Abstract: This article offers a literature review of selected factors influencing the health and well-being of older people, with a particular emphasis on the older male. Implications for nursing practice in New Zealand are discussed.

Abstract: Reports a survey of nurses who had registered with the Nursing Council of New Zealand in 2012, exploring factors that influenced their preference for three government priority specialty areas: primary health care, mental health and aged-related residential care. Backgrounds the national pilot of the Advanced Choice of Employment system to recruit graduating and newly-graduated registered nurses into 2 first-year practice programmes.

Abstract: Practice nurses are primarily responsible for the administration of vaccinations in New Zealand, although many other health professionals contribute to the success of the National Immunisation Schedule by providing vaccination information and advice to parents. Vaccination uptake remains relatively low, indicating many parents choose not to vaccinate their children. A literature review was undertaken to gain an understanding of factors which may influence parents when they are making decisions about childhood vaccinations. Four key themes were identified within the literature: Perceived risk; Vaccine safety and efficacy; Child characteristics; and the Influence of health professionals/supporting vaccination structures. Increased knowledge and awareness about influential factors creates opportunities for health professionals and policy makers to develop strategies to increase vaccination uptake. Implications and recommendations are made for practice, with particular emphasis on the role of the primary healthcare nurse.

Abstract: The independently funded 10 month pilot project demonstrated the autonomy of nursing practice for a new role family nurse. The findings were presented as the health experience of families in strife with complex health circumstances, a description of a beginning model for the nursing practice that addressed the needs of these families as their circumstances changed over time, and its cost-effectiveness. A caseload of nineteen families was found to be optimum. The evaluation research continued throughout as a form of praxis expressed as health patterning, a methodology developed in previous research (Litchfield, 1993). The family nurse'spractice demonstrated qualities common to all nurses: the caring relationship and fiscal responsibility. The unique practice was characterised by a professional partnership of limited duration: the families referred to the service in a predicament of strife, trapped in the immediate present, gained a view to a future, moved towards assuming control over health circumstances, seeking and using services with discernment, and increasing community as family/group members and citizens. Cost containment was achieved through: a) development of a co-operative approach amongst family members, between families and professionals, and amongst all health workers, and b) the families discerning use of services by anticipating a future. Through one family case, cost of saving over the 7 months with the family nurse was estimated as $4000, a possible saving of $16000 over 13 months if the family nurse had been involved earlier, and projected savings in the long term of over a million dollars. The satisfaction of clients, nurses and professionals was shown. The service was positioned within the new health system of health reforms

Abstract: Explores the care-giving responsibilities of Asian NZNO member nurses for both children and elders, and the impact of these on their work, their nursing careers and their intention to remain as nurses in NZ. Takes a mixed-method approach using a group interview of 25 nurses and a survey of 562 nurses. Highlights impacts on nurses, revealing variable access to support, with implications for continuing education, career advancement and retention.

Abstract: This paper discusses the complexity of family violence for nurses negotiating the 'tight rope' between the prime concern for the safety of children and further contributing to maternal alienation, within a New Zealand context. The premise that restoration of the mother-child relationship is paramount for the long-term wellbeing of both the children and the mother provides the basis for discussing implications for nursing practice. Evidence shows that when mothers are supported and have the necessary resources there is a reduction in the violence and abuse she and her children experience; this occurs even in situations where the mother is the primary abuser of her children. The family-centred care philosophy, which is widely accepted as the best approach to nursing care for children and their families, creates tension for nurses caring for children who are the victims of abuse as this care generally occurs away from the context of the family.

Abstract: Oral history accounts of the care of the hospitalised child in the context of family are used to argue that current practice paradoxes in family-centred care are historically ingrained. The article looks at the post-war period, the intervening years, and current practice, centred on the changing concept of motherhood throughout that time. The conflict between clinical expediency versus family and child needs is explored.