He Ope Awhi: Best Practice for Recruitment of Maori New Graduate Nurses

Abstract

Māori are underrepresented in all areas of the 'regulated' health workforce including the largest regulated health workforce in New Zealand - nursing. The Ministry of Health's, Nursing Workforce Governance Group recommended that the number of Māori nurses must significantly increase to match the proportion of Māori in the population. There is a pressing need for targeted research to inform necessary strategies to achieve this aspiration. Of note, the largest proportion of Māori nurses work in primary care settings yet there is a dearth of information about how best to support Māori nurses into primary care. A better understanding of this important step is required. This research portfolio sought to understand the recruitment of Māori new graduate nurses into primary health care with a focus on the Nursing Entry to Practice Programme. The portfolio is structured as a collection of work that has been undertaken over a two-year period. Each chapter has been formulated and informed by the previous chapter, and displayed as a compilation of inter related work. Careful consideration was given to the most appropriate methodologies and methods to meet the research aims. A methodology was required that enabled the researcher to understand and interpret data; and to also critique power and social inequality. The research also involved Māori as researcher and researched and sought to make a positive difference for Māori. It incorporated rules of respect, of working with communities, of sharing knowledge. These themes sit within the framework of Kaupapa Māori research and this approach guided the research. Analysis of the national nursing employment database by ethnicity showed that the majority of applicants are of other (New Zealand European and other) ethnicity followed by Māori and Pacific and finally Asian self-identified ethnic groups. Hospitals employ the majority of new graduate nurses followed by Mental Health and Addictions and then Primary Health Care; despite the fact that applicants consistently selected primary health as a preferred practice settings. These finding confirmed the need to develop programs to increase the employment of Māori nursing graduates in primary care settings.