Search

Racism is a key modifiable determinant of health that contributes to health inequities in Aotearoa and elsewhere. Experiences of racism occur within the health sector for workers, patients and their whānau (extended family) every day. This paper uses stories of racism from nurses – reworked into vignettes – to examine the dynamics of racism to generate possible micro, meso and macro anti‐racism interventions. A critical qualitative design was utilised, informed by kaupapa Māori approaches. The five vignettes in this paper were sourced from a pair of caucused focus groups with nine senior Māori (Indigenous peoples of Aotearoa) and Tauiwi (non‐Māori) nurses held in Auckland Aotearoa in 2019. The vignettes were lightly edited and then critically analysed by both authors to identify sites of racism and generate ideas for anti‐racism interventions. The vignettes illustrate five key themes in relation to racism. These include (i) mono‐cultural practice, (ii) everyday micro‐aggressions; (iii) complexity and the costs of racism, (iv) Pākehā (white settler) privilege and (v) employment discrimination. From analysing these themes, a range of evidence‐based micro, meso and macro‐level anti‐racism interventions were derived. These ranged from engaging in reflective practice, education initiatives, monitoring, through to collective advocacy. Vignettes are a novel way to reveal sites of racism to create teachable moments and spark reflective practice and more active engagement in anti‐racism interventions. When systematically analysed vignettes can be utilised to inform and refine anti‐racist interventions. Being able to identify racism is essential to being able to effectively counter racism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ageing does not reduce people's need to connect with family members, friends, and acquaintances, and neither does migration. For those older migrants living in a foreign land, connectedness with others plays a particularly important role in achieving a sense of belonging and sustaining their health and well‐being. This paper explores the issues of social isolation and loneliness among older Asian migrants in New Zealand. Data were collected from in‐depth semi‐structured interviews with Chinese‐ or Korean‐speaking migrants aged between 75 and 84 years (n = 10: all females), and from three focus groups consisting of Chinese‐ and Korean‐speaking migrants (n = 10: 7 females, 3 males) and Chinese professionals (n = 5: 3 females, 2 males) between June 2016 and December 2016. The qualitative data obtained were analysed applying a thematic analysis approach using NVivo software for group analysis by a multidisciplinary research team. The findings from the study show that older Asian migrants experienced high levels of isolation and loneliness at least at some points in their migrant lives. Most participants in this study were living alone or with only their spouse, and this living arrangement was likely to provide fertile ground for isolation and loneliness to grow in the context of later‐life migration. It was also observed that their lonely ageing ironically resulted from their efforts to preserve family relationships through avoiding being a burden, while allowing them a sort of space to maintain now barely connected lives. The participants revealed multiple ways of coping with lonely and isolated experiences in their limited social network, and these individual strategies allow us to make suggestions about how best to reduce older migrants' social isolation and loneliness in the New Zealand context and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim The Late Career Nurse project examined views and characteristics of nurses working in New Zealand who were born before 1960. This paper focuses on the experiences of such nurses who undertake shift work. Background The mean age of registered nurses in New Zealand has been rising steadily, and 40% are now aged 50 years or over. While there is substantial literature on the phenomenon and consequences of the ageing nursing workforce, little is known of the particular experiences of nurses aged over 50 years who work shifts. Method An anonymous online survey was emailed to eligible nurse New Zealand Nurses Organisation members aged over 50 years in February 2012. Quantitative and qualitative analyses of the 3273 responses received were undertaken. Result Over 45% of respondents worked shifts or flexible hours. While shift work suited many, others noted deleterious effects on family and social relationships, physical and mental health (notably sleep patterns and fatigue), and decreasing tolerance for shift work as they age. Poor scheduling practices were particularly detrimental. Conclusion and implications for nursing management Worldwide, workforce ageing means strategies are required to retain older nurses in the workforce. Improved scheduling practices including increasing access to flexible and part time work hours, and development of resources on coping with shift work are recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]