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CONTENTS
Nursing Praxis in New Zealand
Vol 25 No 2 July 2009
EDITORIAL
ARTICLES
Margaret Connor, Katherine Nelson & Jane Maisey
The Impact of Innovation Funding on a Rural Health Nursing Service: The
Reporoa Experience
Isabel Jamieson & Chris Taua
Leaving from and Returning to Nursing Contributing Factors
Bev MacKay & Thomas Harding
M-Support: Keeping in Touch on Placement in Primary Health Care Settings
Liz Manning & Stephen Neville
Work-Role Transition: From Staff Nurse to Clinical Nurse Educator
THE IMPACT OF INNOVATION FUNDING ON A
RURAL HEALTH NURSING SERVICE:
THE REPOROA EXPERIENCE
Margaret Connor, RN, PhD, Research Fellow, Graduate School of Nursing,
Midwifery & Health, Victoria University of Wellington
Katherine Nelson, RN, PhD, Senior Lecturer, Graduate School of Nursing,
Midwifery & Health, Victoria University of Wellington
Jane Maisey, RN, MN, Nurse, Health Reporoa Inc.
Abstract
Health Reporoa Inc. offers a first contact rural nursing service to the village of Reporoa and surrounding districts. From 2003 to 2006 it became a project site through selection for the Ministry of Health (MoH) primary health care nursing innovation funding. Health Reporoa Inc. successfully achieved its project goals and gained an ongoing contract from Lakes District Health Board to consolidate and further expand its services at the close of the funding period. This paper examines the impact of the innovation funding during the project period and in the two years that followed. The major impact came through an expansion of the accessible free health service to the local population; advancing nursing practice; increased connection to the nursing profession and wider health community, and enhanced affirmation of the nursing contribution. The rural nursing service model developed at Health Reporoa, through the benefit of innovation funding, can now act as a blueprint for other rural health services, particularly those in high deprivation areas.
Key Words: Primary health care, rural nursing, innovation, advancing practice.
Article Order Code: 252 A
LEAVING FROM AND RETURNING TO NURSING
PRACTICE: CONTRIBUTING FACTORS
Isabel Jamieson, RN, MNurs(Melb), Senior Lecturer, School of Nursing and
Human Services, Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology
Chris Taua, RN, MN (Dist.), Principal Lecturer, School of Nursing and
Human Services, Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology\
Abstract
Many nurses leave nursing and never return. Others return after a period of time.Given the global shortage of nurses a better understanding of these movements is needed. The present study focused on nurses who had been out of nursing for more than five years, and explored factors that influenced their leaving and return to practice. All the nurses who had undertaken a Competency Assessment Programme at a given New Zealand tertiary institution during 2005 were invited to participate. Of the 70 questionnaires mailed out 32 (44.5%) were completed and returned. Quantitative data were analysed using Microsoft Excel, and the qualitative data were coded and analysed by means of content analysis. For each, leaving and returning, three key issues emerged. Nurses left for personal reasons, to seek a career change, or because of poor working conditions. They returned when they had the personal freedom to do so, for fiscal reasons, or because they were motivated by some sense of unfinished business. These findings indicate that it is important for educators involved with Competency Assessment Programmes to collaborate with employers in ensuring that there are opportunities for re-entry to positive work environments, with a degree of flexibility that suits the demographic characteristics of those nurses returning to practice.
Key Words: Registered nurse, career break, exiting, re-entry, workforce, returning to practice.
Article Order Code: 252 B
M-SUPPORT: KEEPING IN TOUCH ON PLACEMENT
IN PRIMARY HEALTH CARE SETTINGS
Bev MacKay, RN, DN, Principal Lecturer, Department of Nursing
and Health, NorthTec, Whangarei
Thomas Harding, RN, PhD, Programme Manager, Department of Nursing
and Health, NorthTec, Whangarei
Abstract
Lecturer support for nursing students in clinical placements is essential to assist students in consolidating their clinical experience and making links between theory and practice. The primary health care context poses challenges different from those of secondary or tertiary clinical settings. To deal with these challenges in primary health care settings a project using eTXTTM and SMS (Short Message Service) was introduced. This provides M-Support for students via a lecturer’s computer and students’ mobile phones. M-Support was provided to motivate, support and communicate with these student nurses. To evaluate the project a mixed methodology using data from surveys, eTXTTM and mobile phone message history, and a lecturer’s field notes were used. Findings demonstrated that the introduction of this innovation reduced barriers to timely and effective support that arise from the mobile nature of some primary health care nursing roles and the geographical dispersion of placements across the region. These findings suggest that M-Support is an acceptable, cost-effective form of support to motivate, encourage and communicate with nursing students in primary health care clinical placements.
Key Words: Student support, primary health care, m-support.
Article Order Code: 252 C
WORK-ROLE TRANSITION: FROM STAFF NURSE
TO CLINICAL NURSE EDUCATOR
Liz Manning, RN, MPhil, MCNA(NZ), Project Manager Future Workforce,
District Health Boards New Zealand, Wellington
Stephen Neville, RN, PhD, FCNA(NZ), Senior Lecturer & Postgraduate
Programme Co-ordinator, School of Health and Social Services,
Massey University, Auckland
Abstract
This article presents the findings of a study describing Clinical Nurse Educators’experiences, as they recall their transition from staff nurse¹ to the Clinical Nurse Educator role, within a New Zealand District Health Board. Nurse Educator roles influence clinical practice and professional development of nurses, and although designated as a senior role nationally, the complexities and size of the role are poorly understood. A qualitative descriptive methodology utilising transition theory as a conceptual framework underpinned the study. A sample of eight Clinical Nurse Educators from a New Zealand District Health Board were interviewed about their transition from experienced staff nurse to inexperienced senior nurse. Data were analysed using a general inductive approach. Participants found the Clinical Nurse Educator role was more complex than anticipated, with no preparation for the role and sub-optimal orientation periods being provided by the District Health Board. As a result, signs of stress were evident as the enormity of the role became apparent. Consequently, employers need to ensure that appropriate orientation programmes and mentorship are inherent in health care organisations.
Key Words: Transition, leadership, clinical nurse educator, mentorship.
Article Order Code: 252 D
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