Abstract: This dissertation had two main aims. The first was to explore the literature from which nurse leaders of alcohol and other drug services might develop their leadership skills so as to enhance nursing practice within an interdisciplinary alcohol and other drug team. The second was to further utilise these skills to develop a 'toolkit' which would assist in the successful management of the team but would also aid with workforce development. In addition, this dissertation was linked to the Nursing Council of New Zealand Competencies for the Registered Nurse Scope of Practice (2005) and Competencies for Advanced Nursing Practice (2001). This dissertation provides direction for the nurse leader wishing to develop their toolkit. Implications for the advancement of nursing are suggested.

Abstract: This dissertation explores the assessment of nurses' clinical competence in the adult ICU setting. Specifically, methods for the assessment of competence are critiqued for their practical application to the novice nurse with less than six months experience in ICU. The assessment methods considered are continuous clinical assessment, self-assessment, peer review, objective structured clinical examination (OSCE), portfolio and computer assisted assessment. Several criteria are applied to the methods including the ability of each method to assess skills, knowledge and attitudes or values. Each method is critiqued for its implications in terms of cost and staffing resource, benefits and barriers to implementation. In addition, reliability and validity issues are considered for each method. The outcome of this exploration is the recommendation of a combination of methods; namely, portfolio and OSCE, for the assessment of competence in the ICU novice. The author concludes that this finding enhances current understanding within the ICU specialty of the multidimensional nature of competence assessment.

Abstract: The development and role of the clinical nurse specialist in New Zealand is the focus of this dissertation. It is an area that has not clearly been documented previously and the author hoped that by articulating this role to nurses, educators, and administrators that the role of the clinical nurse specialist will be more clearly defined and perhaps recognised for the contribution it provides to health care in New Zealand. At present, it is difficult to justify the clinical nurse specialist position in New Zealand, when individuals have been left to define and develop their own positions. This has led to widely differing practice modes and role confusion, and therefore a varying degree of success in achieving improved nursing practice. Without title protection and some form of accreditation process to ensure standard of practice throughout the country it is not possible for post-holders to move from position to position throughout the country. The role and definition of the clinical nurse specialist must be clarified in order to reduce confusion. Restriction of the title to those who meet the defining characteristics will strengthen the role, improve collaboration with other members of the team as well as making it easier for the public to understand the role.

Abstract: Rural nursing in the remote context of South Westland is shaped by factors common to rural nursing practice world-wide including geographical and professional isolation, living and working in a small community, providing health care to rural people and the broad, generalist and advanced scope of nursing practice. Tourism is a major industry in the townships in the proximity of the two accessible glaciers in South Westland. The practice of the nurses in these areas is significantly affected by tourists seeking health care and by providing a health service for the large number of migrant seasonal workers who service the tourist industry. Tourists seek health care from the nurses across the full spectrum of health problems and their expectations of the health care required may exceed the service that can be provided. The nurses are challenged to advance their practice to find the personal and professional resources to provide a safe service. This includes the challenge of cultural safety and personal safety. The tourist industry brings significant numbers of young people as seasonal/temporary workers to the glacier areas. This imposes a youth culture onto the existing rural culture. Nursing practice has expanded to include the specialist practice of youth health care that includes the problems of alcohol and drug misuse, sexual and reproductive health, and youth mental health. This work is drawn from the experience of the nurses working in the glacier communities. The impact of the tourism industry on their rural nursing practice includes the increasing volume of work that challenges the viability of the service, the advanced scope of practice required to meet the health needs of tourists and the seasonal tourist industry workers, and challenges to personal and professional safety.

Abstract: The author notes that it is widely accepted that there is a global shortage of nurses, and there are many studies in the health workforce literature about the negative aspects of nurse work environments, nursing workloads, decreased job satisfaction of nurses and the impact these have on patient health outcomes. In the past five years there has also been international and New Zealand-specific research into the effects of health restructuring on nursing leadership, retention of nurses, and on patient care. Much of this research has shown that countries with very different health care systems have similar problems, not only with retention of qualified nursing staff due to high levels of job dissatisfaction, but also with work design and the provision of good quality patient care in hospitals. This dissertation explores the many detrimental effects on nurses and nursing leadership, of extensive, and continuing, public health restructuring in New Zealand. The context of this dissertation is New Zealand public hospitals, with references pertaining to medical and surgical areas of nursing practice. Health reforms have negatively impacted on patient care delivery systems, patient health outcomes, and retention of educated nurses in the workforce. In order to resolve these issues, coordinated efforts are required in New Zealand district health boards to develop and sustain effective nursing leaders, who will promote and assist in the development of strong, healthy organisational cultures to retain and support professional nurses and the ways in which they wish to practise.

