New scholarships will help rural communities

New scholarships for Māori nurses will help rural communities

Māori nurses keen to provide health services over the telephone to people living in isolated rural areas can now get some help with the costs of ongoing training and support.

The Medibank Community Fund is offering two postgraduate scholarships for Māori nurses to be trained in tele-nursing, which involves providing health advice and information by telephone.

Each scholarship is worth up to $10,000 per annum for three years, and covers a range of costs associated with training, mentoring, work placements, and attendance at a relevant nursing conference.

The general manager of Medibank Health Solutions New Zealand, Davis Lemke, says the scholarships support further development of the Māori nursing workforce.

“It’s about being innovative and supporting a variety ways for people to access good quality health care,” he says. “The Medibank Community Fund also wants to make a real contribution to the future health and wellbeing of New Zealand communities, and tele-nursing offers considerable value to people living in rural and remote regions.”

Anna Soesbergen, an ambassador for Medibank, says the Community Fund has partnered with Māori workforce development organisation Te Rau Matatini (www.matatini.co.nz) to administer the nursing scholarships.

“Te Rau Matatini has a lot of expertise in this area and we are delighted to be working with them to promote and manage the selection of suitable applicants,” she says.

The director of Te Rau Matatini, Nicola Ehau, says the scholarships provide an excellent opportunity for Māori nurses wishing to live and work in their tribal or other rural communities.

“This will help Māori nurses provide much-needed health services to individuals and communities in very isolated parts of the country,” she says. “They will be able to draw on their clinical and cultural skills, and we’re hoping it will help services become more attuned and responsive to the health needs of Māori.”

Ms Ehau says is particularly keen to receive applications from Māori nurses in Northland, Tai Rawhiti and Tai Poutini.

ENDS

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