The Ministry of Health has published the Health Information Governance Guidelines to provide guidance to health providers who collect and share personal health information, including electronically.
The guidelines say that currently each district health board, community health provider and IT vendor can have different approaches, which can lead to “duplication, uncertainty and misinterpretation of health information-related policies and legislation”.
The new publication aims to give guidance – both legal and practical – on how to get the right balance between easy access to information and constraints on information sharing.
It states: “Taking an approach which is too conservative in the sharing of information can lead to undesirable outcomes for patients and ongoing inefficiencies in the health system. Conversely, making information too easily accessible risks privacy breaches and a loss of consumer and provider trust.”
The guidelines, which have been developed with the help of contributions from nurse, medical, midwifery and Privacy Commissioner representatives, build on the Privacy Act 1993, the Health Information Privacy Code 1994, and other related legislation.
The four subject areas covered in the guidelines are: maintaining quality and trust; upholding consumer rights and maintaining transparency; appropriate disclosure and sharing; and ensuring security and protection of personal health information.
The guidelines can be downloaded here.
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The module has been developed by a team of researchers at the University of Otago, Wellington, to provide ‘realistic and practical guidance’ for nurses and doctors working with interpreters, particularly in primary health care. It was a response to the growing number of new New Zealanders – both migrants and refugees – with limited proficiency in English and builds on research carried out since 2009 into using interpreters in primary care.
One of the module developers, Jo Hilder, said professional interpreting services were increasingly available but were still under-utilised and it was hoped the learning module would help both practising clinicians and students to be more aware and confident of working with interpreters.
The module features a toolkit of flowcharts and tables that highlight what to consider when making decisions on the best approach for a given situation and the pros and cons of the different interpreting options, including using family. Hilder said they used authentic video footage, with the full consent of all involved, of real doctors and nurses working with patients and interpreters.
The learning package covers a range of topics, including practice advice on seating arrangements and the extra care and skill required if nurses and doctors are considering using patients’ family members as an interpreter option. The focus of the module is on spoken language, but it also provides some information on interpreting NZ Sign Language for deaf patients. The authors also point out that the module is focused on primary health care and there would be slightly different needs for other forms of care, such as mental health care, in-patient care and emergency department care.
The resource is available online here.
]]>The recruitment consultant for ACE Nursing knows this is easier said than done.
“The application timeframe is very tight as it’s leading up to exams and often during your final clinical placement,” says Campbell. But time spent on applying for your first nursing position is time well invested.
Since 2012 all students seeking Nurse Entry to Practice (NETP) or New Entry to Specialist Practice (NESP) graduate training programme places go through the centralised, online ACE Nursing recruitment process.
Each year the ACE (Advanced Choice of Employment) team visits nursing schools around the country to talk third-year students through the application process and point them towards further information and advice available on the ACE Nursing website (see links below). “We try and take as much stress out of it (the application process) as possible,” says Campbell
He says if there is one area where first time applicants do make mistakes it is not allocating enough preparation time to complete the documentation required
Though registering too early on the ACE website – that is before ACE applications formally open – is not recommended either. It just heightens the risk you will forget your password. “Students are quite notorious for doing that,” laughs Quentin
So he encourages you to wait until the opening date, which for the end-of-year applications will be Wednesday 16 August, before creating a login on the ACE site.
What you should not be leave to the last minute is preparing the documents required for your application – particularly your resume (CV) and covering letters.
Campbell says if you have all the documents and information required on the checklist it takes about half an hour to lodge an ACE application.
What takes longer than many students realise is finishing your resume (CV) and writing up to three covering letters. “I think a lot of people take that for granted. What I advise students is that resumes will take a little bit of time and you need to choose your own way to present that document to your employers.”
“But it really is the cover letters that are taking the most amount of time for the students.” Cover letters need to be quite strategic and targeted for each employer.”
While most students are clear about their preferred employers some of you may not make a final decision about your preferred areas of practice until you are close to completing or have completed your final placement
Then it is a matter of completing your research about the job and employer and pulling it all together in a cover letter that communicates clearly and concisely to the NETP coordinators around the country why they should employ you.
“It can take a good two or three hours to just write a letter to one employer,” says Campbell. And he encourages you to write individual cover letters to each of your up to three prospective employers.
You also need to build in time for your resume and cover letters to be proofed to ensure there are no spelling or grammatical errors that could put your potential employer off.
“Students are encouraged to get their resume and cover letters proofed and revised by their friends, colleagues or members of their whānau u as well – and that does take time.”
Campbell acknowledges finding that time can be challenging as you juggle working shifts in your final clinical placement and prepare for upcoming exams.
You also need to approach and ask a clinical tutor and a nursing preceptor to be your referee and complete the referee report within the four-week application timeframe.
This can one of the most stressful parts of the process and Campbell says you need to pay attention when inputting their referee details as sometimes students make mistakes –like typing in incorrect email addresses for referees.
For many of you ACE is your first formal job application and sometimes it is not until undertaking a big application like ACE that you fully realise how much time it requires. Campbell says this only dawns on some students when they are stressing to get their applications to ACE complete on time.
But he adds the vast majority of students successfully lodge their applications in a process that has become increasingly streamlined since getting underway in 2012.
