Andrews, C. M. (2001). Developing a nursing speciality: Plunket Nursing 1905 – 1920. Ph.D. thesis, , .
Abstract: This paper focuses on the history of Plunket nursing and Truby King's ideology and other dominant ideologies, during the years 1905 – 1920. To provide a context, the paper explores the development of a new nursing speciality – Plunket nursing, that became part of the backbone of a fledgling health system and the New Zealand nursing profession. Correspondingly, Truby King presented the country with a vision for improving infant welfare underpinned by his eugenics view of the world and his experimentation with infant feeding. The author argues that nurses were drawn to the work of the newly created Plunket Society and that the Society had lasting influence on the development of nursing in New Zealand.
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Apelu, J. (2008). Pacific community mental health nurses' experiences of working for a district health board in New Zealand. Ph.D. thesis, , .
Abstract: This study explored the perspectives of Pacific nurses on what it is like for them to work in a Pacific community mental health (PCMH) service within a district health board. Five Pacific Island nurses who worked in the three Pacific community mental health services based in the Auckland region participated in the project. The study employed narrative inquiry to gather data through focused storytelling method. The results of the study have indicated that PCMH nursing is a unique nursing field as well as highlighting significant practice issues for nurses. Complex service infrastructure and language have been found to be the major contributing practice constraints. The findings suggest the need for district health board authorities, Pacific mental health service management, professional nursing education and development programs to consider addressing these practice issues to prevent further increase in the problem of PCMH nurses shortage and enhance recruitment and retention of these nurses.
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Cullens, V. (2001). Not just a shortage of girls: The shortage of nurses in post World War 2 New Zealand 1945-1955. Ph.D. thesis, , .
Abstract: This thesis explores the shortage of general hospital nurses in post World War II New Zealand between 1945 and 1955. Historical inquiry is used to identify the causes of the shortage and the response to the shortage by the Health Department, hospital boards and nurse leaders. Christchurch Hospital, administered by the North Canterbury Hospital Board, is used to illustrate the situation at one large, public, general hospital. Primary sources provided the majority of material which informed this thesis. Two themes emerge regarding the causes of the shortage of nurses: those that were readily acknowledged by nurse leaders and other health professionals at the time, and those which were less widely discussed, but which contributed to the nature of nursing work appearing less attractive to potential recruits. In response to the shortage the Health Department, hospital boards and the New Zealand Registered Nurses Association mounted several recruitment campaigns throughout the decade. As the shortage showed no sign of abatement the focus turned from recruitment to retention of nurses. While salaries, conditions and training were improved, nurse leaders also gave attention to establishing what nurses' work was and what it was not. Nurse leaders and others promoted nursing as a profession that could provide young women with a satisfying lifelong career. Due to these efforts, by 1955, this episode in the cycle of demand and supply of nurses had begun to improve.
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Falleni, P. M. (2007). The implications of stress and the effect it has on Maori who have type 2 diabetes in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Ph.D. thesis, , .
Abstract: In this review, the author illustrates the connection between diabetes, stress and barriers to care, and the impact these have on Maori who have type 2 diabetes. A literature review, which focused mainly on indigenous peoples, and more specifically on Maori was undertaken. The connections between all the factors involved are explored, and combined with reflections from the author's own clinical practice experience. She argues that stress, diet, exercise and barriers to care place a heavy burden on the lives of Maori who live in Aotearoa/New Zealand, suffering from the disease of diabetes. By empowering them to face their situation and see this from a wellness rather than an illness perspective, they can take control of their diabetes and so will live a healthy, longer life, ensuring quality time with their mokopuna/grandchildren.
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Isles, P. (2003). An exploration of the difference that academic study makes to Registered General Nurses and Registered General and Obstetric Nurses. Taradale: Eastern Institute of Technology.
Abstract: This paper reports the findings of a three-year longitudinal study of registered nurses studying on a part-time basis towards their Bachelor of Nursing degree. Registered General Nurses and Registered General and Obstetric Nurses have been subject to a good deal of pressure to upgrade their qualifications – from their workplaces, but also from a recognition amongst themselves and their peers that to advance in their careers they need to have equivalent qualifications to new graduates. This study looks at what difference academic study makes to registered nursing practice.
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Whitehead, N. (2007). Quality and staffing: Is there a relationship in aged residential care. Master's thesis, , .
