Career Paths

Spend a busy day with mental health nurse Steve Howie assessing the steady stream of people who pass through the holding cells of Christchurch Police Station to see whether they have mental health and addiction issues.

Kiwi nurse Rachel Maunsell was terrified to answer a call bell when she first started nursing in a Belgian VIP ward because of her basic French. Find out more about nursing in a ward with silk cotton sheets and Bvlgari products.

MARIANNE TE TAU’s career to date is being guided by the philosophy of reflective practice, pursuing professional development and being patient/whānau-centred.

“Get a master’s degree” is the single most important piece of career advice, believes clinical nurse specialist KATRINA O’LEARY, who discovered her love of study on arriving in New Zealand and is now contemplating her PhD.

The chance to teach nursing students to become culturally competent healthcare professionals inspired DONNA FOXALL to swap working in primary healthcare for a career in nurse education.

LEAHA NORTH knew when she was a girl playing hospital with her dolls that she wanted to work with children. After returning from a lengthy OE mostly spent paediatric nursing, she is also keen to work on reducing Māori health inequalities.

Seeing vulnerable children and stressed families on the paediatric ward gave ANNE HODREN the drive to nurse in the community to improve child health through prevention and early detection.

Graduating in a tight job market saw JO PRIOR cross the Tasman for her first job. That job sparked an interest in emergency nursing into a passion that has seen her working within or near an ED for most of her career.

A mental health nurse with an empathetic air for all has been nominated as Southern DHB’s unsung nursing hero.

This year’s theme for International Nurses Day is ‘Nurses: A force for change’. Florence Nightingale was just such a force, using statistics and data to challenge practice and develop health policy. We talk to some nurse researchers about the motivation and goals of nurse research, background some researchers’ career paths and share some tips and advice for those who may wish to follow.