Answers to many of your queries can be found on the ACE Nursing website and guidance is also available from the ACE contact centre, your nursing tutors and preceptors, your polytechnic or university careers guidance centre and the NETP coordinators.
And take the advice of Quentin Campbell – and allocate yourself sufficient time for preparing and lodging your application – as it just may take longer than you expect.
https://www.facebook.com/ACENursing/
The ACE Applicant Guide 2017 and ACE Nursing CV template can be found here:
https://nursing.acenz.net.nz/content/ACE Resources
Check out advice on cover letters and other application tips in the ACE Nursing website’s Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section:
]]>Robyn Shearer, chief executive of mental health workforce agency Te Pou, said the feedback to the Te Reo Hāpai – The Language of Enrichment glossary had been “overwhelmingly positive” including requests for training in using the new resource. The new glossary was also picked up and covered by the BBC.
The project was lead by Keri Opai and involved two years of consultation with people who have lived experience of mental health, addiction and disability issues, as well as practitioners, clinicians and kaupapa organisations. The resulting glossary includes more than 200 Māori words, terms and whakataukī (proverbs) including creating a new word in te reo Māori for autism.
“I have a close friend who has autism,” said Opai. “In my experience, people with autism tend to have their own timing, spacing, pacing and life-rhythm. That’s why I interpreted autism in Te Reo as ‘takiwātanga’ – ‘his or her own time and space’.”
‘Disabled’ has been translated into ‘whaikaha’ which means to have strength, to have ability, otherly abled, enabled. This word was created with the Māori disabled community, and has a deliberate emphasis on gaining strength and ability.
Shearer said the glossary was a work in progress and it already had requests for training to accompany the resources. “We expect the demand to grow as we get feedback.”
Click here to download or request a hard copy of Te Reo Hāpai – The Language of Enrichment
]]>The single number connects people with the same health professionals who currently respond to calls, texts, webchat and emails across the existing depression, gambling and alcohol drug helplines available through the National Telehealth Service. The current helplines also remain available.
The National Telehealth Service launched on 1 November 2015 to bring together a range of health-funded helplines on one platform including: Healthline, Quitline, immunisation and poisons advice to the public, the Depression helpline and other mental health and addiction lines.
]]>Available at www.allright.org.nz/sparklers.
]]>The new guidelines, published by the Ministry of Health together with Sport New Zealand can be downloaded at www.health.govt.nz/publications.
]]>More information at www.breastcancerfoundation.org.nz/medical-professionals.
]]>You can download the full handbook or individual chapters at www.health.govt.nz/publications.
]]>The website has been reviewed and redesigned with a whole new colour palette. Online navigation is simpler and presents a professional, streamlined portal to access the new and existing resources.
The college is delighted to have the opportunity to provide an ePortfolio to its members and institution partners. The whole site, including the help guides, have been redesigned to support users to create their professional nursing portfolios.
There are seven collections (templates) of Nursing Council of New Zealand (NCNZ) competencies available. A new collection, for nurses in clinical management roles, has been added and all the other collections have been completely refreshed and updated. Available collections are:
The links and resources box provides you with information to help you complete your portfolio. Access is via the college website and access is free for members. Organisations who wish to set up their own pages on the site should contact the college administrator.
Nursing supervision provided by nurses for nurses. The college is offering providers of professional nursing supervision the chance to have an endorsed profile on the college website.
Nurses seeking supervision can check out the supervisor profiles on the the Professional Nursing Supervision section of the website and choose which supervisor they would like to approach. Supervision arrangements and costs are between the supervisor and supervisee and are independent of the college. Supervisors do not have to be college members, but do need to be a registered nurse (RN) or nurse practitioner (NP) with an annual practising certificate. Potential supervisors can apply for selection.
A suite of professional support guides is also now available on the college website. The four powerpoint presentations cover common themes and provide general advice. The presentations are:
The presentations are self-paced and provide accessible pragmatic advice and information to underpin the support the college already offers: www.nurse.org.nz/powerpoint-presentations.html
The college already provides endorsement for conferences, workshops and seminars but is now also endorsing journal articles, supporting nursing professional development activities in Nursing Review magazine and also NZ Doctor magazine. More information is available on the relevant websites and on the college website.
Also check the college website for conference and workshop endorsement opportunities and for journal items please contact the college administrator at [email protected].
The college has created a suite of online resources for the supervisors of NP candidates in recognition that this group is often under-supported but is vital for the development of New Zealand’s nurse practitioner (NP) workforce.
The multimedia resources include five short video clips, web links, key documents and guidelines. They are aimed to concisely deliver important messages to very busy people about becoming a supervisor to an NP candidate in a variety of settings, including district health boards and GP practices.
The topics included are: Supervising to best effect; the NP scope, domains and competencies (what they are and how to use them); the NP application process (the evidential requirements); prescribing practice (reviewing practice against prescribing competencies); employing NP candidates (contractual and employment considerations).
Any health professional supervising an NP candidate – or who has been approached to be a supervisor – is welcome to view and share these resources.
The college also continues to provide workshops, indemnity insurance and networking opportunities to members – you can find out more about membership at www.nurse.org.nz.
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