Abstract: This thesis reports a mixed methods study, longitudinal in nature, of consenting Age Related Residential Care (ARRC) hospitals in the upper half of the North Island, which was conducted to examine several factors, including AARC hospital efficiency at producing adverse event free days for residents. An interpretativist approach examined what best practice strategies were implemented by the ARRC hospitals that were identified to be most successful at producing adverse event free days for the residents.
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Kirkman, A., & Dixon, D. A. (2003). Nurses at university: Negotiating academic, work and personal pathways. In Davey,J., Neale, J., Morris Mathews, K. , Living and learning: Experiences of university after age 40 (pp. 93-108). Victoria University press, Wellington.
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Southgate, D. (2002). Advocating practice: The role of the community oncology nurse. Ph.D. thesis, , .
Abstract: The primary aim of this research was to advocate for, and make known, the role of the community oncology nurse, and to bring alive the hidden issues of nursing people in the community who have active cancer treatment. This study is also about the author's journey from novice to expert in developing the role as a community oncology nurse. The research also aimed to identify and understand practice that community oncology nurses do and often take for granted. To capture the essence of this study the method of reflective topical autobiography was utilised, which gave the opportunity to gather advanced nursing inquiry, and generate new nursing knowledge. To obtain insight into the highs and lows in everyday interaction with patients, reflective practice stories are presented. The thesis generated by this research is that care required by cancer patients at home goes beyond the scope of traditional community health. It requires nurses to be competent in technological skills as well as bringing in-depth expertise to the practical and human needs of people experiencing cancer. The role involves holistic, family-centered care; anticipating patient and family needs; educating; managing symptoms; advocating; confronting ethical issues; coordinating complex care; and monitoring progress.
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Walsh, C. (2007). Personal and professional choices, tensions, and boundaries in the lives of lesbian psychiatric mental health nurses. Doctoral thesis, , .
Abstract: This study aimed to articulate how sexual identity impacts on the therapeutic relationship between the client and the lesbian nurse in psychiatric mental health nursing. There is little consideration given in the literature or in research as to how sexuality of the nurse impacts on nursing practice. Most attitudes held by the public and nursing staff are based on the assumption that everyone is heterosexual, including nurses. Fifteen lesbian psychiatric mental health nurses from throughout New Zealand volunteered for two interviews and shared their experiences of becoming and being a lesbian psychiatric mental health nurse. The stories they told give new insights into how these nurses negotiate and position their lesbian identity in the therapeutic relationship. To work therapeutically with people in mental distress the nurse uses personal information about themselves to gain rapport with the client through appropriate self-disclosure. Being real, honest and authentic are also key concepts in this relationship so the negotiation of reveal/conceal of the nurse's identity is central to ongoing therapeutic engagement. One of the most significant things arising from the research is that participants are able to maintain their honesty and authenticity in the therapeutic relationship whether they self-disclose their lesbian identity or not. This is because the experiences in their personal lives have influenced how the participants 'know themselves' and therefore guide how they 'use self' in their therapeutic nursing. The concept of a 'licensed narrative' has also been developed during this research reflecting the negotiated understandings between the researcher and the participants. Further, the use of NVivo a qualitative software package helps to track and make transparent the research processes. These two aspects make a unique contribution to the field of narrative inquiry.
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MacDonald, L. M. (2003). Nurse talk: Features of effective verbal communication used by expert district nurses. Ph.D. thesis, , .
Abstract: This thesis represents an appreciative enquiry to identify features of effective verbal communication between nurses and patients. Using a method developed by the Language in the Workplace Project (Stubbe 1998) two nurse participants recorded a small sample of their conversations with patients as they occurred naturally in clinical practice. These six conversations constitute the main body of raw data for the study. The data was analysed using a combination of discourse and ethnographic analysis. Experience in nursing, particularly insider knowledge of the context of district nursing, helped me to uncover the richness of meaning in the conversations. The subtle interconnections and nuances could easily have been missed by an outside observer. The study has shown that in their interactions with patients, expert nurses follow a pattern in terms of the structure and content of the conversations and it is possible to identify specific features of effective nurse-patient communication within these conversations. The most significant of these are the repertoire of linguistic skills available to nurses, the importance of small talk and the attention paid by nurses to building a working relationship with patients, in part, through conversation. The findings have implications for nursing education and professional development.
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James, G. G. (2008). Woven threads: A case study of chemotherapy nursing practice in a rural New Zealand setting. Ph.D. thesis, , .
