New scholarships to support Māori nurse development and innovation, including becoming nurse prescribers or nurse practitioners, have been launched with the support of Pharmac.
Nominations for the first Tapuhi Kaitiaki Awards will close on July 10 and announced at the Indigenous Nurses Conference in Auckland on 11 August 2018.
Pharmac and Te Pōari o Te Rūnanga o Aotearoa of the New Zealand Nurse Organisation launched the awards recently with Pharmac chief executive Sarah Fitt saying the awards acknowledged the role that Māori nurses have as key influencers and role models.
“For whānau, the Māori nurse with the knowledge, expertise and understanding of tikanga, kawa, Māori health needs and practise is an important advocate and support person,” said Fitt. “These awards are a financial contribution for all Māori nurses to further their studies and clinical practise, and can be used by nurses to help support their work load and whānau commitments.”
Kerri Nuku, NZNO’s Kaiwhakahaere, said the awards were a great opportunity to acknowledge Māori nurses’ uniqueness.
“Undertaking further academic study and training to become nurse prescribers and nurse practitioners is a huge commitment on top of everyday mahi and whānau life,” said Nuku.
“Te Rūnanga are extremely proud of the support and investment PHARMAC is providing with the Tapuhi Kaitiaki scholarships and we believe this will help whānau, hapū and iwi to access and understand their medicines.”
“Māori nurses are great innovators, it’s a great opportunity to showcase ways in which they work day-to-day for the betterment of their people, hei oranga motuhake mo ngā whānau, me ngā hapū, me ngā iwi.”
The scholarships will be awarded in two categories:
- Nurse prescriber/nurse practitioner – to support nurses on the journey to become RN prescribers or NPs by offering financial support for their study and clinical practice requirements
- Māori nurse Mātauranga Award–to support nurses wanting to further their study and/or would like to develop an innovative way to assist whānau, hapū and iwi to access and understand their medicines. It is also available to enrolled nurses who wish to study toward registered nurse status.
Application forms and more information can be found here
