Health Policy

Two Kiwi nursing academics invited to China to teach an acute care nursing workshop were nonplussed to find themselves also quasi-advisors on managing nursing shortages in the wake of China’s one-child policy coming to an end. 

Chickenpox, the last of the common vaccine-preventable childhood diseases, is to be added to the free childhood immunisation schedule from 1 July next year. NURSING REVIEW finds out more.

A new national health target is underway on screening and referring obese four-year-olds. FIONA CASSIE finds out more and whether this is enough to help curtail the 10 per cent of Kiwi kids who are now clinically obese – fat to the point that their health is likely to be at risk.

Nurse researcher JOCE STEWART believes some fun and camaraderie in the ward can only be healthy for both nurses and patients. Nursing Review shares tales of laughter, mischief and collegiality amongst nurses in the 1970s and 1980s from Stewart’s thesis oral history research.

Three Waikato DHB frontline staff were suspended this winter for refusing to wear a mask after declining the flu vaccine. FIONA CASSIE looks at the sometimes fraught issue of infection control campaigns that aim to reduce the risk of influenza by increasing the vaccination levels of nurses and other healthcare workers.

If your ward is chaos, the best argument for more staffing is hard data, says Cherrie Lowe, the Australian nurse founder and CEO of patient acuity software system TrendCare. FIONA CASSIE reports on Lowe's presentation to the recent NZNO nurse managers conference, including a major benchmarking study analysing 9.9 million nursing shifts.

New Zealanders are more likely to die in residential aged care than most countries around the world. Some say our rest homes and hospitals could be called “de facto hospices” but without the resourcing or recognition to offer palliative care at the same level. FIONA CASSIE finds out more.

Care Plus entered nursing’s vocabulary a decade ago. Has it helped nursing tackle the burden of chronic conditions and better support for people to manage their health? Or has it added up to not much? FIONA CASSIE does the sums…

No doctors’ appointments ‘til Friday. Why not see the nurse instead? MidCentral is upskilling practice nurses to assess and treat patients who front up to acute care walk-in clinics with minor ailments and illnesses. FIONA CASSIE finds out more