Practice nurses endorse pay parity campaign.

The New Zealand College of Practice [Nurses.sup.NZNO] conference last month overwhelmingly endorsed NZNO's Pay Parity for Primary Health Campaign. NZNO organising services manager Laita Harre launched the campaign to a standing ovation on the last day of the three-day conference in Hamilton. Outlining the campaign's goals, she urged practice nurses to become activists and stand firm for pay parity.

The first day of the three-day conference began with discussion among the chairs of each regional division on current issues. What emerged was the differing support offered to practice nurses by different primary health organisations (PHOs) and independent practice associations (IPAs). Support ranged from the PHO/IPA providing all practice nurse education to no support. The discussion raised the issue of the changing role of the college in providing education in the current and future primary health care (PHC) environment.

More than 220 delegates were then welcomed with a powhiri to the college AGM and conference by Tainui kaumatua. The college's strategic plan was ratified at the AGM.

Presentations on the second day of the conference were opened by MidCentral District Health Board's (DHB) director of nursing, primary health, Chiquita Hansen. As chair of NZNO's Primary Health Care Nurses' Council Hansen spoke on the council's objectives and work.

Avian 'flu pandemic 

A clinical virologist for the Canterbury DHB, Lance Jennings, provided an informative session on the virology and epidemiology of influenza. "An influenza vaccine does not work unless it is in someone's arm" was his message. He also discussed the background behind the growing conviction internationally that the avian 'flu is the next potential pandemic.

The next speaker was Sven Hansen, a doctor who lectures around New Zealand and Australia on the importance of emotional physical and intellectual resilience. In his conference address, he focused on building resilience through body, heart, mind and spirit.

A keynote speaker in the afternoon was nurse practitioner (NP) Michal Boyd. A NP for older adults in the PHC sector, she spoke on the importance of moving from an acute "fix-it" model of care delivery to the more effective and professionally satisfying "lifestyle coaching" model. Her presentation focused on the positive ways practice nurses could influence clients to make healthy life style choices to assist them to manage their chronic conditions. She urged practice nurses to use this approach in their implementation of Care Plus programmes and to ensure the opportunities to make a real difference to clients' health and chronic conditions were not lost.

Keynote speaker, professor of nursing (clinical chair) at Massey University, Jenny Carryer, discussed the political and policy changes occurring in the PHC sector since 2001, focusing on strategic developments occurring in nursing services. The Government's Investing in Health document was, she said, "the blueprint for the success of primary health nursing".

She discussed the work that is occurring around achieving new graduate programmes for primary health nursing. She also challenged practice nurses to consider a name change from practice nurse to primary health nurse, to recognise the philosophy of the PHC strategy.

Creating positive change

Chair of the college, Rosemary Minto, introduced the college's strategic plan to delegates, urging practice nurses to be active and motivated to create positive change in their nursing practice. She urged them to examine and prescribe to the hallmarks of a professional practice environment, promoted by the Magnet programme in the United States.

The inaugural Obex award of $1500 was won by Golden Bay practice nurse Brenda Bruning. She spoke on the implementation of a men's health clinic in a general practice. The other finalists' presentations were on benign positional vertigo (Rosemary Minto), Care Plus and practice nursing (Cathryn Henty) and evidence-based nursing practice from a practice nursing viewpoint (Liss Lloyd).

The final speaker of the day was mental health nurse educator Robyn Baladeros, whose master's research focused on mental health nurses' perceptions of clinical supervision. Her presentation highlighted the advantages of clinical supervision for practice nurses.

A number of awards were announced at the conference dinner. The winner of the $2500 Health Service Welfare Society scholarship was Jan Prestige of Dunedin. The Ginny Hinton Tall Poppy award went to Jeannette Osborne, Tauranga.Karen Rodgers, Wellingto and Heather Sedon, Hamilto both received Awards for Service to the college.

Speakers on the last day of conference included Harre and a Health and Disability Deputy Commissioner Tania Thomas, who spoke on the role of the Commissioner's Office. Test result processes, specialist referrals and clinical records were common complaints about general practice and practice nurses. She urged delegates to be more aware of the need to document all care, as during an investigation, this was the only way the care provided could be assessed. Honest communication to understand complainants' issues, low-level resolution and the use of advocates were key ways of reducing complaints in general practice.

Mental health nurse Jacqui Wood examined what it meant to have good mental health and how to promote this for clients using holistic perspectives. Leadership expert and corporate coach Aiden Holliday spoke on leadership and maintaining a balance in life.

Integrating research into practice

The last speaker was clinical professor of nursing at Waikato DHB, Ken Walsh, who discussed the benefits and challenges inherent in applying research in the clinical setting. He leads practice development initiatives and undertakes clinically relevant nursing research. In his work he has found that to integrate research into practice requires that a nurse is passionate about the practice being researched, that the nurse "owns" the results, and that changes get embedded in practice, with a team approach to change.

College members will be able to purchase DVDs of the conference proceedings for a small fee to cover production costs. Check the website for more details: www.practicenurses.co.nz. Next year's conference will be in Wellington.

Abridged conference report by college chair Rosemary Minto.