District nurses discuss community innovations.

Over 120 delegates attended the 12th district nursing conference in Auckland in July, hosted by the Counties Manukau District Health Board (DHB).

The theme "Walk the talk: innovations in the community" was evident throughout the conference. It is clear district nursing remains a well kept secret until patients or other health professionals need to use our services. The conference was officially opened by former Labour Prime Minister David Lange. Lange set the scene well with Iris humour and articulate address. His reference to primary health organisations (PHOs) as "Patient Home visits Off limits" amused many in the audience. He spoke highly of the work of district nurses and received a standing ovation at the end of his speech.

The conference got underway with reports from around the regions, one of the most valuable sessions for district nurses. This session encourages networking with colleagues, who may have similar issues or have solved similar issues in their service.

Outgoing chair Chiquita Hansen set the theme for the conference with her presentation "Talking the walk: Writing on the wall". Her presentation was based on the change management book Who Moved my Cheese? Using her colleagues as the four mice, Chiquita showed how district nurses can navigate their way through the maze ahead to align nursing practice with community need. Nurses in the future needed to take opportunities to provide integrated, comprehensive nursing care within a primary setting, using a collaborative model, she said. Australian keynote speaker Doreen Ackerman spoke on communicating about sexuality. Ackerman works as a counsellor for the Cancer Society. She gave a number of practical and communication tips for dealing with sexuality issues, particularly with cancer patients, and left the audience with three thoughts: Love of self, love of others and loving together. She spoke again at the end of the conference, giving delegates some advice on self care. The conference programme was so varied and interesting, it was often difficult to decide which session to attend. Some of the presentations included practical sessions such as stoma and catheter care and a moving case study on fungating breast cancer. Service developments were also discussed, eg a collaborative model for palliative care, a patient dependency measurement tool, the use of community workers in a rheumatic fever programme and hand held computers.

No district nursing conference would be complete without a session on wound management. Jan Rice from the Wound Foundation of Australia gave delegates some practical tips on dealing with Lotions and overgranulation. One of her strongest messages was that if a wound has not healed by 30 percent by week four, it is unlikely to be healed by week 12.

The AGM held prior to the conference was well attended. Chairperson Chiquita Hansen and treasurer Kitty Turner had decided to stand down from the executive. Both were thanked for their huge contribution to section development over the last three years. Sue Hipper from Hamilton and Anita Latta from Auckland were introduced as the two new executive members.

Conference organiser Ann Fowler and her team from Counties Manukau DHB are to be congratulated for putting together such a wonderful conference--from the venue, to the presentations and, of course, the entertainment and food. It was a wonderful opportunity to reflect on our practise, network and gain some new knowledge to take back to our teams.