Abstract: The author points to a “waiting list crisis” occurring in ambulatory oncology services at Southland District Health Board (SDHB), and notes that the literature suggests this is occurring both nationally and globally. This is due to factors such as an increase in the number of people aged 65 years and over, many of whom will develop cancer. Furthermore new drug therapies and indications for treatment have led to increased numbers of patients referred for oncological assessment in the out-patient clinics. The author notes that, at SDHB, this delay for patients to be seen at a first specialist assessment appointment is causing concern for patients, managers and the medical and nursing staff involved. This dissertation analyses relevant literature in order to explore the nature and outcomes of nurse-led clinics. A range of studies indicate that effective care can be provided by nurses working in a variety of nurse-led clinics settings. These studies reveal ways in which a nurse-led clinic might be established and delivered in oncology services and, the author suggests, this will go some way to provide a solution for SDHB. These clinics would assess and monitor the follow-up of selected patients with stable disease and established care plans such as patients receiving adjuvant chemotherapy for bowel and breast cancer. This would allow medical oncologists to see more new patients at first assessment and the follow-up of complex cases, and could go some way in relieving the current waiting lists. The educational preparation and competency of nurses leading such a clinic are considered.

Abstract: Provision of a primary health care system that delivers timely, appropriate, affordable and effective care is a challenge throughout the world. The purpose of this work is to discuss the realities of collaborative practice in primary health care, where care is delivered by doctors and nurses in general practice settings in New Zealand. The close relationship between the two professions has been historically marked by the dominance of medicine over nursing. Unclear articulation of nursing practice by the nursing profession along with historical gender issues has further hindered a more collegial relationship between medicine and nursing. The author suggests that historical gender inequalities have also contributed to a system which has disadvantaged nurses in the execution of their work. Collaboration occurs when mutual respect is present between two parties intent on furthering mutual goals. Collaboration is not supervision or co-operation. It is therefore, the author suggests, questionable that collaboration exists in the New Zealand system other than through the good will of individual practitioners. An examination of these issues using the work of Jurgen Habermas and Michel Foucault offers insight into how the current working situation between medicine and nursing came about. The author concludes that the emergence of the nurse practitioner role in New Zealand along with a change in the way that primary health care is being managed nationally provides opportunities for the nursing profession to move into emancipatory collaborative practice roles.

Abstract: Death education encompasses many complex realities, for both the students and lecturers involved. This quantitative research explored the experiential and didactic preparation of nursing students through a content analysis, of one New Zealand, three year Bachelor of Nursing programme, in relation to death education. The Otago Polytechnic Bachelor of Nursing programme incorporates compulsory and optional courses, with the courses taught as an integrated programme with a progressive, sequential approach. This approach builds on content, deepening understanding from year to year, as well as providing opportunities for experiential learning and broadening of understanding. The literature review discusses three dominant themes of undergraduate death education: education, death, and transition. The data collection tool incorporates eighteen key terms, ten teaching methods and ten assessment methods. The programme and individual course documents, which define course content, teaching and assessment were scanned and analysed. The findings initially showed limited evidence of death education in course documents, however deeper analysis of the documents showed further evidence over the three year programme. The existence of death education is implied rather than overt throughout many course documents, through the use of broad practice statements. Content analysis is one way of shedding light on programme content in relation to death education. Limitations of the content analysis approach mean measuring experiential and didactic learning is not fully achievable from documentation analysis only. Further development of Bachelor of Nursing death education is an ongoing challenge, with current programmes very full and possibly lacking the capacity to increase content. Bachelor of Nursing programmes are discussed, highlighting the need for student focused learning with emphasis on acquiring and processing information, rather than mastery of content.