Nurse Practitioner
working with police
Jeff Symonds practically has one foot
in the police station and the other in the
Emergency Department (ED) at Whakatāne
Hospital.
appropriate for them to assess the patient.”
He’s one of New Zealand’s few Nurse
Practitioners (NP) specialising in mental
health. In the Eastern Bay he’s a key part
of the Mental Health Crisis Team.
remote parts of the Eastern Bay such as Te
“I’m working at the sharp end of mental
health. Most of my calls come from
police concerned about the mental health
of someone they have in custody, as well
as clinicians concerned for someone who
presents at ED.”
a month. In Te Kaha he’s visiting patients
As a NP, Jeff has an advanced level of
nursing practice where he is able to
diagnose, triage, and prescribe medications
– key skills he provides in a mental health
crisis.
“I see patients in the police cells who
are often in an agitated state. It’s
understandably difficult for the police to
communicate with them, and as is the case
in dealing with mental health issues, the
situation can change quite rapidly. I can
diagnose and treat in the cell block.”
The NP specialising in Mental Health role,
also sees Jeff working closely with GPs in
Kaha and Murupara.
He travels to Te Kaha and Murupara twice
in their homes while at Murupara, Jeff’s
operating a mental health clinic within the
local health centre.
“If the treatment plan or medication
isn’t working for the patient, I can make
changes on the spot. There’s no need for
the patient to travel to Whakatāne to access
the services they need, which for some, is a
three hour round trip.”
Previously a psychiatrist from the hospital
would travel to the remote parts of the
Eastern Bay of Plenty, which would take
them out of circulation at the hospital for
Having Jeff working closely with police
and located near the Police Station, means
in most cases the patient is treated much
sooner.
the whole day.
“Being able to diagnose and prescribe
means we don’t have to always call a
doctor from the Mental Health Ward to
assess the patient, which can take them out
of circulation for some time.”
eleven years ago.
Although Jeff, remains well connected
with doctors working in mental health at
the hospital.
“In more complex cases, I’ll consult
with doctors and sometimes it’s entirely
Jeff was one of the first Registered Nurses
in New Zealand to qualify as a NP, about
He sees great scope for the NP role to
integrate between mental health services in
the community and the hospital.
“There’s a lot to be gained from treating
people with mental health issues sooner in
the community before things escalate and
they need specialist hospital care.
Nurse Practitioner Jeff Symonds works closely with the police.
Smart phone
app brings
instant
breastfeeding
support
Having a new baby and establishing
breastfeeding can bring many joys as
well as a few challenges, especially in the
middle of the night when instant help is not
available.
In desperation, like many others Whakatāne
woman Abigail Kolo’ofa’i, has turned to
Google for information.
“Problems can crop up in the early hours
of the morning when realistically you can’t
turn to your midwife, lactation consultant
or GP for help. There’s a lot of information
available on Google, but the problem is,
you don’t know what to trust.”
Abigail Kolo’ofa’i with her daughter Grace.
advice in the app. When it was morning
and I got in touch with my midwife, she
gave me the same treatment information
and I was glad that I'd already been doing
the right things for the previous 12 hours
rather than doing nothing and it getting
worse.”
Abigail has shared the app among the
mother’s groups she’s involved in as well
as with friends and family.
But since she became aware of, and
downloaded the free BreastFedNZ app,
she’s confident she’s got good information
at her fingertips from a reliable source.
“It’s particularly helpful for first time
mums. I told my sister who lives in the
USA about it. She’s now downloaded it
and is finding it really useful.”
The app available on Apple and Android
devices provides instant, simple, easy
to follow information with illustrations,
photos, and video clips, covering all
phases of breastfeeding from latching on,
to growth spurts and common problems
which may arise.
The app was developed by the Midland
Maternity Action Group (MMAG), a
clinical network of the Midland District
Health Boards in response to feedback
from a consumers study in 2013. It has
been designed to support breastfeeding
from birth to weaning, covering many of
the normal aspects of breastfeeding a baby
as well as the challenges and changes that
may happen along the way.
Abigail is one of more than 5000 women
who have downloaded the app on their
smart phone since it was launched in
August last year.
“Late one night when I thought I may have
been developing a problem, I followed the
For more information about the
BreastFedNZ app visit www.breastfednz.
co.nz