2020 Year of the Nurse
Nurses Make A Difference - Improving patient outcomes now and in the future
Journal of Advanced Nursing, 21 April 2020.

In 2020 the importance of being able to provide clear evidence on what we do has never been more important for nursing. This issue highlights a series of RCTs across a spectrum of nursing issues that prove the effectiveness and impact of nursing – and shows how nursing is working across the health landscape. We include studies on children and adolescents, pregnant women, older people, people living with chronic illness and those in need of acute care. All the articles are free access
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/toc/10.1111/(ISSN)1365-2648.nurses-make-a-difference?campaign=dartwol|5363638696

Open access (free) news and evidence based resources on COVID19
 

RCN - Nursing Standard
A collection of free news and evidence-based resources relevant to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic
https://rcni.com/nursing-standard/covid-19

Elsevier – Coronavirus Information Center
Free health and medical research on the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) and COVID-19
https://www.elsevier.com/connect/coronavirus-information-center

COVID-19 - Free Articles from American Psychological Association (APA) Journals
https://www.apa.org/pubs/highlights/covid-19-articles

Nursing Times - Coronavirus open access resources
This zone collates essential clinical content to help nurses refresh skills and knowledge they may need to work in unfamiliar settings or to support students and those returning to practice
https://www.nursingtimes.net/clinical-archive/coronavirus-clinical-archive/

Articles - Telehealth
 

1. Coronavirus (COVID-19): remote care through telehealth
Cochrane Special Collections - 14 May 2020
The aim of this collection is to ensure immediate access to systematic reviews most directly relevant to remote health care through telehealth. The measures adopted internationally to curb the spread of COVID-19 have led to significant changes in how health care is accessed and provided. As face-to-face consultations between healthcare workers and patients pose a potential risk to both parties, remote care and telehealth offer alternatives.
https://www.cochranelibrary.com/collections/doi/SC000043/full

2. HF app to support self-care among community dwelling adults with HF: A feasibility study
Marva Foster
Applied Nursing Research, 2018. Vol. 44, 93-96.
The prevalence of Heart Failure (HF) is expected to increase by 46% from 2012 to 2030, which will result in over 8 million adults with HF. The development and testing of interventions that can support HF self-care behaviors is critical.

3. Nurses distracted by smartphone use during clinical practice: Italian validation of the “Nurses' use of Personal Communication Devices (PCD) questionnaire”
Marco Di Muzio., Christian Napoli., Massimo Fiorinelli & Giovanni Battista Orsi
Applied Nursing Research, 2019. Vol. 49, 23-28.
This article discusses: Distraction by smartphone use during clinical practice; Technology can help health professions; Personal communication devices can generate potential distraction.

4. Development of an mHealth application for family carers of people with dementia: A study protocol.
Rathnayake, Sarath et al.
Collegian. 2019. 26(2), 295-301.
This study aims to develop and test the feasibility of an educational and supportive mHealth/smartphone application that addresses the needs of family carers of people with dementia related to functional disability of care recipients.

5. Preparing Nurse Practitioner Students for Virtual Visits: An Innovative Computer-Based Text-Messaging Simulation
Merritt, Lisa Schaeg
Clinical Simulation in Nursing, Published June 1, 2020. Vol. 43, 17-20.
Educators must prepare nurse practitioner graduates to deliver safe and effective patient care using virtual visits. Experience with this form of health care delivery may be limited during clinical practicum.
Sample: Graduate nurse practitioner students in the Pediatric and Family Nurse Practitioner tracks.

6.  The efficacy of e-health in the self-management of chronic low back pain: A meta analysis
Shizheng Du., Wen Liu., Shining Cai., Yan Hu & Jianshu Dong
International Journal of Nursing Studies, Published June 1, 2020, Vol. 106, Article 103507.
Globally, more than half a billion people are suffering from chronic low back pain, which results in poor quality of life for patients and major welfare cost for society. Currently, e-Health has been considered as a potential strategy to deliver self-management programs for chronic low back pain, but its effects are uncertain. Objectives: To assess the efficacy on pain intensity and disability of e-Health based self-management pro- grams on chronic low back pain.

7. Evaluating Advanced Practice Nurses’ Knowledge and Use of Electronic Consultations
Chernitzer, Denise & Gustin, Tina S.
Journal for Nurse Practitioners , Published February 1, 2020. 16 (2), 151-153.
Timely access and appropriate referrals to a specialist are shared problems among primary care providers. Historically, consultations with a specialist have required long waits for patients; often, these referrals result in unnecessary and costly appointments. Recently, primary care providers have begun to use electronic consultation (e-consult) for provider-to-provider consultation.

8. Mobile apps: An effective, inclusive and equitable way of delivering patient and nurse education?
Stone, Teresa E.; Jia, Yue; Kunaviktikul, Wipada..
Nurse Education Today. Published February 1, 2020. Vol. 85. Article 104308.
Health care apps come in two types: the first are used by health care providers to store patient information and review laboratory results and may be integrated with other technologies such as an electrocardiography monitor ( Yang and Silverman, 2014 ). The subject of this review are apps of the second type which include health and wellness programs and educational apps and are designed for private use outside of a health care facility: examples include fitness apps, such as Fitbit, and education apps.

