Abstract: This article overviews the use of hyperbaric oxygen treatment in New Zealand primarily for chronic wounds, those who have had radiation therapy and those who are having or who have had head and neck surgery. In New Zealand there are just three hyperbaric oxygen treatment units: The Devonport Naval Base and The Oxygen Therapy Clinic, both in Auckland; and the Hyperbaric Medicine Unit in Christchurch; thus access to this treatment is limited.

Abstract: The author points to the oppression of colonisation living on in the daily lives of colonised people, and goes on to say that it is vital for nurses to understand the effects of that oppression, as well as the restrictive impacts, and dislocation from one's land and culture to-day. Nurses come from both the descendants of colonisers and the colonised. This thesis is a journey and a quest for insights into the impacts and significances of colonisation by looking at historical and socio-political contexts that have bearing on the health of colonised people who remain mostly powerless and marginalised. It is prompted in response to a cultural safety model which advocates that nurses should become familiar with their own background and history in order to be culturally safe in practice. This reflective autobiographical account is a personal effort and provides the foundation for an exploration of issues during nursing practice encounters, from a colonised ethnic minority perspective. The method was informed by Moustakas research approach and Johnstone's Reflective Topical Autobiographical process. The selection of specific events are deliberate, to make visible some of the many barriers that exist within our health structures as pertinent issues for non-dominant cultures that remain on the margin of our society. Maori issues provide a contrast and became a catalyst for the author while working for kaupapa Maori services. The intention of this thesis is to generate new knowledge about what it means to be a nurse from an ethnic minority working in a kaupapa Maori mental health service, and to encourage other nurses to explore these issues further. Some recommendations are made for nurses in the last chapter.

Abstract: Recent changes to the way that health services are provided and issues related to the rural health workforce are creating an international crisis in the availability of rural maternity care. International trends show a workforce decline in rural general practitioner obstetric specialists and rural midwives, as well as a decline in rural births. The aim of this study is to highlight the maternity needs of rural New Zealand women. Further, it discusses how the changes to maternity services in New Zealand, over the last sixteen years, have impacted on the rural nurse and midwife role and therefore on service provision. This information is intended to identify issues that could be used as the basis for development of a uniquely rural model of maternity care.

Abstract: The author tells a story to describe her advancing practice as a registered nurse practising in the rural context. Storytelling is a way to add to the growing knowledge of rural nursing practice in New Zealand. By sharing her rural nursing story through a storytelling framework, she suggests that other nurses may be in a position to utilise this framework and tell their own stories. She has adapted a formalised storytelling framework from McDrury and Alterio (2002). Concepts of the storytelling framework, including reflection, critical reflection and critiquing, can lead to new knowledge and understanding of nursing practice. Past experience is a component of this framework as are the concepts of surface and deep learning. In this way, nursing practice can be deconstructed then reconstructed for new knowledge to be obtained. The innermost thoughts and feelings of the nurse are an integral part of this whole process and need to be acknowledged. The author wanted to answer questions she asked of herself, namely, “how do I practise and how can I improve my practice for the benefit of my patients?” The rural context is expanded upon in her nursing story as this is where she practises as a registered nurse. Her various nursing roles, including advanced practice as a district nurse and rural nurse specialist, are described in depth as are the two areas where she has lived and worked as a rural nurse.

Abstract: This interpretive inquiry explores the lived experience of 3 undergraduate nursing students and one midwifery student who have panic attacks. The aim of the research is to give voice to these students and to raise awareness among nurse educators about the impact that panic attacks may have for them. The research question asks, “what is the lived experience of panic attack in undergraduate nursing students?” A semi structured interview was conducted with each student in order to gain significant data. The research identified four key themes implicit to the lived experience of panic attack analysis: Listen to the beat of my heart (embodiedness), fearfulness, shamefulness, and holding one's own (coping). The findings suggest that the lived experience of panic attack is embedded in the lifeworld of lived body, lived time, lived relation, and lived space. Panic attack affects students physically and emotionally and interpersonally. The significant finding is that nurse educators need be aware of the coping or non-coping strategies used by students and, most importantly, recognise the impact that panic attacks have on their study.

Abstract: This paper summarises research which addresses the question What might constitute Maori nursing practice? The research design adopted was influenced by kaupapa Maori methodology and used a semi-structured, qualitative, in-depth interview process. It was found that by understanding the current experiences of Maori registered nurses, their reflections on their preparation for practice, and their current practice, it is possible to identify the present and future training and practice needs of Maori nurses. Maori nursing practice can be characterised as having five features: the promotion of cultural affirmation including cultural awareness and identity; the support of, and access to Maori networks; the adoption of Maori models of health; the enabling of visibility and pro-activity as Maori nurses; and, the validation of Maori nurses as effective health professionals. Three recommendations for promoting Maori nursing practice are made in relation to staff in the workplace and in nurse education programmes: all nursing staff need to be alert to: 1. the impact of western scientific models on Maori healthcare; 2. the (often passive) non-acceptance of Maori within mainstream institutions; and iii) the benefits of valuing indigenous nursing programmes.

Abstract: In this introduction to a special issue on nursing with indigenous peoples, the authors affirm the need for continued application of tools and strategies for thinking critically about issues of culture, history and race. Without these things, evidence of discriminatory policies and practices in the health system remain hidden to many health professionals. Attention to socio-political structures is as essential to promoting health and preventing illness as are nurses' activities with the individual clients. To develop critical consciousness in nursing requires educational strategies and frameworks that focus on the responsibilities and implications of practicing nursing in a postcolonial context where race and power continue to create patterns of inclusion and exclusion in health care settings. The authors suggest that many contemporary nursing programmes fail to provide such strategies and frameworks, and argue that nursing must view critical analyses of these issues as central aspects of nursing education, research, theory and practice. They go on to engage with the notion of cultural safety as a means of fostering a critical political and social consciousness in nursing to create an opportunity for social transformation.

Abstract: This article describes the implementation of a nurse-led, dedicated support network and service for children with a diagnosis of retinoblastoma and their families. Nurses with an interest in retinoblastoma at an Auckland Ophthalmology Department realised that the service provided was not meeting the needs of patients and families, particularly since the numbers had increased over the past two years. This article outlines the development of a cost-effective approach that improved the service.