Abstract: The aim of this study was to obtain a 2005 snapshot of the New Zealand rural primary health care workforce, specifically GPs, general practice nurses and community pharmacists. A postal questionnaire was distributed to rural general practice managers, GPs, nurses, community pharmacy managers and pharmacists in November 2005. The self-reported data included information on demographics, country of training, years in practice, business ownership, hours worked including on-call, and intention to leave rural practice.

Abstract: Focuses on two broad themes: perceptions and attitudes of general nurses in in-patient hospital settings towards clinical supervision and how they have found such support to be of benefit to themselves or their practice; organisational documentation policies and procedures available to nurses in order to understand their contribution to, and valuing of, clinical supervision. Seeks to discover whether there is evidence of other factors influencing the provision of, or access to, clinical supervision by general nurses, which influences attitudes and perceptions.

Abstract: Surveys 52 staff members from the rest-home component of aged-care facilities in one District Health Board, about how staff in such facilities approach and manage the sexuality needs of residents.

Abstract: Over the last century the nursing profession has drawn from numerous theories and disciplines to construct its own theoretical foundations. While this diversity and flexibility may be one of the nursing profession's strengths it may have contributed to nurses' difficulty in explaining the complexities of their every day clinical work. This is a particular challenge for the domain of mental health nursing. This dissertation discusses how nursing models that have credibility at a clinical level can contribute to informing and advancing nursing practice. Models can achieve this by assisting nurses to conceptualise and articulate what it is they do that makes a difference to patient outcomes. Through this process nurses can maintain a distinct professional identity and establish themselves as effective members of multidisciplinary health team. Specifically, the application and limitations of Godkin's (2001) proposed model of a 'healing presence' to the author's own practice in a one-to-one nurse-adolescent client relationship in the mental health nursing is examined. It is claimed that a 'healing presence' provides a meaningful way to understanding the author's own practice. The proposed model of a 'healing presence' embraces the diversity of her background, and allows the author to maintain a nursing identity by providing a nursing framework to critique her practice, furthering her understanding of what it is that 'expert' nurses do and how this impacts on patient outcomes. Also suggested is that a 'healing presence' can contribute to the author's own and other nurses advanced nursing practice by making nursing visible to the multidisciplinary health team and to articulate “what it is that I do 'when I am nursing'”. Through presenting this dissertation, the author wishes to inspire other nurses to examine and understand their own practice.

Abstract: Conducts in-depth qualitative interviews with 43 Maori nurses to explore their perceptions and experiences of smoking and quitting, and their views on the impact of smoking on their roles as nurses. Elicits five themes: social context of smoking, identity conflict, impact on practice, experience of smoking, and experience of quitting.

Abstract: This paper is a report of a study to explore the experiences of 'almost old' women as they grow older while living with a chronic condition. Little is known about the contextual effects of ageing and how it shapes and is shaped by a woman's chronic illness experience. Seven women aged between 50 and 58 years participated in this interpretive descriptive study that explored the issues of ageing with a chronic condition. Three focus groups were held between March 2003 and March 2004. Transcriptions were analysed after each focus group. Participants were given the opportunity to respond to the findings as the analysis progressed. The experience of living with a chronic illness foreshadowed what was to come with ageing and embodied the ageing process: it was just part of their lives. Alongside this, the women now felt less out of place. Their peers were catching up and beginning to experience aspects of participants' everyday reality. The women, however, experienced double jeopardy because ageing amplified the ongoing vulnerabilities of living with a chronic condition. The authors conclude that nurses who recognise the resourcefulness and expertise of women who live with a chronic condition can effectively be co-strategists in helping them to age well.

Abstract: Using the life history approach this study investigates the consequences of difference within the context of nursing. Life story interviews were conducted with 26 women nurses of varying racial, cultural and sexual identity backgrounds in the USA and New Zealand.The questions framing the interviews focused on the women's experience of difference and fairness in their lives and specifically within nursing.The creation of life story 'snippets' in the first level of analysis reflected the unique aspects of each woman's story and became the first step in the process of creating a thematic analysis or meta-story. The meta-story that emerged from the juxtaposition of the women's stories was “not fitting in to nursing”.The findings of this study suggest that in spite of the change in location of nursing education and its recent attention to the implications of client diversity, the continued imposition of traditional definitions of 'the nurse' by nursing institutions, renders difference amongst nurses invisible. This limits the ability of nurses to be authentic in their practice and also limits the extent to which they can implement the new policies recognizing difference amongst their client populations