Abstract: This descriptive case study was undertaken to provide an account of chemotherapy practice in a nurse-led clinic located within a rural New Zealand area. The researcher, an oncology nurse specialist, worked alongside colleagues for thirteen months to enable practice development. This clinic developed out of a need to have services closer to rural patients in order to address issues of equity, access, care integration and the fiscal and social constraints associated with the cancer burden of care. Capturing the range of data applicable to this case; the ability to conceptualise it as a service within its context was possible using case study research methods. Four nurses involved in the chemotherapy clinic were participants in this study. The findings of this study reveal that what could be perceived as barriers to outcomes and practice can in essence be turned into opportunities to develop new ways of caring for the patient and supporting nursing practice. These nurses view their practice as safe within the clinic despite resource constraints. They work in many ways to support each other and to cushion the patient from the impact of situational and contextual influences. Nursing practice was shown to evolve as a direct result of internal and external influences which were the impetus for nurses taking responsibility for their own competency. This study also explored what it meant to be an experienced nurse but novice in a speciality practice. It challenges previously held assumptions that, to deliver chemotherapy successfully, a nurse needs to be operating from a previously held body of oncology nursing knowledge. Many challenges are faced on a day to day basis in a rural practice environment to just maintain consistent care and promote good patient outcomes. The nurses are well aware of their role in contributing to patients' quality of life and the roles they take to meet the growing needs of the patient as a consumer. This study delves into the multifarious nature of this nurse-led clinic and discusses the processes and relationships that are forged to deliver care.
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Barratt, R. (2008). Behind barriers: patients' perceptions of hospital isolation for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Ph.D. thesis, , .
Abstract: This study explored the experiences of hospitalised patients in methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolation in New Zealand and the meaning that those patients made of those experiences. The research question of this study was 'What is the lived experience of patients in MRSA isolation?' An interpretive phenomenological approach was undertaken for this research, informed by the philosophical hermeneutic tenets of Heidegger (1927/1962). Audio-taped, semi-structured interviews were used to collect data from a purposive sample of ten adults who were in MRSA isolation in various wards in a large acute care hospital in the central North Island. Three salient themes emerged from the data. The first, 'being MRSA positive', summarises the meaning of having an identity of being MRSA positive. The second theme, 'being with others', is concerned with the effect that being in isolation for MRSA has on interpersonal relations. 'Living within four walls' is the third theme and reveals the significance that the physical environment of the MRSA isolation room has on the experience of MRSA isolation. Within the discussion of these themes, excerpts from the interviews are provided to illuminate the meanings and interpretations made. Recommendations are made for nursing practice and education.
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Litchfield, M. (2004). Achieving health in a rural community: A case study of nurse – community partnership. Wellington: Litchfield Healthcare Associates.
Abstract: This study describes rural, nurse-led health services provided by the Takapau Health Centre (Central Hawkes Bay) and its outreach, Norsewood & District Health Centre. The study looks at its model of service delivery through to 2002. It examines the establishment, development, funding and management of the service, along with the nursing practice and the healthcare people received. The book is a snapshot of nursing initiative and survival through a decade of change in health policy and service funding and delivery. The information was subsequently used to move the health centre service into the new paradigm of primary health care launched in the New Zealand Health Strategy.
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Litchfield, M., & Laws, M. (1999). Achieving family health and cost-containment outcomes: Innovation in the New Zealand Health Sector Reforms. In Cohen,E. & De Back,V. (Eds.), The outcomes mandate: New roles, rules and relationships. Case management in health care today (pp. 306-316). St Louis: Mosby.
Abstract: The chapter presents the research findings of the 1992-1993 Wellington Nurse Case Management Scheme Project as a distinct model of nurse case management, which introduced a role and form of practice of a family nurse and a diagram of the service delivery structure required for support and relevant for the New Zealand health system reforms.
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Litchfield, M. (2005). The nursing praxis of family health. In Picard, C & Jones, D., Giving voice to what we know (pp.73-82). Boston, Massachusetts, USA: Jones & Bartlett.
Abstract: The chapter explores the process of nursing practice and how it contributes to health, derived from research undertaken in New Zealand. It presents the nature of nursing research as if practice – the researcher as if practitioner – establishing a foundation for the development of nursing knowledge that would make a distinct contribution to health and health care. It includes the philosophy and practicalities of nursing through the use of a case study of nursing a family with complex health circumstances.
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