Nursing Praxis in New Zealand Inc

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The Cancer Connect New Zealand (CCNZ) service is a free confidential telephone peer support programme, run by the Canterbury/West Coast Division of the Cancer Society of New Zealand (CSNZ). The programme links people affected by cancer to specially trained peer support volunteers (TPSV) who have been through similar cancer experiences. This service was started in 2005, and now more than 950 New Zealand non-metastatic cancer clients or their care-givers have been matched by qualified CCNZ coordinators. Clients accessed the service for various reasons, including support and advice on the practical, social, family or psychological impacts of their cancer diagnosis and treatment...

The Before (B4) School Check is a free health and development check delivered by specifically trained nurses to four year old children throughout New Zealand, aimed to identify and address any health, behavioural, social or developmental concerns that could affect a child's ability to get the most benefit from school. Reported here are the results of an evaluation of the B4 School Checks in Hawke's Bay, focusing specifically on children assessed at the 84 School Check with behaviour issues as determined by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ)...

Clinical tutors, referred to in the international literature as clinical supervisors, facilitators, mentors or instructors, are responsible for providing and supervising workplace learning opportunities for groups of Bachelor of Nursing (BN) students. They also play a key role in assessing students. The role modeling and support provided by both clinical tutors and registered nurses (RN) or nurse preceptors helps students become familiar with the language in which nursing work is realised. As BN student cohorts in New Zealand have become more diverse in terms of cultures, ethnicities and language backgrounds, clinical tutors have to directly facilitate the development of context-specific and client-focused communication skills for students who speak English as an additional language...

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Since 2007, Health Workforce New Zealand has provided District Health Boards (DHBs) with funding to support nurses undertaking postgraduate education. As a result, a significant number of nurses, many working in general medical and surgical wards, have now completed a postgraduate qualification. Anecdotal evidence for one DHB indicated that there were mixed views with respect to how the increase in the number of nurses with postgraduate education had impacted on patient outcomes. Following a review of relevant literature the researchers aimed to ascertain from registered nurses working in acute medical and surgical wards their perception of the impact that further study had on their practice...

This qualitative study was focused on the landscape of nursing policy and political leadership in New Zealand. A volunteer sample (N = 18) of nurse leaders (Fellows of the College of Nurses Aotearoa (NZ) Inc) drawn from across the country was interviewed with respect to issues that affect their interest in participating in political action and policy work. The framework of stages of nursing's political development published by Cohen and colleagues (1996) was used as an interview guide. Respondents were asked to describe their own stage of political development, their perception of the political development of New Zealand nurses and nursing organisations at large, and also their thoughts on what could be done to better position nursing in healthcare policy development...

The primary goal of undergraduate nursing education is the preparation of graduates able to function as competent beginning clinicians. Avariety of academic-service partnerships are being used to support the clinical preparation of undergraduate nurses but, in today's demanding and fiscally challenged health and education environments, debate continues about how bestto provide students with quality learning in the clinical setting. This article reports the qualitative findings of a collaborative study undertaken to monitor implementation of a new model of clinical education for undergraduate nursing students...

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High quality preceptorship during their first year of practice is seen as critical for new graduate nurses' development of competence and confidence. Quality preceptorship is dependent upon skilled and knowledgeable preceptors who are committed to this role. A recent longitudinal evaluation of 21 Nursing Entry to Practice (NETP) programmes in New Zealand identified that preceptorship selection, education and support do not always receive the attention they warrant. Failure to plan preceptor selection leads to ad hoc selection and consequent allocations of many preceptors who may not have attended appropriate education, or have a desire to undertake this role...

Nurses have an essential role to play in ongoing patient surveillance. The quality of nursing care patients receive has implications for both their recovery and long term health outcomes. Currently, due to a number of factors, nurses are facing increasing challenges to meeting the care needs of hospital patients. These include fluctuations in nursing skill mix and staffing levels, inconsistent availability of equipment and supplies, and higher patient acuity. The additional impact of healthcare restructuring on nursing has been reflected in the demand to do more with less...

Internationally, the number of people aged over 65 is increasing, in both absolute and relative terms. There is little doubt that a healthy lifestyle, and participation in health education and health screening activities, contribute to longevity. Gender is also considered to be a strong indicator of health and longevity, as women tend to live longer and healthier lives than men. There is abundant literature on older people's health but a significant lack of research specifically on older men. This study involved 59 community dwelling men aged 65 years or over, living in Wanganui (a city located in the North Island of New Zealand)...

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Help-seeking is an active process used by people of all ages to obtain assistance to solve problems. This research sought to investigate a component of help-seeking related to health concerns. A health related help-seeking model, was adapted to frame questions for an anonymous, self-administered questionnaire. Seventy-five students aged between 16 and 24 years responded and data were analysed using content and descriptive statistical techniques. Findings indicated that young people perceived the need to seek advice when unwell, needing support or information, are resourceful, and were motivated to seek help from a variety of sources...

Nurses in New Zealand are expected to provide the Ministry of Health recommended ABC approach to smoking cessation interventions; but not all nurses receive adequate preparation. A national online survey was conducted to investigate the extent that smoking cessation education content is included in undergraduate nursing curricula in New Zealand's 17 Schools of Nursing. Fourteen schools responded. Of these 12 provide some form of smoking cessation education: five teach the recommended ABC approach and seven teach approaches not recommended by the Ministry of Health...

This paper reports an exploratory New Zealand study comparing student nurses' attitudes towards older people before and after an introductory nursing paper that included gerontology theory and clinical practice in an aged care setting. Health professionals are exposed to ageist attitudes that permeate Western societies. Theoretical content and clinical experiences in nursing programmes should lead to attitudes that inform the practice of competent and caring practitioners. The Kogan Attitudes Towards Old People Scale (1961) was administered to 56 student nurses at the beginning and end of the first semester of study in a Bachelor of Nursing programme...

A key focus of concern in relation to the future shape of the nursing workforce internationally and nationally has been the perceived high attrition rate of graduates. This concern has been accompanied by a plethora of literature on graduate transition to practice. Many of the studies have been carried out from the perspective of the employing organisation and look at graduates turnover intent and retention strategies within the first year of practice. In recent years New Zealand has responded with some success to these concerns by introducing graduate programmes covering the first twelve months of practice...

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New Zealand, like many countries, is developing new advanced nursing practice roles to meet emerging needs. While much has been written about the Nurse Practitioner (NP), the role of Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) remains relatively unexplored and lacks national definition. This paper reports the findings from research designed to investigate the role of the CNS and how it is defined by New Zealand District Health Boards (DHBs). The study sought to identify the current requirements and expectations for the CNS role and how it is defined in practice...

The shift in health care towards primary health services and health promotion requires nursing education to ensure students learn to practice in partnership with communities. In primary health care settings opportunities for students to learn the participatory communication skills required for collaborative practice have been found to be constrained by a range of factors. An innovative approach increasingly being reported is for nurse educators and students to work with groups in the community, for example with teenage mothers...