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MidCentral DHB Nursing Prizegiving

Palmerston North, 28 May 2007

Ron Paterson, Health and Disability Commissioner

'Gaudeamus igitur' - let us therefore rejoice!  This evening we celebrate nurses who have excelled in their studies, and who are receiving special awards for clinical excellence, leadership, research and innovation over the past year.

Some of you have survived the scrutiny of external examiners who have assessed your postgraduate study.  You deserve praise for the commitment it takes to complete further studies on top of your work. You have recognised that nursing, like all professional careers, calls for the pursuit of lifelong learning.

Our prize winners have been selected from the nominations of peers. It is tough enough to impress external examiners. It is even harder to gain the respect and admiration of your colleagues in the workplace - who see you and your day-to-day nursing practice "warts and all".

Today is also a day for giving thanks - a chance to say thank you to the parents, partners, friends and even (for the so-called 'mature' students) children who supported and encouraged you in your academic endeavours.  Many family, whanau and friends are gathered here today.  Take a moment to thank them for helping you realise your dream. Find time to drop a note to the people who cannot share this occasion, but are with you in spirit.  Don't forget the former teacher, the tutor, the supervisor, and the mentor who went the 'extra mile' to help you - your success is also a tribute to their efforts.

In my work as Health and Disability Commissioner, I see the highs and lows of nursing practice.  Inevitably, I am called upon to investigate tragic cases where patients did not receive the quality of care they deserved. In my recent Wellington Hospital investigation - which dated back to a patient's two-day admission in September 2004 - I reminded health professionals:

"Patients who have been admitted to hospital because they are acutely unwell are especially in need of care, comfort and compassion. As well as suffering from their present illness, they are likely to be frightened by the unfamiliar hospital environment and fearful for the future."

And much the same can be said of many of the patients you see in health centres, in their own homes, and in rest homes. They too need care, comfort and compassion. They expect you to be competent and to treat them with respect.

It is all too easy to blame the system - shortages of staff, the demands of some managers who seem more focused on the financial bottom line than the welfare of patients, the attitude of some doctors who practise hierarchy, not teamwork. And when all else fails, we can blame the Government.

The challenge for the professional nurse in 2007 - in primary care or secondary care - is to maintain one's own professional standards and not accept slip-shod practice in oneself or one's colleagues.  I was struck by a recent article in the British Medical Journal, entitled "What's wrong with the wards?" (BMJ 13 January 2007), in which the author commented:

"Certainly understaffing is a serious issue - but my experience of many wards is that there seems to be an invisible barrier between the nursing station and patient areas."

The article went on to note that three of the four commonest causes of delayed discharges are associated with inadequate care on the ward - pressure sores, healthcare-acquired infections, and medication errors. Too often our Office hears from patients' friends and relatives with similar complaints - never seeing a nurse except when drugs were being handed out, no one giving reassurances and information, virtually having to beg for help moving up the bed or getting to the toilet, repeated requests for pain relief.

So, as we celebrate nursing achievements, let us remind ourselves of the challenge to do the basics well - to focus on keeping our patients safe by good handover, be attentive in our monitoring, listen to patients and their families, and keep good records. I encourage you to rise above the stresses that you face in the current health system.

I know that here in Palmerston North you have strong leadership, from Jenny Carryer, Sue Wood, Chiquita Hansen and others to help you provide excellent nursing care - and to embolden you to confront unsafe practices.

Finally, remember that great care is possible, and that patients really appreciate the small acts of kindness that make all the difference. Let me read you some brief excerpts from a patient's story, "A letter of thanks to the team that really cared", which our Office published recently in a booklet entitled The Art of Great Care.

"Thanks to the many nurses who made sure I received my antibiotics when they were due but especially thanks to those who administered the drip slowly and flushed my line gently. Thanks to the nurses who gave me panadol when I needed it but especially thanks to those who rinsed a face cloth under cold water and put it on my very hot forehead and additionally thanks to the nurse  with the cold hands who 'touched' my burning forehead.

Thanks to the nurses who were there when no one else was as I shared my tears."

Keep up the good work!