title: A journey of leadership

authors: Wilson, Melanie

subjects: Clinical nurse leadership

abstract: Background: Contemporary nursing leadership extends beyond traditional hierarchical structures and focusses more on leadership enacted at the point of care.  This reconceptualisation recognises clinical nurse leaders as essential change agents who bridge frontline care and organisational priorities, advocate for equitable health services and foster team cohesion in increasingly complex environments, all without holding formal authority.  To grow and sustain such leadership requires education and development programmes that are designed to be contextually relevant and responsive to the realities of point of care nurses. 

Objective: The aim of this research was to explore the design and evaluation of a health leadership development programme for registered nurses delivered at a tertiary hospital.   

Participants: There were two key population groups: Purposive sampling was employed to recruit an executive nurse leader (n=1) for the initial interview, followed by three focus groups with representatives from executive, operational and designated senior nurse leadership roles (n=13); and the second, pre- and post- intervention surveys with the participants of the education programme (n=12).  All intervention participants responded to the survey (response rate = 100%). 

Methods: This mixed methods study involved an interview and three focus groups, which informed the development of the programme as well as pre-test / post-test online surveys of leadership programme participants.  Both the interview and focus groups were thematically analysed using a general inductive method to develop key themes.  The initial interview and focus groups were used to design the education intervention, which was evaluated using pre- and post- surveys, which included Likert scale type questions, which were analysed using a Paired Sample T Test.   

Findings: Thematic analysis of the interview and focus group transcripts revealed five key themes: (i) Leading in real life; (ii) Becoming future ready; (iii) Power, people and perspective; (iv) Owning the journey; and (v) Connection culture.  Analysis of the survey data showed statistically significant results in: (i) Current leadership ability - leadership knowledge; (ii) understanding different leadership styles; (iii) Knowledge of leadership skills & attributes for effective health leadership; (iv) Understanding of health leadership in equitable healthcare delivery; (v) Understanding of relationship knowing self, cultural identity and leadership; and (vi) Development of skills for challenging conversations. 

Conclusion: This study provides evidence that leadership development initiatives for clinical nurse leaders are most effective when built on the acknowledgement of cultural, relational and emotional knowing and intelligence.  Programme participants responded positively to this approach showing marked improvements in self-assessed leadership confidence.

text: A journey of leadership Background: Contemporary nursing leadership extends beyond traditional hierarchical structures and focusses more on leadership enacted at the point of care.  This reconceptualisation recognises clinical nurse leaders as essential change agents who bridge frontline care and organisational priorities, advocate for equitable health services and foster team cohesion in increasingly complex environments, all without holding formal authority.  To grow and sustain such leadership requires education and development programmes that are designed to be contextually relevant and responsive to the realities of point of care nurses. 

Objective: The aim of this research was to explore the design and evaluation of a health leadership development programme for registered nurses delivered at a tertiary hospital.   

Participants: There were two key population groups: Purposive sampling was employed to recruit an executive nurse leader (n=1) for the initial interview, followed by three focus groups with representatives from executive, operational and designated senior nurse leadership roles (n=13); and the second, pre- and post- intervention surveys with the participants of the education programme (n=12).  All intervention participants responded to the survey (response rate = 100%). 

Methods: This mixed methods study involved an interview and three focus groups, which informed the development of the programme as well as pre-test / post-test online surveys of leadership programme participants.  Both the interview and focus groups were thematically analysed using a general inductive method to develop key themes.  The initial interview and focus groups were used to design the education intervention, which was evaluated using pre- and post- surveys, which included Likert scale type questions, which were analysed using a Paired Sample T Test.   

Findings: Thematic analysis of the interview and focus group transcripts revealed five key themes: (i) Leading in real life; (ii) Becoming future ready; (iii) Power, people and perspective; (iv) Owning the journey; and (v) Connection culture.  Analysis of the survey data showed statistically significant results in: (i) Current leadership ability - leadership knowledge; (ii) understanding different leadership styles; (iii) Knowledge of leadership skills & attributes for effective health leadership; (iv) Understanding of health leadership in equitable healthcare delivery; (v) Understanding of relationship knowing self, cultural identity and leadership; and (vi) Development of skills for challenging conversations. 

