Conference Papers
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Item Understanding the nature of media scandals in light of recent revelations in New Zealand's political life(17/07/2016) Hannis, GDThe nature of media scandals is considered in light of the numerous scandals that have recently dominated New Zealand’s political life. These media scandals have centred on two individuals: rightwing blogger Cameron Slater and internet tycoon Kim Dotcom. In part, the scandals were driven simply by the fact some of the people involved were celebrities. However, genuinely important issues were raised, including journalistic independence and illegal government spying. Ultimately, the media scandals revealed the conservative character of New Zealand society.Item The delusion of green certification the case of green certified office buildings in New Zealand(Massey University, 14/11/2014) Rasheed, EN; Mbachu, JThis paper examines the resultant consequence of Green certification of office buildings in the construction industry. With focus on Auckland city, New Zealand, it analyses various aspects of the modern Green office building through the review of available literature. Firstly, it investiga tes the recent shift in motivation for Green buildings as a result of the crusade for Green office buildings. This is followed by an analysis on the change in office buildings’ façade and indoor environment control measures in the 21st century. It is shown that the motivation for Green buildings has shifted from it being the right thing to do to the quest for financial benefits that are attributed to Green buildings. It is also shown that office buildings have become extensively glazed and highly dependent on artificial air conditioning systems. The consequences of these features are shown to be significant mainly in terms of the inefficient use of energy and indoor environment control dilemma. The effect on occupant comfort and expectations are also illustr ated. This review is part of a research that investigates Green certified office buildings in New Zealand.Item Improved extension practices for sheep and beef farmers(New Zealand Grassland Association Occasional Publication, 14/04/2016) Gray, DI; Sewell, AM; Hartnett, M; Wood, BA; Kemp, PD; Blair, HT; Kenyon, PR; Morris, STInnovation is critical for maintaining New Zealand’s competitive advantage in agriculture and central to this is farmer learning and practice change. Despite the importance of farmer learning, limited research has been undertaken in New Zealand. In this study, an extension programme was developed based upon educational theory and research and then evaluated over a 3 years to identify the factors that were important for farmer learning and practice change. This paper provides a brief overview of findings of a 3 year interdisciplinary study conducted at Massey University with 23 farmers that investigated the critical factors that support farmers’ learning. The five critical success factors and the seven educational principles identified from this study provide guidelines for how science should interact with farmers to foster effective innovation. These findings are also applicable to other extension approaches such discussion groups, monitor farms and sustainable farming fund initiatives where farmers work with scientists and/or rural professionals.Item Indwelling catheter care: Areas for improvement(Sigma Theta Tau International Honour Society of Nursing, 13/07/2016) Hernandez MAObjectives: To describe perioperative nurses' current attitude and indwelling catheter management practices, To analyse and identify areas of indwelling catheter care practice that require improvement in the light of existing evidence-based guidelines. Research Question: What areas of indwelling catheter care experience of perioperative nurses in a tertiary public hospital require improvement in the light of existing evidence-based guidelines? Design: A qualitative research design using focus group discussions was utilised to answer the research question. The focus group discussions explored the perioperative staff nurses' attitude and indwelling catheter care experience and facilitated the identification of areas of practice that can be further improved in the light of existing evidence. Setting: Two perioperative wards of a public tertiary hospital located in Auckland, New Zealand Participants: A convenience sample of staff nurses (n=13) from two perioperative wards were invited to participate in the focus group discussions. Study participation was voluntary, with utmost respect for human dignity and autonomy. Methods: A qualitative approach utilising focused group discussions was done to gain insight into the nurses' attitude and indwelling catheter care experience. Thirteen (n = 13) nurses participated in the focus groups. Two focus groups were formed to facilitate the management of interviews. Seven nurses participated in the first focus group, whereas six participated in the second. The focus group discussions were organised on different dates to accommodate as many participants as possible without compromising patient care or safety. An interview prompt sheet was utilised as a guide in the focus group discussions which took approximately 45 minutes to complete. The proceedings were audio-recorded, transcribed and made accessible only to the researcher with due respect to confidentiality of information. Results: The results of the two focus groups discussions were combined and four key themes were established, namely: preparation for catheter management, Nursing skills and knowledge, current clinical practice and catheter management resources. The focus groups revealed that the nurses did not always feel confident towards indwelling catheter management due to their lack of preparation or catheter care training. There was evidence of diversity in training and feelings of not being prepared properly during their undergraduate training due to the teaching method utilised, the time allotted for the training, the focus of the training itself and the lack of opportunity to practice catheter management skills to prevent CAUTI. These relate to feelings of insufficiency with regard to catheter care knowledge and lack of confidence with regard to catheter management skills. Diversity and deficiency in undergraduate education can be one of the reasons why nurses' practices vary thereby affecting the quality of patient care. Despite these challenges, nurses cope with the task by being resourceful and by asking colleagues for support. There are also recommendations to standardise in-service training programmes and organisational policies and procedures; and, to revisit undergraduate nursing