Hundreds of Māori nurses, tauira and health leaders are coming together for the annual Huraina Te Matarau Indigenous Nurses Aotearoa Conference, as nursing leader Kerri Nuku warns the future of Māori health depends on growing and protecting a strong Māori nursing workforce.
Te Rūnanga o Aotearoa NZNO kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku says the annual gathering provides an important space for Māori nurses to confront the pressures facing the profession while strengthening the whakapapa, mātauranga and relationships that sustain them.
The challenges are significant.
Māori remain severely underrepresented in nursing, accounting for about seven percent of the nursing workforce, despite Māori making up a much larger proportion of the population. Research also shows Māori nurses tend to have shorter careers in the profession than their non-Māori counterparts.
Previous workforce modelling presented at the Indigenous Nurses Aotearoa Conference estimated the number of Māori nurses entering the profession would need to increase roughly five-fold, from about 300 to 1,650 annually, to eventually achieve population parity.
Even with major intervention, that could take decades.
Representation under the spotlight
For Nuku, the workforce shortage is only part of the battle.
Māori participation in the institutions making decisions about nursing is also under scrutiny, with concern over reduced Māori representation on the Nursing Council.
That debate goes to a much larger issue for Māori health leaders — whether Māori have meaningful influence over the systems governing their workforce, professional standards and ultimately the healthcare received by whānau.
Nuku has consistently advocated for Māori leadership within the health system. Earlier this year she took those concerns to the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, calling for Māori leadership to be restored within health and social policy.
Getting Māori tauira across the line
The future of Māori nursing also starts long before a nurse enters a hospital, hauora provider or community clinic.
Research published this year highlights the barriers confronting Māori nursing tauira, including financial hardship, competing whānau responsibilities, racism, discrimination, previous educational experiences and difficulties accessing support.
But the research also points towards solutions.
Whanaungatanga, culturally safe learning environments, Māori academic staff, kaiāwhina and strong connections between tauira can improve confidence and create environments where Māori students are supported to succeed.
That is particularly important when whakamā can prevent tauira from asking for help.
The research highlights how culturally grounded support can become a bridge between Māori students and the demands of nursing education, strengthening their confidence and helping them move successfully from study into practice.
More Māori nurses means better Māori health
For Nuku, increasing Māori participation is not simply about workforce statistics.
Māori nurses bring relationships with whānau, hapū and iwi, cultural knowledge and an understanding of the communities they serve. Strengthening that workforce is therefore directly connected to the wider fight for equitable Māori health outcomes.
Māori nurses are also more highly represented in primary and community healthcare, including iwi providers working with communities experiencing significant health and socioeconomic pressures.
The challenge is ensuring those nurses are valued, supported and retained while creating a much stronger pathway for the next generation coming behind them.
The Huraina Te Matarau Indigenous Nurses Aotearoa Conference provides a place for those generations to meet — experienced Māori nursing leaders alongside tauira preparing to enter the profession.
For Nuku, the future requires more than simply asking Māori to become nurses.
It means creating the conditions that allow Māori tauira to succeed, ensuring Māori nurses can remain in the workforce, protecting Māori leadership at decision-making tables and recognising that a health system capable of delivering for Māori needs Māori nurses at its heart.
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