Conclusion: This study provides evidence that leadership development initiatives for clinical nurse leaders are most effective when built on the acknowledgement of cultural, relational and emotional knowing and intelligence.  Programme participants responded positively to this approach showing marked improvements in self-assessed leadership confidence.

year: 2025

title: Melatonin and sleep responses following exercise in elite female athletes

authors: O'Donnell, Shannon Lea

abstract: To determine the melatonin concentrations and subsequent sleep indices of elite netball athletes following a training day when compared to a control day. Ten elite female netball athletes (mean ± SD; age = 23 ± 6 yrs) provided saliva samples PRE (17:15h) and POST (22:00h) a training session, and a day with no training (CONTROL). Sleep monitoring was performed using wrist actigraphy to assess total time in bed (TTB), total sleep time (TST), sleep efficiency (SE) and sleep latency (SL). Melatonin levels were significantly lower (p < 0.05), both PRE and POST the training condition (6.2 and 17.6 pg/mL, respectively) when compared to the CONTROL (14.8 and 24.3 pg/mL, respectively). There were no significant differences observed between conditions for any of the sleep variables. However, a small reduction in TST could be observed following the training session condition compared to the CONTROL condition. The scheduling of netball training in the evening is shown to suppress salivary melatonin levels. This may have an influence on subsequent sleep following night-time exercise.

text: Melatonin and sleep responses following exercise in elite female athletes To determine the melatonin concentrations and subsequent sleep indices of elite netball athletes following a training day when compared to a control day. Ten elite female netball athletes (mean ± SD; age = 23 ± 6 yrs) provided saliva samples PRE (17:15h) and POST (22:00h) a training session, and a day with no training (CONTROL). Sleep monitoring was performed using wrist actigraphy to assess total time in bed (TTB), total sleep time (TST), sleep efficiency (SE) and sleep latency (SL). Melatonin levels were significantly lower (p < 0.05), both PRE and POST the training condition (6.2 and 17.6 pg/mL, respectively) when compared to the CONTROL (14.8 and 24.3 pg/mL, respectively). There were no significant differences observed between conditions for any of the sleep variables. However, a small reduction in TST could be observed following the training session condition compared to the CONTROL condition. The scheduling of netball training in the evening is shown to suppress salivary melatonin levels. This may have an influence on subsequent sleep following night-time exercise.

year: 2019

title: End-user informed demographic projections for Hamilton up to 2041

authors: Cameron, Michael Patrick

subjects: cohort component model

abstract: This report provides a set of projections of the population of Hamilton City and the larger Hamilton Zone. The projections have been calculated by means of the cohort component model. The projections can be considered alongside official Statistics New Zealand projections, but differ from the latter in terms of assumptions made about net migration. These assumptions constitute a number of scenarios that were informed by the Hamilton City Council and local consultations. These scenarios are linked to the potential impact of a number of economic development activities. The report also contains projections of the number of households, the labour force and two ethnic groups: Māori and New Zealand Europeans. In addition, a dwellings-based methodology is used to produce small area (Census Area Unit) projections. Across the scenarios, Hamilton City’s projected population growth over the next two decades ranges from 13.8 percent to 36.0 percent. This is between 1.5 to 12.2 percentage points higher than the corresponding projected national growth.

text: End-user informed demographic projections for Hamilton up to 2041 This report provides a set of projections of the population of Hamilton City and the larger Hamilton Zone. The projections have been calculated by means of the cohort component model. The projections can be considered alongside official Statistics New Zealand projections, but differ from the latter in terms of assumptions made about net migration. These assumptions constitute a number of scenarios that were informed by the Hamilton City Council and local consultations. These scenarios are linked to the potential impact of a number of economic development activities. The report also contains projections of the number of households, the labour force and two ethnic groups: Māori and New Zealand Europeans. In addition, a dwellings-based methodology is used to produce small area (Census Area Unit) projections. Across the scenarios, Hamilton City’s projected population growth over the next two decades ranges from 13.8 percent to 36.0 percent. This is between 1.5 to 12.2 percentage points higher than the corresponding projected national growth.

year: 2007-12