programmes to emphasise infection prevention and control. The findings also suggest that nurses perceive catheter management as task-oriented, with the decision to insert, re-insert and remove a catheter being heavily reliant on doctors. There is, however, a growing recognition among nurses that they also make important patient care decisions. The existence of organisational protocols such as those related to catheter removal empowers nurses to make important nursing decisions. Revisiting organisational protocols also help nurses feel more confident in performing procedures. Nurses want to advocate for their patients' safety, thus increased confidence and empowerment facilitates nurses' assertion of evidence-based practices to minimise risks and improve their patient's condition. Finally, nurses also expressed awareness of the importance of catheter care documentation. However, there is an apparent discrepancy in what the nurses expressed as recognition of the importance of documentation and actual documentation of patient care as evidenced by variability in actual documentation and failure to relate assessment findings with the patient's health status. Standardised documentation of patient assessment and catheter status is recommended to improve the quality of documentation in relation to nursing assessment. Current clinical practice is characterised by collaborative care. While nurses were perceived to be mainly responsible for catheter insertion, maintenance and removal, doctors also need support in terms of recognising the unnecessary presence of a patient's catheter. Nurses expressed that cognitively able patients play a role in catheter care. This makes patient care in the current research setting unique because of nurses' perception of patient involvement. Nurses perceive that they are responsible for educating and empowering patients to actively participate in their care. Catheter care also involves advocating for the patient's interests. Nurses feel vulnerable and fear going against their patient's preference when faced with circumstances that require ethical decision-making. Nurses are aware that in patient centred care, the patient's moral, cultural and religious values need to be considered. Thus, nurses overcome this feeling of concern by maintaining an open communication with the patient. Nurses also identified their gender as a barrier to catheter care due to unwritten, agreed rules of behaviour that guide clinical practice. To remove this barrier without compromising patient preference, a standardised organisational policy on catheterisation has been recommended. Nurses also reported clinical practises that puts patient's safety at risk and indicated poor knowledge and hence clinical practice. A multi-pronged approach in educating and addressing practice discrepancies has been recommended to improve nurses' knowledge and practise. Overall, clinical practice related to catheter care requires nursing skills, decision-making, critical thinking and a complete grasp of ethical principles. Finally, with regard to catheter management resources, nurses are aware that organisational policies on catheter management are available intranet, although some have concerns with locating it. Ease of access to policies and consistency with day to day workflow can potentially enhance nursing care. Support from colleagues also proves to be valuable when nurses cannot access policies. The nurses also reported that the existence of policies on catheter removal helped standardise the process itself and guided nurses in their decisions. For those who found the organisational policy not suitable for various types of patients, their expertise in the use of the nursing process and collaborative care helped them arrive at important decisions and interventions. Decision-support tools were recommended to be utilised as these facilitate decisions regarding deviations from specific organisational guidelines. While organisational policies facilitate decisions and nursing care, these do not replace nurses' knowledge and skills in providing quality patient care. Conclusion: There are various areas in catheter care that can be improved further. These include: diversity in catheter care practise of which some may be of concern to patient safety; variability in actual documentation of care and failure to relate assessment findings with the patient's health status; heavy reliance on doctors for the decision to insert, re-insert and remove a catheter; gender as a barrier to catheter care due to unwritten, agreed rules of behaviour that guide clinical practice; and difficulty in accessing organisational policies. Nurses have identified recommendations to address these concerns. These include: standardisation of in-service training programmes and organisational policies and procedures without compromising patient preference; standardisation of documentation of patient assessment and catheter status; empowerment of nurses through evidence-based protocols; multi-pronged approach in the delivery of in-service education; creation of policies that are consistent with day to day workflow and are easy to access; and utilisation of decision-support tools that address deviations from specific organisational guidelines.Item Complex Network Visualizations As A Means Of Generative Research In Design(15/03/2014) Murnieks, AThe search for a possible design question, or generative research, is problematic. Generative research in design often relies on an unseen, intangible spark of intuition that leads to a novel design approach, and not many scholars or clients appreciate (or trust) the abstract nature of this process. Gathering information like demographics is useful data, but it only provides comparative information. Though charts and graphs can make apparent what is already true in the num- bers, they cannot reveal much more than that. They cannot, for example, reflect how a user population behaves, interacts, socializes, or moves. Consequently, the ways in which we navigate our world though visual communication, electronic or otherwise, is an increasingly challenging design problem. Seeing clear patterns for behavior is especially important in interaction design. Visual representations of pattern phenomena are possible with network science. The United States National Research Council defines network science as “the study of network representations of physical, biological, and social phenomena leading to predictive models of these phenomena.” (Wikipedia, 2013). Most visualizations of complex networks are literally represented as lines connecting dots, the dots as data points and the lines as relationships. Carefully choosing the best data points, based on meaningful relationships, and applying good information design technique, makes a more comprehensive view of a designated design problem possible. A network visualization can be dynamic and three dimensional, though meaningful compositional view of a two-dimensional model can suffice. Because the data are visual, design decisions are more clearly communicated to both the designer and her audience. While it is possible to analyze the complex network with various mathematical functions—like density, clustering and connectedness—through these types of visualizations, a few simple examples show how powerful network science models can be.Item Changes in denitrification rate and N2O/N2 ratio with varying soil moisture conditions of New Zealand Pasture soils.