Abstract: The author investigates the premises that form the basis of nursing practice in acute care. Assumptions about patients and caregiving are often at odds with each other. The origins of these tenets are mapped from Florence Nightingale through to present nursing theorists. Overlapping areas of nursing and medical care in the acute care setting are examined, and the conflict that can arise between traditional nursing care and the expected medical nursing role is examined. He argues that the challenge for acute care nurses is to find a balance between normative nursing and the medical model.

Abstract: The study was undertaken as a project for the International Year of the Child. There was a need for information to identify what health care in needed in schools and to contribute to a review of the role of the nurses. Teachers and principals of all primary schools of the Wellington area were surveyed to describe the health care being provided and needed. Recommendations were made for school nurses who would support the health-related teaching by teachers, provide first aid and advice, and take an extended role for family health operating from a clinic in the school.

Abstract: This article examines the role of nurses working in intensive care units who may need to work with families as they face the death of a loved one. How the nurse communicates with relatives during these crucial hours prior to the death can have profound implications on their grief recovery. Universal needs for families in this situation have been identified in the literature, and include: hope; knowing that staff care about their loved one; and having honest information about their loved one's condition. A case study is used to illustrate key skills and techniques nurses can employ to help meet these universal needs. In the first stage of grief the bereaved is in shock and may feel a sense of numbness and denial. The bereaved may feel confused and will have difficulty concentrating and remembering instructions, and they may express strong emotions. Studies on families' needs show that honest answers to questions and information about their loved one are extremely important. It is often very difficult for the nurse to give honest information when the prognosis is poor. Good communication skills and techniques are discussed, in which hope is not offered at the expense of truthfulness, and the nurse facilitates the process of saying goodbye and expressing emotions. Practical techniques, such as including the family in basic care such as foot massaging and simple hygiene routines, may also be used to move the family from being bystanders to the impending death, to comforters.

Abstract: A new approach to public health nursing in the Otago region is described, which comprises of 3 distinct groups of nurses working in early childhood centres, primary schools and high schools. A family nursing assessment approach is used. The philosophical underpinnings of this approach are examined, which seeks to empower patients and engage them in their health care. Two public health nurses are interviewed about the new partnership model of nursing.

Abstract: This article describes the role of men in the nursing profession in New Zealand from colonial times to the 1970s. It considers attitudes towards male nurses, the provision of training for men and the various laws and regulations dealing with the issue.

Abstract: The author explores possible approaches to the ethical dilemma confronting nurses of critically ill premature infants with an uncertain or futile outcome despite aggressive neonatal intensive care. A case history illustrates the issues. The morality of nursing decisions based on deontological and utilitarian principles is examined, as are the concepts of beneficence and non-maleficence. A fusion of virtue ethics and the ethic of care is suggested as appropriate for ethical decision-making in the neonatal intensive care environment.

Abstract: This research presents a discourse analysis of articles published in the New Zealand Herald between October 1999 and September 2005. The terms “nurse prescribing” and “prescribing fights” identified seven articles published which referred specifically to this issue. They were predominantly editorial comments and statements attributed to senior doctors. Examples of comments from these articles are presented and discussed in this article, and three inter-related themes are identified – competence, responsibility and competition. Discussion on competence centred on education, skill and experience level of nurses, as described by editorial comment and senior doctors. Positive international research and experience of nurse prescribing did not feature. A number of comments in the articles analysed could be seen to represent concerns about competition between medicine and nursing. One interpretation of the comments contained in these articles is to see medical practitioner groups defending their status and desire to define and control nursing practice. The media has the power to select the information conveyed and, in these instances, appears to have demonstrated a bias towards the medical community's perspective.

Abstract: The author reflects on his use of the American psychotherapist James Prochaska's stages of change theory. This model deals with individuals and how they move towards change, through stages of pre-contemplation to maintenance of changed behaviours. He presents examples of his use of the model with clients, when dealing with issues of smoking cessation and weight loss. He analyses his practice and interactions with clients, and affirms that stages of change model can be a useful tool to bring about change within clients. He suggests it gives clients the opportunity to contemplate change and gives nurses working in health promotion the opportunity to be part of the change process.