Pullon, S., & McKinlay, E. M. (2007). Interprofessional learning: The solution to collaborative practice in primary care. The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners website, 34(6), 404–408.
Abstract: In this paper the authors outline the basis of interprofessional education, which occurs when members of two or more professions are engaged in learning together. They describe its relationship to primary care clinical practice, where it can lead to collaborative problem-solving approaches, mutual decision making and interdisciplinary teamwork. A New Zealand model of postgraduate interprofessional education is presented. Barriers to the implementation of interprofessional education in New Zealand are identified along with possible solutions.
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Horsburgh, M., Goodyear-Smith, F., Yallop, J., & O'Connor, S. (2008). Implementation of a nursing initiative in primary care: A case report, cardiovascular disease risk reduction. New Zealand Family Physician, 35(3), 183–186.
Abstract: The aim was to report on implementation of a nursing initiative of cardiovascular disease (CVD) screening risk assessment at the Mornington Health Centre, Dunedin, with initial outcomes after six months. The practice aim was 80% of their eligible population assessed within three to four years, particularly targeting high-risk groups. The audit indicates that in their first six months, Mornington Health Centre had screened 42% of their eligible patients. This is described as very successful progress towards their goal of 80%. A number of key organisational factors are identified that are likely to have contributed to the development and success of the nurse CVD risk assessment programme at Mornington Health Centre. The authors suggest that this case study demonstrates how organisational change, where the practice nurse role in the multidisciplinary team is clear, can facilitate a practice to meet a population-based goal.
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Alcorn, G. (2007). The youth health specialty in New Zealand: Collaborative practice and future development. The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners website, 34(3), 162–167.
Abstract: This paper details the workforce capacity of youth health nursing and medical staffing required for community-based and school-based youth health services. The author shows how youth health services seek to complement the care delivered by Primary Health Organisations (PHOs) and other allied health care services in the community. She outlines the development and operation at VIBE, a community-based youth health service in the Hutt Valley with school-based youth health services delivered at four low deciles secondary schools. She explains that developing workforce capacity for youth health services is a primary health care priority and an important means to address inequalities and to improve the health services of young people.
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Minto, R. (2006). The future of practice nursing. New Zealand Family Physician, 33(3), 169–172.
Abstract: The author describes and discusses the main barriers to practice nurses achieving their potential as a profession. She identifies key obstacles as the funding model, GP attitudes and the current employment model. Shared governance, the development of a patient-centred services, and new employment models are proposed as the basis of a new model of primary care delivery.
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McKinlay, E. M. (2006). New Zealand practice nursing in the third millennium: Key issues in 2006. New Zealand Family Physician, 33(3), 162–168.
Abstract: The author looks at the accelerated change in the role of practice nurses, due to factors such as the effects of the Primary Health Care Strategy. She reviews the current role of practice nurses, which is influenced by a population approach and new funding streams that encourage preventative, maintenance and chronic illness management activities. She highlights the positive effects of increased visibility of nursing leaders in the sector, increasing interdisciplinary education, and new career pathways which include advanced roles. She addresses some of the professional and systemic structural barriers which impact on practice nurses' ability to work effectively and equally within a general practice team.
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Murrell-McMillan, K. A. (2006). Why nurses in New Zealand stay working in rural areas. New Zealand Family Physician, 33(3), 173–175.
Abstract: The author investigates why nurses in New Zealand stay working in rural areas when their Australian counterparts and medical colleagues are leaving rural areas at alarming rates. She looks at international recruitment and retention issues, and particularly compares rural nursing in Australia with New Zealand. Local research shows that over 50% of rural nursing is in the practice environment. Practice nurses report high job satisfaction, specifically around working with diverse populations, autonomy, and working with GPs, the local community, and local iwi. The only perceived barrier identified in the New Zealand literature to job satisfaction and collaborative team behaviour has been the funding of nursing services in rural areas. This contrasts with many barriers to rural nursing in Australia, and the author suggests New Zealand policy makers may learn from Australia's retention issues.
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Clendon, J., & Krothe, J. (2004). The nurse-managed clinic: An evaluative study. Nursing Praxis in New Zealand, 20(2), 15–23.
Abstract: Part of an international project, the aim of this study was to evaluate a nurse managed primary health care clinic (Mana Health Clinic) from the perspectives of users, funders, and providers of clinical services in order to identify factors which contribute to success. The method used was Fourth Generation Evaluation (FGE) whereby, consistent with the methodological precepts of the constructivist enquiry paradigm, there was active involvement of clients in the process and outcome of the evaluation. Open-ended interviews were conducted with 13 individuals and one focus group. The data yielded four main categories: factors that contribute to success; contrasting past experience of health care with that of nurse-managed care; the effectiveness of nurse-managed care; and suggestions for change in current practice. The authors note that the results to date support a tentative conclusion of success for the clinic. As the study is on-going, summaries of the four categories were fed back to the participants for further discussion and interpretation and eventual integration with data from the similar study being undertaken in the United States. The authors conclude that this paper demonstrates how the use of an appropriate method of evaluation can itself contribute to the success of the nurse managed clinic.
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Mackay, B. (2003). General practitioners' perceptions of the nurse practitioner role: An exploratory study. Access is free to articles older than 6 months, and abstracts., 116(1170).