(18/04/2012) Jha, N; Saggar, S; Tillman, R; Giltrap, D; Currie, LD; Christiansen, CItem Impact of a catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) education package on Nurses' knowledge and indwelling catheter management practices(Sigma Theta Tau International Honour Society of Nursing, 17/03/2016) Hernandez MAObjectives: 1. To identify staff nurses' current knowledge, attitudes and indwelling catheter management practices 2. To implement a catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) education package on two surgical wards 3. To determine if a significant difference exists in the staff nurses' indwelling catheter management practices before and after the introduction of a CAUTI education package Research Question: What is the impact of a CAUTI education package on the knowledge, attitude and indwelling catheter management practices of nurses? Design: A descriptive design involving mixed methods approach was utilised to answer the research question. The methods used include focus group discussions that explore and describe nurses' attitude toward catheter care and CAUTI prevention; pre-test and a post-test to measure and compare the nurses' level of knowledge on CAUTI prevention; and document analysis of a catheter maintenance checklist to identify staff nurses' catheter management practices. Setting: Two surgical wards of a general district hospital located in Manukau City, Auckland, New Zealand Participants: A convenience sample of staff nurses (n=27) from the two surgical wards were invited to participate in the study through e-mail. Information about the research was discussed through flyers. Study participation was voluntary, with utmost respect for human dignity and autonomy. Methods: The study had three phases. The first phase utilised focus group discussions that involved the gathering of baseline data to determine nurses' knowledge and attitudes about catheter management and CAUTI prevention. The second phase involved the implementation of education sessions and utilised a pre and post-test to measure nurses' level of knowledge. The final phase or the evaluation phase identified the impact of the education package on the nurses' knowledge, attitudes and whether this was translated into practice. This phase utilised an evidence-based checklist that nurses complete daily given patients with urinary catheters. Results: A total of 13 staff nurses attended two focus group discussions. The focus group revealed that there is diversity in the undergraduate training experience and on-the-job training of nurses that relate to their catheter management practices. Another theme that emerged from the focus group is the nurses' awareness, access and use of organisational policies and guidelines which serve as a primary go-to guide when recalling information at work. The staff also highlighted that the quality of their current catheter care practice utilizes a collaborative approach, is dependent on the nursing process and is affected by the nurse's and the patient's gender. The nurses also verbalized that there is training required in the use of catheter management resources. Lastly, catheter care challenges such as gender, dementia in patients and ethical dilemma affect nurse's catheter management practices. Fourteen nurses attended the education session. For the pre and post-test, paired t-test was carried out in order to test for a significant difference in the overall score. Descriptive statistical analyses indicate that there is a significant difference (p < 0.0001) in the overall score between the pre and post-test, with a mean difference of 6.64 and 95% CI of (4.96, 8.33). Document analysis of the catheter maintenance checklist revealed that most of the post-surgery patients came to the ward with catheters already in, thus prompting the nurses to complete only the catheter maintenance part of the checklist and the catheter removal part if necessary. Majority of the patients also had their catheters removed on the first day and this is documented on the checklist. Noticeable also is the dwindling of numbers of completed checklists when the study period reached its fourth month. Conclusion: The CAUTI education package had a significant impact on the nurse's knowledge. While various factors affect catheter management practices, enhanced training will not only improve nurses' knowledge, but their practice as well. Catheter maintenance checklists serve as procedure prompts for nurses although dwindling of numbers may be expected as time passes by. This could be remedied by regularly reminding staff to complete the checklist and documentation. Finally, quality improvement initiatives on CAUTI prevention would help improve CAUTI rates and nurses' knowledge, skills and attitude toward catheter management.Item Cash tunnelling in Chinese firms(Financial Management Association, 19/10/2016) Wei, Y; Chen, JG; Wirth, CGThis study investigates how controlling shareholders fraudulently extracted firm value via cash tunnelling from Chinese companies from 1998 to 2011. The evidence suggests that expropriating owners choose a balance sheet account that is not directly related to the firm’s operating business in order to record a fictitious asset, with the account remaining in the company’s books for a reasonably long time. The delay in recognising the fictitious asset as a loss in the financial statements makes it more difficult for auditors to detect the fraud. We develop two measures to estimate the total loss caused by the cash tunnelling, and estimate the loss to be two to four times net income. Evidence on the factors and process surrounding cash tunnelling is presented, and we demonstrate that the propensity to engage in tunnelling is positively related to the differential rights between controlling shareholders and minority shareholders and negatively related to firm profitability, the probability of fraud detection and the severity of the punishment.
