Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Nurse Palliative Care Role Appointed for Waikato DHB
Nurse Practitioner Palliative Care Role Appointed for Waikato DHB
Sandi Haggar has been appointed to the new role of nurse practitioner - palliative care with the Waikato Regional Palliative Care Service. She is one of only four palliative care nurse practitioners in New Zealand.
A nurse practitioner is a legal title for a nurse who has completed advanced education and training in a specific area and meets Nursing Council of New Zealand requirements to assess, diagnose and manage health conditions. The role is internationally used and recognised.
Sandi passed the Nursing Council's nurse practitioner requirements in 2010 and since then has completed her prescribing practicum and added this into her scope of practice.
Sandi’s current patient group is palliative patients in the South Waikato region. She holds nurse practitioner clinics where she conducts assessments including diagnosis, investigations, referral to other services where appropriate and treatment (including prescribing).
Working primarily in the community with the primary health teams she has the added advantage of continued involvement if patients transfer to residential care settings or are admitted into their local hospital or Waikato Hospital.
Attending multi-disciplinary team meetings in these areas also assists in ensuring continuity of care; she has already begun developing close links with GPs and community nursing staff to facilitate closer communication in care provision.
The community support continues after bereavement which allows for the opportunity to audit the care and management and look at ways of improving services.
In 2001, Waikato neo-natal nurse Deborah
Harris became the country's first nurse
practitioner.
ENDS
Waikato District Health Board
Healthy People. Excellent Care
Waikato District Health Board (DHB) employs over 6500 people and plans, funds and provides hospital and health services to more than 391,770 people in a region covering eight per cent of New Zealand.
NZ Psychological Society: Remembering The Past Guides Our Future 
New Zealand Olympic Committee: Motherhood In Focus For Wāhine Toa Graduates Ahead Of Mother's Day
Early Childhood New Zealand: Budget 2026 Must Protect The Future Of Quality Early Childhood Education
Creative New Zealand: Aotearoa Manu Take World Art Stage As 61st Venice Biennale Opens
Country Music Honours: 2026 Country Music Honours Finalists Announced
Mana Mokopuna: Children’s Commissioner Welcomes New Youth Mental Health And Suicide Prevention Services In Te Tai Tokerau