Abstract: In this article the author discusses the New Zealand legislation aimed at protecting the individual's right to privacy and concludes that practice may place healthcare consumers' rights at risk. While patient privacy should be of concern to all health professionals, the focus here is on the nurse's role in relation to recently formulated competencies published by the Nursing Council of New Zealand, which includes the recommendation that care be seen to exhibit an awareness of healthcare consumers' rights to privacy alongside the expectation that nurses question practices that compromise patient privacy.

Abstract: This article describes the development, delivery and evaluation of a pilot programme designed to help nursing and midwifery students from Asian and non-English speaking backgrounds improve their conversational skills in practice settings. Many such students, although previously assessed as competent in English, find that communication with patients and their families, and other health professionals is difficult. The study was conducted in a large tertiary educational institution in a major metropolitan centre. Each week for a period of 11 weeks students participated in an interactive session. Content for these was based on areas highlighted by a needs assessment involving interviews with both students and lecturers, and was subject to ongoing modification in response to feedback from participants. Evaluation questionnaires completed at the conclusion of the series indicated that students perceived the impact as positive. Students who attended regularly and were actively involved in the practice activities described gains in communication skills. From this it was concluded that further development of the pilot scheme was warranted in order to benefit English as an additional language (EAL) students enrolled in nursing and midwifery courses

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.

Abstract: The study outlined here explored outcomes from the provision of primary health care to children aged 5-13 years in a nurse-led clinic based in a primary school in Auckland. This multi-faceted study collected both qualitative and quantitative data, however it is the results of the quantitative arm of the study that are presented here. Data were collected from a variety of sources concerning conditions seen, age and ethnicity of users, types of services provided and impact on hospital usage. Findings demonstrate that the provision of comprehensive primary health care by the nurse at the clinic impacts positively on hospital visitation by children from the area where the clinic is located.

Abstract: Using thematic analysis, this study explored the phenomenon of effective education for critical care nursing practice by asking: What does effective education for critical care nursing practice mean to nurses currently practising in the specialty? Eighty eight critical care nurses from the South Island provided written descriptions of what effective education for critical care nursing practice meant to them. Descriptive statements were analysed to reveal constituents, themes and essences of meaning. Four core themes of personal quality, practice quality, the learning process and learning needs emerged. Appropriateness or relevance for individual learning needs is further identified as an essential theme within the meaning of effective education for critical care nursing practice. Shared experiences of the phenomenon are made explicit and discussed with reference to education and practice development in the specialty. The study results lend support to education that focuses on individual learning needs, and identifies work based learning as a potential strategy for learning and practice development in critical care nursing.

Abstract: This paper discusses the utility of Consumer Notes Clinical Indicators (CNCI) as a means to monitor mental health nursing clinical practice against the Australian and New Zealand College of Mental Health Nurses' (ANZCMHN) Standards of Practice for mental health nursing in New Zealand. CNCI are statements describing pivotal mental health nursing behaviours for which evidence can be found in the nurses' case notes. This paper presents 25 valid and reliable CNCI that can be used to monitor mental health nursing practice against the ANZCMHN's Standards of Practice for mental health nursing in New Zealand. The bicultural clinical indicators were generated in focus groups of Maori and non-Maori mental health nurses, prioritised in a three-round reactive Delphi survey of expert mental health nurses and consumers, pilot tested, and applied in a national field study. This paper reports the development and validation of the CNCI, for which achievement is assessed by an audit of the nursing documentation in consumer case notes. The CNCI were tested in a national field study of 327 sets of consumer case notes at 11 district health board sites. The results of the national field study show wide variation in occurrence of individual indicators, particularly in the areas of informed consent, information about legal rights, and provision of culturally safe and recovery-focused care. The authors discuss the implications of using the CNCI to assess the professional accountability of mental health nurses to provide quality care. Recommendations are made regarding the application of the clinical indicators and future research required, determining appropriate benchmarks for quality practice. The CNCI could be adapted for application in other mental health nursing and other mental health professional clinical settings.

Abstract: The concept of cultural safety offers a unique approach to nursing practice, based on recognition of the power differentials inherent in any interaction. Clarification of the concept is offered, together with a review of the historical shift in nursing attitudes that has led to the emergence of “cultural safety” as a viable and valued component of nursing practice. The argument is made that cultural safety has allowed for a more reflective, critical understanding of the actions of nursing to develop. This includes recognition that nurses' attitudes and values have inevitably been influenced by social and political forces, and as such are in part reflective of those within the wider community. Comparison between the support given by nurses in the early 1900s to the theory of eugenics and the current acceptance of cultural safety is used to highlight this point. An examination of the literature identifies that ideological and conceptual changes have occurred in the approach of Aoteaoroa/New Zealand nurses to issues with cultural implications for practice. A review of background factors relating to Maori health status and the Treaty of Waitangi is presented as a necessary context to the overall discussion. The discussion concludes with an acknowledgement that while the rhetoric of cultural safety is now part of nursing culture in New Zealand, there is no firm evidence to evaluate its impact in practice. Issues identified as impacting on the ability to assess/research a concept, such as cultural safety, are discussed. For cultural safety to become recognised as a credible (and indispensable) tool, it is necessary to further examine the “end-point” or “outcomes” of the process.

Abstract: In this paper, the author explores the concept of 'professional terrorism'. He exposes discrimination against male nurses as being a form of professional terrorism, primarily as it is enacted through use of language. He presents the concept of horizontal violence as a way to understand why nurses, as a marginalised group, perform oppressive acts towards male nurses, who are similarly oppressed. He outlines the cost of such a culture on nursing practice and presents strategies for change.