International Nurses Day 2023

INTERNATIONAL

International Nurses Day is celebrated around the world on 12 May, the anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s birth.

This year’s theme for the day is:

‘Our Nurses. Our Future.’

We lead our celebration this year by shining a spotlight on district nurses.

An army of nurses providing care closer to home

“It’s a privilege to be able to care for people in their own homes,” says Olivia BaileyRotman.

Olivia is Charge Nurse Manager of Te Whatu Ora Wairarapa Community Health Service, a group of 60 community health professionals, providing nursing services throughout Wairarapa to people in their own homes, as well as in two local clinics.

“More people are reaching that stage where they need assistance to remain in their own homes and stay safe.”

Olivia’s group includes multiple teams. There’s an administrative unit and two teams of district nurses, one based in Masterton and the other at Five Rivers Medical in Greytown. Some of the jobs of district nurses are to assess and care for wounds and assess the short-term care

needs of people recovering from acute illness. Another team is of support workers who meet short term needs such as housework or showering.

“They also carry out more than 2,000 visits a month supporting people to take the correct

medication at the right time,” Olivia says.

There’s a team of clinical nurses specialising in areas such as continence and stoma, diabetes, and wounds. Other teams and specialist nurses focus on respiratory conditions,

palliative care, and health of older persons. In addition, the oncology nurses in Olivia’s group administer low-risk chemotherapies in the day procedure unit of the hospital.

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The residents of Lyndale were asked the following question and these were their answers. What word would you use to describe a nurse?

OLIVIA BAILEY-ROTMAN WITH SOME OF HER GROUP OF DISTRICT NURSES

INTERNATIONAL N U RSES DAY

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The group works closely with primary care and other community health services (such as physio and needs assessment) and supports people who need nursing and support following discharge from hospital.

With about 2,000 patients on the books at any time, Olivia says “we have a little army of nurses out there in the community.”

Clinical and support staff within the group have a wealth of experience to build on in their current roles: aged residential care, acute hospital settings, palliative care, primary care, and more, both in New Zealand and overseas.

Olivia grew up in Carterton and, with a Bachelor of Nursing, worked in burns and plastics at the Alfred Hospital, Melbourne and in intensive care at Royal Marsden, London. Back home, Olivia worked at Wakefield Hospital as a recovery nurse before settling back in Carterton with her “very supportive” husband. She’s been with the group for nine years now, five of those as Charge Nurse Manager, and has more than 20 years of nursing under her belt.

“I love this job,” she says, “and have a great group of dedicated people striving to keep patients safe and well. It’s a tricky environment for health care right now and I’m so grateful for my group.”

Nursing past and present in New Zealand Aotearoa

Training that formalised nursing as a profession was first available in hospital settings in the 1880s with supervised accommodation provided on hospital grounds.

In 1901, our process of formalising nursing was completed with the passing of the Nurses Registration Act 1901, the first legislation of its kind in the world. Nurses were trained through a three-year apprenticeship scheme at hospitals and sat an examination at the end. Successful candidates were registered.

In 1971 a review recommended that nursing education take place in educational institutions rather than in hospitals, to avoid exploiting unpaid trainee nurses. In 1989, the last hospital school of nursing was closed.

Framework). To be a registered nurse, successful completion is required of a threeyear Bachelor of Nursing degree (level 7 on the Framework) or a two-year graduate entry master’s degree (level 8 on the Framework). Registered nurses are qualified to work independently in all health settings.

Mātanga tapuhi nurse practitioners have additional nursing qualifications and experience, and are authorised prescribers of medicines.

Nurses work in a range of settings including public and private hospitals, aged care facilities, GP clinics, PHOs, and as district nurses who are out and about in the community.

In 2022, about 65,500 nurses in New Zealand have an annual practising certificate which allows them to practice as a nurse. Of these, about 95 percent are registered nurses. The remainder are either enrolled nurses or mātanga tapuhi nurse practitioners.