Abstract: This study explores perceptions of general practitioners in the Northland District Health Board (NDHB) regarding the nurse practitioner role, identifying their knowledge of and perceived problems with that role, and their experience of nurses in advanced practice. A purposive sample of all 108 general practitioners in NDHB was undertaken, with a response rate of 46.3%. General practitioners favourably viewed nurse practitioner functions traditionally associated with nursing, such as health teaching, home visiting, obtaining health histories, and taking part in evaluation of care, but less favourably viewed those functions associated with medicine, such as prescribing, ordering laboratory tests, and physical assessment. While expecting few problems with patient acceptance, the general practitioners felt that funding and doctors' acceptance would be problematic. Most general practitioners indicated they had knowledge of the nurse practitioner role and had experienced working with a nurse in advanced practice, but some uncertainty and lack of knowledge about the nurse practitioner role was evident. The author recommends more education and discussion with Northland general practitioners to ensure they are fully informed about the nurse practitioner role and its potential positioning in primary healthcare, to reduce uncertainty, minimise role confusion and promote collaboration between general practitioners and nurse practitioners.
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Finlayson, M., & Gower, S. E. (2002). Hospital restructuring: Identifying the impact on patients and nurses. Nursing Praxis in New Zealand, 18(2), 27–35.
Abstract: The authors report a survey of all nurses working in hospitals included in the International Hospital Outcomes Study of staffing and patient outcomes in New Zealand's secondary and tertiary hospitals from 1988-2001. The survey examines the way in which the hospitals have been restructured and analyses patient outcomes. Research has identified links between how nursing is organised in a hospital and that hospital's patient outcomes.
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Mackay, B. (2002). Leadership development: Supporting nursing in a changing primary health care environment. Nursing Praxis in New Zealand, 18(2), 24–32.
Abstract: The author argues that the involvement of nurses in the decision-making of health organisations is essential to maximise the contribution of nurses and promote positive outcomes for patients. She suggests that development of leadership skills will make nurses aware of power structures in the health system and allow them to become interdependent health professionals in primary health organisations (PHO). The particular competencies discussed are those proposed by Van Maurik (1997), namely ability to understand and manage organisational politics, work facilitatively with people and circumstances, and build a feeling of purpose.
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Day, D. R., Mills, B., & Fairburn, F. (2001). Exercise prescription: Are practice nurses adequately prepared for this? New Zealand Journal of Sports Medicine, 29(2), 32–36.
Abstract: This study sought to examine whether practice nurses were prepared to provide exercise prescriptions to clients. It involved administering questionnaires to 53 practice nurses in Otago to examine their understanding of green prescriptions and their knowledge and participation in exercise prescription.
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Richardson, S. (1999). Emergency departments and the inappropriate attender: Is it time for a reconceptualisation of the role of primary care in emergency facilities? Nursing Praxis in New Zealand, 14(2), 13–20.
Abstract: This paper reviews currently identified issues concerning emergency department attendance, and examines the core question of the role of primary care in the emergency department. Asks whether this is an appropriate use of emergency department resources, and if so, what the implications are for the role of the emergency nurse. Suggests the establishment of Minor Injury Units in New Zealand like those in the UK.
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Bland, M. F. (2007). Betwixt and between: A critical ethnography of comfort in New Zealand residential aged care. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 16(5), 937–944.
Abstract: This research sought to explore the nature of comfort within the context of three New Zealand nursing homes and examine how nursing and other actions contribute to residents' comfort. A critical ethnographic approach was used and fieldwork included 90 days of participant observation, interviews with 27 residents and 28 staff and extensive document examination. Comfort was multidimensional, idiosyncratic, dynamic and context dependent, rather than merely the absence of discomfort. This multidimensional nature meant residents could be 'betwixt and between' comfort and discomfort simultaneously. The constraints of one-size-fits-all care delivery practices and the tensions inherent in communal living compounded residents' discomfort. The findings show that individualised care, based on comprehensive and accurate nursing assessment, is fundamental to the comfort of residents.
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O'Brien, A. J., Hughes, F., & Kidd, J. D. (2006). Mental health nursing in New Zealand primary health care. Contemporary Nurse, 21(1), 142–152.
Abstract: This article describes the move in mental health from institutional care to community arrangements. It draws on international literature and New Zealand health policy, which gives increased emphasis to the role of the primary health care sector in responding to mental health issues. These issues include the need for health promotion, improved detection and treatment of mild to moderate mental illness, and provision of mental health care to some of those with severe mental illness who traditionally receive care in secondary services. These developments challenge specialist mental health nurses to develop new roles which extend their practice into primary health care. In some parts of New Zealand this process has been under way for some time in the form of shared care projects. However developments currently are ad hoc and leave room for considerable development of specialist mental health nursing roles, including roles for nurse practitioners in primary mental health care.
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Clear, G. M., & Carryer, J. B. (2001). Shadow dancing in the wings: Lesbian women talk about health care. Nursing Praxis in New Zealand, 17(3), 27–39.
Abstract: A participatory approach, grounded in both critical social and feminist research, was used in this study of seven women who claim being lesbian as part of their identity. With the objective of providing information to enhance safe care provision for this marginalised group, the study explored factors which hindered or facilitated these women's sense of safety related to health care. The findings indicate that barriers to receiving health care exist for these women. As there is little local or international research on lesbians and healthcare, this work offers a starting place for future New Zealand nursing research involving lesbians. The authors encourage other nurses to explore previously ignored sections of our society in order to strive for safety for all those whom nursing serves.
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