RURAL MUSTER #8
Kate Stark – Nurse Practitioner
As this goes to print, I am
pleased to report that lambing
and tailing / docking is over for
another year and we are looking
toward Summer. There is no
doubt that sunshine makes us
want to get out and about and
be more active which in turn is
good for our mental health.
As we know, being rural can be
isolating and again we are
rounding off another year
where suicide has featured
strongly as an area where health
care is low on resource but high
in need. We all have mental
health and preservation is
essential to quality of life as well
as longevity. Unfortunately,
isolation from rurality and stress
related to reduced access to
health care from living a
distance from available care is
highlighted in recent statistics
which reveal there has been a
rise in suicide amongst farmers
in 2018. On a positive note, we
are now aware that this is a
problem
December 2018 L.O.G.I.C
and it is reassuring to hear of
rural
businesses
including
mental health support and
suicide prevention programmes
in their strategic plans for health
and safety going forward aiming
for mental WEALTH, not just
health. We have come a long
way – it wasn’t long ago that
depression wasn’t talked about
as openly as it is today and
suicide was something that
wasn’t
brought
up
in
conversation.
Creating
awareness helps us create a
plan to identify those at risk in
rural populations and hopefully
reduce suicide rates amongst
rural people and enable those
who live in isolation to access
care more easily and in doing so
live a longer happier life.
Technology will have a part to
play in this but we must still
place value on the power of face
to face encounters and human
touch.
Rural Nurses New Zealand has
had a busy few months and
currently has a number of
projects in progress including,
but not limited to the following:
• A letter was sent in early
October
to
NCNZ
seeking a review of
questions asked in the
APC to gain robust rural
nursing
workforce
data. We are currently
awaiting a response
from the NCNZ CEO.
• Work continues to
develop a website link
from the RGPN website
specifically for rural
nurses. This has steady
momentum and we
hope to see this go live in
the next months.
• Mobile Health & RNNZ
webinar series continue
with the 4 th webinar
being held on October
30 th . This was entitled
“Recognising
Suicidal
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