To become an enrolled nurse, successful completion of the 18-month diploma of enrolled nursing is required (level 5 on the New Zealand Qualification Authority

Our nurse workforce increasingly reflects the ethnicity of the population with 11 percent of new graduates joining the nurse register identifying as Māori, six percent as Pacific, and 17 percent as Asian. Thirty-two percent of nurses are internationally qualified.

Thank you to Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand and the Nursing Council of New Zealand (Te Kaunihera Tapuhi o Aotearoa) for this information.

CELEBRATING

Nurses working across the Wairarapa make a significant contribution to improving the health and well-being of our community every day. From delivering high quality patient care to positively impacting society, Nurses play an important role in all stages of care including health promotion, disease prevention and treatment of long term and chronic illness.

“Our Nursing team at Masterton Medical is an integral part of the service and we really value the wide range of clinical care and advice they provide to the local community,” says Robyn Wilson - Masterton Medical General Manager.

Tū Ora Compass Health

recognises the collaborative work carried out by Nurses, Nurse Practitioners, Nurse Specialists and Midwives in both community and hospital settings across the regions. Nurse Practitioners are lead carers for many people in our community and play a key role within front-line health care teams.

At Greytown Medical Centre, Nurse Practitioners Nicole and Lucy work autonomously to prescribe most medications, order blood tests, Xray’s and ultrasounds, interpret results and develop plans of care.

“Across the region, many

patients are enrolled with Nurse Practitioners, so we are a familiar face to many people in the community as lead carers,” says Nurse Practitioner Lucy.”

“We look after patients through the lifespan including palliative, and rest home care. All kinds of conditions and complexities are managed by the Nurse Practitioners,” she says.

“We would like to take the opportunity to acknowledge the ongoing contribution and commitment from our Nurse teams to protect and care for our community,” says Justine Thorpe - Chief Executive Tū Ora Compass Health.

“We support and continue to advocate for primary care nursing pay parity with their hospital colleagues,” she says.

Some of the Masterton Medical Nursing Team

Pictured Nurse Practitioner Lucy Greytown Medical

INTERNATIONAL

Calling all nurses

New nurses are coming on board all the time in New Zealand Aotearoa, with over 5,000 added to the register in 2022. The nursing workforce comprises over half of the total health workforce.

Even so, the Nursing Council of New Zealand estimates we are currently short by at least 4,000 nurses across New Zealand, across all settings, reflecting the global shortage.

Funding for nurses

To encourage more trained nurses to return to the nursing

workforce, Te Whatu Ora (Health New Zealand) has opened two funds.

The Return to Nursing Workforce Support Fund provides up to $5,000 per person, supporting:

 New Zealand enrolled or registered nurses without a current annual practising certificate, who are looking to return to work.

 Internationally qualified nurses currently working as health care assistants or support workers who are looking to gain their annual practising certificate.

The Internationally Qualified Nurses CAP Fund also helps pay for internationally qualified nurses to complete a Competence Assessment Programme (if they need to) so they can work here. This fund aims to make New Zealand more attractive in a highly competitive international market for nurses.

FRIDAY 12 MAY

Moving nurses from being invisible to being seen as invaluable

The New Zealand Nurses Organisaton asks the people of Aotearoa New Zealand to get behind nurses and all health workers on International Nurses Day.

It also asks: “If you’re near a nurse, midwife, health care assistant or kaimahi hauora

on 12 May this year, please let them know how much you appreciate them and support them.”

The International Council of Nurses wants nursing in the future to address the global health challenges and improve global health for all. “We need to learn from the lessons of the pandemic,” the Council writes, “and translate these into actions for the future that

ensure nurses are protected, respected and valued.”

“The ‘Our Nurses. Our Future’ campaign aims to shine the light on nurses and on a brighter future, moving nurses from invisible to invaluable in the eyes of policy makers, the public, and all those who make decisions affecting the delivery and financing of health care,” says the International Council of Nurses.