Articles – Nurses and Resilience
 

9. Building resilience among rural and remote nurses in Queensland, Australia
Terry, V. R., et al..
Collegian (2019), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.colegn.2019.08.007
This study evaluated a workplace resilience intervention involving registered nurses working inrural and remote settings in Queensland, Australia.Background: The nature of nursing work provides a range of challenges to the psychological well-being ofnurses. To address these challenges, research in the area of building resilience to enhance psychologicalwell-being among nurses is growing rapidly, although few studies have investigated these phenomenain rural and remote settings.

10. Resilience, stress, and psychological well-being in nursing students: A systematic review
Zhuang-Shuang Li & Felicity Hasson
Nurse Education Today, 2020-07-01, Vol. 90, Article 104440
Objective: Synthesize the evidence relating to the interaction of resilience, stress, and well-being in undergraduate nursing students across countries.

11. The perceptions of older nurses regarding continuing to work in a nursing career after retirement: A qualitative study in two Chinese hospitals of different levels.
Huanhuan Li., Dan Sun., Zhenzhen Wan., Jialu Chen & Jiao Sun
International Journal of Nursing Studies, 2020-05-01, Vol. 105, Article 103554.
Returning to work after retirement is becoming increasingly popular among retirees today, but there is limited knowledge of the perceptions of older nurses regarding continuing to work in a nursing career after retirement. Discrimination against nurses, burnout, and the effects on young people’s employment made some older nurses reluctant to engage in a nursing career after retirement.

12. Learning and teaching approaches promoting resilience in student nurses: An integrated review of the literature.
Pauline Walsh., Patricia A. Owen., Nageen Mustafa & Roger Beech
Nurse Education in Practice, 2020-05-01, Vol. 45, Article 102748.
This paper explores the concept of resilience, with an emphasis on how educational programmes can foster resilient practices among student nurses. Educators can facilitate resilience by incorporating resilience teaching and training that includes, the core concepts of resilience: self-efficacy, reflective ability and self-confidence. Critical appraisal and synthesis of the literature resulted in the identification of three themes: attributes, programmes and transition.

Seminars/Forums

13. Open Forum: Resilient health care - embracing the future
Date: 8 Oct 2020
Time: 9:00am – 4.30pm
Location: Rydges, 75 Featherston St, Wellington
Note: This event that was scheduled to take place on 26 March 2020, has been postponed to 8 October 2020. If you are already registered, your booking will be transferred to the new date.
Please contact Jess Bilton at events@hqsc.govt.nz for all queries.

14. The New Zealand Respiratory Conference (NZRC)
Date: 5-6 November 2020
Venue: Te Papa, Wellington.
We are monitoring the COVID-19 situation closely, and will make a call on whether we will offer NZRC as a virtual conference by 1 July.
https://www.asthmafoundation.org.nz/our-work/nzrc

News – National

15. Who's responsible for health and safety of Kiwis working from home?
Stuff - May 22 2020
An employment law advocate says employers need reminding work rights have not changed because of the coronavirus crisis. Homes are designed for living, not working, and those without a dedicated home office are likely to have been working in less than ideal conditions over the seven-week lockdown. Dining room tables aren't always standard desk height and their chairs generally aren't designed to be sat in for the better part of eight hours. 
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/121589076/whos-responsible-for-health-and-safety-of-kiwis-working-from-home

16. Covid-19 coronavirus: How to cope with the back-to-work blues
NZ Herald – 18 May 2020
For the first time in nearly two months thousands of New Zealanders are swapping their slippers for shoes today as we enter our first full week of level 2. And with the mass return of Kiwis to offices, it's understandable if many are already feeling the onset of the "back to work blues". Because there's no denying that working from home had its benefits.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=12332699

17. How Covid-19 is affecting New Zealand's children
TVNZ – 18 May 2020
When Kiwi kids are getting sick with Covid-19, they're more likely to have a mild illness than a serious one. However four children have been hospitalised with the virus since the outbreak began, two of them under four years old, the Ministry of Health confirmed to 1 NEWS.
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/covid-19-affecting-new-zealands-children

18. Heavy cannabis smokers can have badly damaged lungs for life – study
Radio New Zealand - 18 May 2020
Heavy cannabis users - who are prone to destructive lung disease sometimes known as "bong lung" - can suffer irreversible lung damage, a study suggests.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/416918/heavy-cannabis-smokers-can-have-badly-damaged-lungs-for-life-study

News – International

19. Mum ill with Covid for nine weeks urges ‘extreme caution’
Cornwall Live – 19 May 2020
'It scares me that we are talking about reopening schools when we still know so little about the virus. A former parliamentary candidate for Truro and Falmouth has warned about relaxing the lockdown after suffering from the effects of coronavirus for over nine weeks. Jennifer Forbes, who stood Labour candidate for the seat as at last year’s election, said she still has no energy and is breathless after contracting the virus in early March, at the same time as her four-year-old daughter.
https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/mum-ill-covid-nine-weeks-4142834

20. How to take a digital detox during the Covid-19 pandemic
BBC – 18 May 2020
Amid the current crisis, we’re glued to our screens like never before. How can you cut phone time when hours with your devices are a necessity?
https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200513-how-to-take-a-digital-detox-during-the-covid-19-pandemic