The findings helped inform the establishment of NorthTec\u2019s Puaw\u0101nanga Tapuhi M\u0101ori o te Kotiu programme at Ng\u0101wh\u0101 near Kaikohe, one of four M\u0101ori nursing programmes in New Zealand and the only one based in a rural M\u0101ori community.<\/p>\n
Seeing her doctoral research translated into the programme had been particularly rewarding.<\/p>\n
Barton said the programme was developed in response to evidence showing M\u0101ori students often faced barriers in mainstream nursing education.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur programme is a response to that to try and grow the M\u0101ori workforce and particularly the rural M\u0101ori nursing workforce,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy research identified that M\u0101ori students and nurses really struggle in mainstream Bachelor of Nursing programmes and that there is a need for more M\u0101ori nursing programmes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The aim of the Puaw\u0101nanga Tapuhi M\u0101ori o te Kotiu programme is not only to increase the number of M\u0101ori nurses entering the profession, but also to strengthen healthcare outcomes in M\u0101ori communities by training nurses within them, Barton said. <\/p>\n
The programme has about 50 students enrolled across its first- and second-year cohorts, with the first cohort expected to graduate in 2027.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlace matters, particularly when we are talking about addressing rural health workforce shortages,\u201d Barton said.<\/p>\n
\u201cUltimately, if we want to strengthen the rural nursing workforce, we need to create opportunities for people from rural communities to become nurses without requiring them to leave those communities to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the award recognised her professional contribution to M\u0101ori nursing, Barton said it also carried deep personal meaning. <\/p>\n
Growing up in a family of nurses helped shape her path into the profession. <\/p>\n
Her father, Wally Barton, served in the Navy during the 1950s, including in the Korean War, and after he left the service in 1959, his older sisters, both nurses, encouraged him to take what was then the unusual step for a man of entering the profession. <\/p>\n
He trained as a psychiatric nurse at Porirua Hospital and went on to work there for 40 years.<\/p>\n
During her doctoral research, Barton discovered an interview with a M\u0101ori nurse who had trained at Porirua and spoke of the support M\u0101ori nurses received from her father.<\/p>\n
That same commitment to supporting and advocating for M\u0101ori nurses has earned Barton the profession\u2019s highest honour.<\/p>\n
\u201cI see my own contribution as part of a much longer whakapapa of M\u0101ori nursing. <\/p>\n
\u201cSo, I am keeping up the wh\u0101nau tradition I suppose,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe research shouldn\u2019t sit in a thesis on a shelf collecting dust; it should contribute to meaningful change,\u201d Barton said.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo now see that knowledge being translated into Puaw\u0101nanga Tapuhi M\u0101ori, and to see our students progressing towards becoming registered nurses, makes the years of PhD research and all the hard work worthwhile.\u201d<\/p>\n
She stressed the programme came about because of processes occurring at the same time, of which the findings of her doctoral research were one part.<\/p>\n
The programme, she said, was made possible \u201cthrough the leadership of Toa Faneva, former chief executive of NorthTec; the work undertaken through the development of the unified nursing programme under the former New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology-Te P\u016bkenga, led nationally by our current Pathway manager, Sandra McDonald; and, importantly, the mahi already being done here on the ground in Te Tai Tokerau by people such as Whaea Moe Milne and Matua Ross Smith, who have long supported M\u0101ori nursing and our M\u0101ori communities\u201d.<\/p>\n
Continuing her interest, Barton is undertaking further research examining whether M\u0101ori-led nursing programmes improve student retention and completion rates.<\/p>\n
Sarah Curtis is a news reporter for the Northern Advocate, focusing on a range of issues. She has nearly 20 years\u2019 experience in journalism, much of which she spent court reporting in Gisborne.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The findings helped inform the establishment of NorthTec\u2019s Puaw\u0101nanga Tapuhi M\u0101ori o te Kotiu programme at Ng\u0101wh\u0101 near…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":587628,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[91332,285850,1952,40142,134,527,9832,4729,7568,2720,111,139,289224,1067,13217,289223,69,90,168635,289222,9527,19764,14901,1518,223,810,17454],"class_list":["post-587627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-academic","tag-barton","tag-dr","tag-establish","tag-health","tag-healthcare","tag-helped","tag-highest","tag-honour","tag-mori","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-ngwhbased","tag-northland","tag-nursing","tag-nursings","tag-nz","tag-on","tag-pioneering","tag-pipi","tag-programme","tag-received","tag-receives","tag-research","tag-the","tag-up","tag-whose"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=587627"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587627\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/587628"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=587627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=587627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=587627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}