runanga o Aotearoa NZNO, particularly in terms of participation. The Te Runanga Tauira annual general hui (AGH), held at the Chosen Valley Camp in Drury in August,...

Exploring leadership from a Maori world view.(TE RUNANGA)
December 1, 2008... A two-day wananga on leadership was the feature of the October Te Runanga o Aotearoa executive hui in Wellington. We were treated to an amazing couple of days under the guidance of Matua Amster Reedy, who led us on a journey exploring...

Becoming computer savvy: how confident are nurses at looking for information on the Internet? An online searching toolkit might be just what they need.(PROFESSIONAL FOCUS)
December 1, 2008... Are you IT--information technology--savvy? Can you "google" with confidence? Health professionals pride themselves on their levels of technical competency and expertise in various areas of medicine and nursing. Can the same be said for their IT...

A sorry tale from an aged-care battleground: a registered nurse who attempted to retain professional nursing standards in an aged-care workplace under financial and staffing stress, lost her job following mediation. Here she reflects on that experience and ponders how nursing standards can be maintained when the pressure is on to maximise profits.(INDUSTRIAL FOCUS)
December 1, 2008... Earlier this year, following mediation, I lost my job. I had been working as a registered nurse (RN) in aged care. Sarah Brophy's article, Resisting the forces of economic rationalism and managerialism, (Kai Tioki Nursing New Zealand, March...

Of badgers, spiders and other important issues: organising services manager Cee Payne's quest to respond to a nurse's difficult employment experience, as outlined on the opposite page, took her on an interesting journey.(INDUSTRIAL FOCUS)(Viewpoint essay)
December 1, 2008... What a journey I have been on in just three short hours while researching my approach in responding to the powerful article on the opposite page. From badgers to dancing spiders--all will be revealed. By chance I stumbled on a piece of...

Northland hosts flight nurses.(SECTION/COLLEGE NEWS)
December 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Congratulations to the Northland intensive care unit (ICU) flight team who put together a fantastic symposium for members of NZNO's flight nurses' association (NZFNA) in Whangarei on November 8. We were conveniently...

Duty managers confront staffing problems after hours.(SECTION/COLLEGE NEWS)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... Minimising risk after hours was the focus of NZNO's duty and clinical nurse managers' section conference in Christchurch in October. It was hosted by a committee from Christchurch, Burwood and Princess Margaret Hospitals. Speakers included...

Recognising the clinical nurse specialist role.(SECTION/COLLEGE NEWS)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... The numbers of clinical nurse specialists (CNSs), both internationally and in New Zealand, continue to grow, according to Christchurch Women's Hospital gynaecological/oncology CNS Glynis Cumming. In the last decade, in two Christchurch...

A Christian call to nursing.(SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP)
December 1, 2008... Nowadays nursing is perceived as a professional form of health care which aims to be holistic and patient-focused. Nurse training is both academic and practical, and models abound, developed by nursing educators, to explain the theory...

The importance of checking pay slips.(SECTOR REPORTS)
December 1, 2008... NZNO members and staff spend a lot of time and effort, when negotiating collective agreements (CA,) to ensure they include a fair wage increase. What is often forgotten is that time also needs to be spent ensuring what has been agreed is...

Nurse Maude, Christchurch.(SOME SETTLEMENT SUMMARIES)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... Nurse Maude, Christchurch: The Administration and HomeCare Planners' collective agreement has been ratified. These negotiations have been lengthy, due to a "banding" pay system in place, which relied on a performance appraisal for any movement....

Lynton Lodge Hospital, Auckland.(SOME SETTLEMENT SUMMARIES)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... Lynton Lodge Hospital, Auckland: Registered and enrolled nurses, health care assistants (HCA) and domestic workers have a new collective agreement, which delivered a pay increase of 2.8 percent from November 29. The CA runs until November 28,...

West Fono Health Trust, Auckland.(SOME SETTLEMENT SUMMARIES)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... West Fono Health Trust, Auckland: Staff have secured an across-the-board pay increase of four percent. Registered nurses on step five of the scale get a 7.5 percent increase in the first year of the agreement and a 3.5 percent increase in the...

Funding increase passed on.(SECTOR REPORTS)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... Negotiations were held at Fairview and Aberliegh aged-care sites in Blenheim in November and members have a proposed settlement to ratify. The offer was a revamp of the caregiver wage scale, pass on of the 2.8 percent government funding...

Reflecting on 2008 and looking towards 2009.(SECTOR REPORTS)
December 1, 2008... NZNO's district health board (DHB) sector group, along with the national delegates' committee, met in November to review achievements in 2008 and plan work for next year. Reviewing the last year, industrial adviser Glenda Alexander said...

A traditional celebration of Labour Day.(SECTOR REPORTS)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A very successful Labour Day Picnic was held at the Heathcote Valley Domain in Christchurch, with an estimated 1000 workers and their friends and families celebrating Labour Day on a stunningly hot Christchurch...

Meeting to help resolve dispute over college name change.(BOARD OF DIRECTORS)(Conference notes)
December 1, 2008... The board of directors at its October meeting moved to resolve the conflict that has arisen following the decision by the New Zealand College of Practice Nurses (NZCPN) to change its name to the New Zealand College of Primary Health Care Nurses...

Planning under way for 2010 South Pacific Nurses Forum.(BOARD OF DIRECTORS)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... The board has formed a steering group to plan for NZNO's role as host of the 2010 South Pacific Nurses Forum. NZNO is hosting the forum following the withdrawal of Papua New Guinea. Chief executive Geoff Annals told the board the financial...

Where to now for colleges and sections?(BOARD OF DIRECTORS)
December 1, 2008... The board wants a paper on future development options for colleges and sections revised. The paper contained three options for future development of colleges and sections: the status quo; the status quo with some modifications, and a move...

The board wants training in team building and conflict resolution.(BOARD BRIEFS)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... The board wants training in team building and conflict resolution. The results of the board's self appraisal show conflict resolution is an area of concern and is impacting of the effectiveness of meetings. Other areas of concern were setting...

Governance politices 'patchy'.(BOARD BRIEFS)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... NZNO's current governance policies are patchy, contradictory in places and with obvious gaps, according to governance consultant Graeme Nahkies. He had been asked by the board to consider its governance policies. He submitted a proposed...

Low income policy.(BOARD BRIEFS)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... The board has increased the income threshold to receive an NZNO fee subsidy to $19,000 and the threshold is now based on total household income, rather than individual income. The change is to provide relief to members in genuinely low income...

NZNO conference feedback.(BOARD BRIEFS)(New Zealand Nurses Organisation)(Brief article)(Conference notes)
December 1, 2008... Feedback from delegates at this year's conference showed the majority were happy with the programme and venue but some key areas needed improvement to enhance the 2009 conference. Late registrations caused significant difficulty this year and...

Members don't want ICN membership shared.(BOARD OF DIRECTORS)(International Council of Nurses)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... NZNO members do not want International Council of Nurses' (ICN) membership expanded. In 2007, ICN's Council of National Representatives asked ICN's board of directors to identify new membership models to strengthen ICN and the global nursing...

Events 2008.(Conference news)(Calendar)
December 1, 2008... EVENTS 2008 2009 18 Feb Optimising Quality of Care Conference Auckland www.sixhats.co.nz/oqc09 2009 19-21 Feb NZNO Women Health Section Conference Wanaka ...

Reunions.(Calendar)
December 1, 2008... REUNIONS 2009 Jan Timaru Timaru Hospital Class of '66 tutors included email: shona.butterfield@gmail.com 2009 14-15 Feb Hamilton ...