A dream come true - kaupapa Maori kaimahi-to-nursing initiative breaks barriers to training

ABSTRACT

In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic response, Wati began working as a kaimahi (health care assistant) at Te Hä Oranga, operated by Ngäti Whätua, in Dargaville. Wati, 54, was the first student to graduate with an EN diploma from NorthTec under the University of Auckland initiative. Since graduating as an EN, she has worked with young people, providing lifestyle assessments and early intervention for drug and alcohol use, anxiety, depression, and domestic violence. ENs, as a professional group, have suffered hurt and distress as a result of demeaning attitudes which questioned their value in the health system - with the role abolished altogether from 1993 to 2002, the article said.