Among the topics for discussion will be the current state of the Māori nursing workforce, said Kerri Nuku, the kaiwhakahaere for Te Rūnanga o Aotearoa NZNO which organises the conference.
“We will be highlighting a report by economic experts and their findings are scary, but we are Māori, and I know we can rise to the challenge.
“What better place to highlight this need, the economics of Māori nursing, than at the country’s largest gathering of Māori nurses.”
The theme of the three-day event is mauri oro, mauri reo, mauri ora which speaks to “a return to vibration, voice and wellbeing through the lens of mātauranga Māori,” Nuku said.
Read this story in te reo Māori here.
“Since last year’s conference, we’ve been fighting the attacks on our people from this coalition Government because they are taking Māori health, and the health of the entire nation, backwards,” Nuku said.
“So while we won’t be shying away from talking about the hard issues at this year’s conference, we’ve made sure to include many elements this year that allow our nurses to just be Māori – to immerse themselves in cultural and ancestral knowledge, to relax and reset for the battles we know are coming.”
The most recent Nursing Council statistics indicate that Māori make up just seven percent of the nursing workforce but are 17.4 percent of the population.
The event starts on Wednesday when hundreds of Te Runanga’s Māori students meet for their annual general meeting and art-based wānanga.
“Last year our tauira wrote a song, capturing how they, and most Māori nurses, were feeling at the time. I’m expecting to see another amazing masterpiece from them this year.”
On Thursday the students and hundreds of working nurses and midwives will gather at the Sir Howard Morrison Centre to hear from a lineup of guest speakers, including, artist Linda Munn, lawyer Annette Sykes, weaver Māhina Raharuhi, art activist Frances Goulton, former MP Donna Awatere and Māori nursing leaders Wikitoria-Raukura Mitchell and Kathryn Chapman.
The prestigious Akenehi Hei award will be presented on Friday morning while the Tapuhi Kaitiaki Awards – the Māori nurse awards – will be presented that evening.