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Background: For parents who experience stillbirth, knowing the cause of their baby's death is important. A post mortem examination is the gold standard investigation, but little is known about what may influence parents' decisions to accept or decline. Aim: We aimed to identify factors influencing maternal decision‐making about post mortem examination after late stillbirth. Methods: In the New Zealand Multicentre Stillbirth Study, 169 women with singleton pregnancies, no known abnormality at recruitment, and late stillbirth (≥28weeks gestation), from seven health regions were interviewed within six weeks of birth. The purpose of this paper was to explore factors related to post mortem examination decision‐making and the reasons for declining. We asked women if they would make the same decision again. Results: Maternal decision to decline a post mortem (70/169, 41.4%) was more common among women of Māori (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 4.99 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.70–14.64) and Pacific (aOR 3.94 95% CI 1.47–10.54) ethnicity compared to European, and parity two or more (aOR 2.95 95% CI 1.14–7.62) compared to primiparous. The main reason for declining was that women 'did not want baby to be cut'. Ten percent (7/70) who declined said they would not make this decision again. No woman who consented regretted her decision. Conclusion: Ethnic differences observed in women's post mortem decision‐making should be further explored in future studies. Providing information of the effect of post mortem on the baby's body and the possible emotional benefits of a post mortem may assist women faced with this decision in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents findings from a study exploring the nurses' experience of caring for adults with intellectual disability and mental health issues in inpatient settings. Semi structured interviews were undertaken with 13 nurses from various regions of New Zealand. Methods suggested by an Appreciative Inquiry methodology were used to explore the nurses' positive experiences of their role. Interviews were transcribed and analysed using open coding and Leximancer (an online data mining tool) analysis to identify dominant themes in the discourse. Analysis revealed themes around 'Contextualising behaviour', 'Communication', 'Confidence to care' and 'Time'. Participants reflected upon their experiences offering personal interpretations in identifying the aspects of nursing that mattered and that worked. What is shown is that nurses were able to describe a range of creative and adaptive ways of nursing in responding to numerous complex factors they faced in their roles. This suggests a strong foundation on which to advance nursing care in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the foodservice, menu and meals in the aged-care residential setting to identify promoters and barriers to achieving optimum nutrition. An observational study conducted by the University of Otago Dietetic Training Programme. Rest home dietitians around New Zealand identified a final convenience sample of 50 facilities. Ten final-year student dietitians each spent two days in their designated rest homes, administering a 19-item questionnaire to ascertain practices relating to staffing, dining environment, menu, meals, snacks, feeding assistance, fluids, special diets, nutrition care, medications, nutrition policy and access to sunlight. Observations describing foodservice and meal-related activities only are reported in this paper. Most rest homes had the ability to provide for the needs of residents. Ninety per cent of facilities offered menu cycles of at least four weeks long. Potential barriers to meeting needs were inadequate amounts of protein-rich food for numbers served and lack of perceived choice in menus and meal service. Lack of foodservice staff training and poor uptake of training opportunities contributed to these barriers. This is the first such study conducted in New Zealand. Results should be of interest to the Ministry of Health and district health boards that are charged with the responsibility to ensure that meals in long-term care facilities meet the nutritional needs of this potentially vulnerable population. Shortcomings identified in the present study require a multidisciplinary approach that should include district health boards, auditing agencies, aged-care organisations, training providers and dietitians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]