Nursing in New Zealand

Chief Nurse Newsletter, May 2008

Dear colleagues,
Well, May was a month with a definite focus on the nursing workforce:

Safe staffing and Healthy Workplace conference

My first commitment in this regard was to speak at the Safe Staffing and Healthy Workplace conference hosted by NZNO. The conference reinforced the significance of the Safe Staffing and Healthy Workplace Independent Committee of Inquiry, and the Government funded unit hosted by DHBNZ charged with pursuing its’ recommendations.

I have to admit that I first came across the work of the Inquiry as it was nearing completion and attending my first meeting with the team anticipating a staid discussion about pay and conditions - I was wrong! Of course these issues are important, but the Inquiry report and consequent focus of the Safe Staffing and Healthy Workplace Unit involves a good deal more.

Strong nursing leadership within DHBs

You will be aware that one of our 5 key objectives for this year is ‘continuing to build nursing leadership capacity and capability throughout the health care sector’. For me, a key aspect of the Inquiry report and work of the Unit is the justification for a strong nursing leadership function within DHBs.

At the very least this requires a Director of Nursing (DON) with oversight across the whole geographical jurisdiction of a DHB, with the authority needed to meet the considerable demands of professional accountability and responsibility required of such a position.

I would further extend the concept to include provision for discrete nursing leadership within primary health care, having professional reporting lines to the DON as appropriate.

Clearly the specific articulation of such roles depends on the characteristics of each DHB, but the principle of an effective overarching DON role with input from colleagues having a specific responsibility for primary health care makes a good deal of sense.

We will continue to work with DONs and their CEOs to embed appropriate models across the health sector.

World Health Assembly (WHA) annual meeting

Moving further a field, May saw the annual meeting of the World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva. Every two years the WHA is preceded by a range of international nursing meetings for Government Chief Nurses, National Nursing Organisations (NNO), and regulatory authorities. I had the honour of representing our country at the Chief Nurse meeting, whereas NZNO and the Nursing Council did us proud at the NNO and regulation meetings respectively. This meeting series is an excellent opportunity to both showcase the work we are doing here in NZ and to learn of global developments in nursing.

The key focus for all meeting streams this year was strengthening the nursing and midwifery workforce.

WHA 2006 passed resolution WHA 59.27 ‘Strengthening nursing and midwifery’ urging member states to take a number of steps in this regard.

These can be summarised as:

Having comprehensive recruitment and retention systems in place
Involving nurses in development of their health systems with strategic input at all levels including national government
Ensuring progress at national level toward WHO’s strategic directions for nursing and midwifery.
Reviewing legislation and regulatory processes relating to nursing and midwifery to maximise the contribution of nurses and midwives to health care
Provision of support for collection and use of nursing and midwifery core data as art of national health information systems
Implementation of ethical recruitment systems

Since 2006 our policy endeavour has sought to encompass the aims of WHA 59.27.

WHA 59.27 has also given rise to two international declarations; The Islamabad Declaration on Strengthening Nursing and Midwifery (March 07), and the Chiang Mai Declaration on Nursing and Midwifery for Primary Health (February 2008).

The Geneva meetings focussed on the aims of WHA 59.27, Islamabad, and Chiang Mai, from the specific viewpoint of regulation, representation, and policy. You can access information on WHA 59.27, the Islamabad and Chiang Mai Declarations here:

Workforce development back home

Coming back home, we have a range of exciting developments connected with workforce development about to begin for nursing. I am afraid that just at the moment they are at an early stage in planning as we have only just had budgets agreed. I am pleased to be able to tell you though of plans for a national leadership programme for Maori nurses, projects to increase the number of Maori nurses in our workforce, and a programme to develop school nursing services nationwide – specifically in lower decile high schools. I can assure you that we will not be stopping there either! Seeking to deliver on our key objectives for 2008 / 09, a range of other significant projects are in the pipeline awaiting confirmation of funding streams and one these are agreed I will share them with you.

So, a commitment to nursing workforce development and the essential requirement for strong leadership are the key messages I bring to you this time around. As always, I look forward to hearing from all nurses about your work, concerns, ideas, and practice developments, and working with all representatives of our profession, be they regulatory, professional / union, or educational to continue to ensure we can deliver the best possible care to the people of New Zealand.

Take care,

Mark Jones
Chief Nurse

Page last updated: 18 June 2008