Māori health – Kaitiaki Nursing New Zealand

January 2026

EXCLUSIVE: Measles, the Health Minister and the mystery of the Māori nominations

By Joel Maxwell

December 18, 2025

They made a high-powered health group with no Māori voice, then made up for it with a Māori group that they might not even listen to.

January 2026

Rethinking Māori health models: a kōhanga reo generation perspective

By Baxter-Lena Edwards

December 5, 2025

A young Māori nurse questions if the time has come to look beyond Te Whare Tapa Whā and consider more comprehensive Māori health frameworks — such as the Meihana Model.

October 2025

Trust, transplantation and the grim question for Māori — who’s left to ask for a kidney if we’re all sick?

By Joel Maxwell

November 7, 2025

She was the only Māori nurse in a room full of indigenous people — but no matter how far apart their homelands were geographically, their stories were the same.

October 2025

‘Nursing is inherently political’ — Ebony Komene on her ‘uncomfortable’ work as a young Māori researcher

By Ebony Komene

October 16, 2025

Young, Māori and a researcher — together, yes, all of these things are unusual, agrees Ebony Komene.

October 2025

‘That was a moral, emotional injury to the worker’ — tears and the truth at report launch

By Joel Maxwell

October 15, 2025

Everything we let happen to them now, will inevitably happen to us later.

September 2025

Nursing research a ‘slow burner’ but crucial tool, say NZNO’s deep thinkers

By Lorraine Ritchie

September 25, 2025

Nursing research is not just pen-pushing — it’s deeply connected to everyday nursing, says chair of NZNO’s nursing research section (NRS)- te wāhanga rangahau, Lorraine Ritchie.

September 2025

Pirihira Puata — registered nurse prescriber who sends her scripts to the chemist in te reo Māori

By Joel Maxwell

September 16, 2025

Ka tuhia e te tapuhi tūtohu a Pirihira Puata (Muriwhenua) ngā tūtohu rongoā i te reo Māori, ā, ka tukua ki ngā toa rongoā i te tonga me te uru o Tāmaki Makaurau, ā, ka kīia e ia, ko aua tūtohu e tino arohaina ana.

September 2025

He aha ngā hua ki te tapuhi o tēnei wiki whakahirahira, arā, o tō tātou Wiki o te Reo Māori?

By Joel Maxwell

September 15, 2025

Tau atu, tau mai ka haramai tēnei āhuatanga e whakanui ana i tō tatou reo rangatira, ā, kāhore e kore he tino hira pea te kaupapa kia tuku aroha ki taua taonga i tēnei tau pū.

September 2025

Nurses forced into silence and Māori patients left invisible — NZNO submits on Government’s health Bill

By Joel Maxwell

September 11, 2025

It’s not healthy, and it’s bad for the future — the NZNO has blasted a proposed health law for dismantling Māori gains and stealing nurses’ rights, in a select committee hearing.

Nurses forced into silence and Māori patients left invisible — NZNO submits on Government’s health Bill

August 2025

Multiply by five, add a lot of years — decades needed to make up shocking Māori nursing shortfall, report says

By Joel Maxwell

August 14, 2025

Multiply by five and add decades — a new Infometrics report released at the indigenous nurses conference reveals Aotearoa will need a lot of time and enrolments for Māori nursing to hit parity.

July 2025

Te Whatu Ora offer further devalues Māori

By Co-Editors, Kaitiaki

July 9, 2025

Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora’s removal of both clauses involving Māori from their offer in collective bargaining shows not only disrespect but a spurning of their legal obligations, NZNO kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku says.

April 2025

Nurses’ union backs call to scrap anti-Treaty bill

By Renee Kiriona

April 4, 2025

Parliament’s Justice Committee has released its report into the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill and has recommended it does not proceed.

March 2025

Māori nursing leaders fight attack on Māori health – SOS to United Nations underway

By Renee Kiriona

March 28, 2025

In the last two remaining NZNO leadership profiles, Kaitiaki talks to Te Rūnanga o Aotearoa NZNO kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku and tumu whakarae Tracy Black. They share the mahi done so far and their focus for the rest of the year.

March 2025

Napier stands with Buller – kaumātua recall last closure

By Renee Kiriona

March 21, 2025

Communities in small towns and cities, where vital health services are being threatened, are getting behind the Buller Declaration to demand action from the Government.

March 2025

‘Scary time’ for workers trying to improve Māori health

By Renee Kiriona

March 14, 2025

“It is a very scary time right now for nurses, whānau ora navigators and other kaimahi working to keep Māori communities alive longer,” says Tracey Morgan, chair of NZNO’s College of Primary Health Care Nurses.

March 2025

Bowel cancer screening changes ‘dangerous for Māori’, say Māori health leaders

By Mary Longmore

March 11, 2025

Changes to free bowel cancer screening age eligiblity will leave more Māori and Pacific people at risk of dying, say nursing and Māori health leaders.

February 2025

Chief nurse opens up on the challenges of working at Te Whatu Ora

By Mary Longmore

February 27, 2025

Despite grief at the “once in a generational opportunity” lost with the dissolution of Te Aka Whai Ora/Māori Health Authority, chief nurse Nadine Gray tells Kaitiaki she will not stop raising its Māori health kaupapa.

January 2025

‘It plays with lives, especially Māori lives’ – NZNO

By Renee Kiriona

January 28, 2025

The Treaty of Waitangi and its principles are the solution to fixing the broken foundation of the country’s health system, Parliament’s Justice Select Committee has heard.

September 2024

NZNO pays tribute to the Māori King

By Renee Kiriona

August 30, 2024

NZNO – Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa has joined with the nation to mourn the passing of Kiingi Tuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII.

September 2024

Left out in the cold: Is it really about health budget constraints?

By Pipi Barton

August 13, 2024

In an urgent call to better support New Zealand-trained nurses, senior Māori nursing lecturer at NorthTec, Pipi Barton (Ngāti Hikairo ki Kāwhia) recalls being an out-of-work nursing graduate in the 1990s.

17 Mar	Additional winter health care workers a drop in the ocean of need The Government’s announcement today of 378 extra staff to help hospitals cope with winter demand is a drop in the ocean of what patients need, NZNO says.
12 Mar	Funding change will ensure more consistent emergency care for New Zealanders A simple change in how ambulance medicines are funded is set to create more consistent emergency care.
9 Mar	Questions over dilapidated and cramped renal unit forced to ration dialysis The Health Minister must explain why after years of concerns from nurses about Christchurch Hospital’s barely functioning dialysis unit, he only stepped in late yesterday when life-saving treatment had to be rationed, NZNO says.
3 Mar	Hospitals and health workers should never be targets The right of health care workers to provide care during international conflicts must be protected, Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO says.
2 Mar	Public and Mental Health Nurses settle collective agreement Health New Zealand welcomes the ratification of the two Public Service Association (PSA) Public and Mental Health Nurses collective employment agreements for Auckland and the Rest of New Zealand.
27 Feb	Whakatāne Hospital to resume secondary obstetrics and gynaecology services Whakatāne Hospital will resume secondary obstetrics and gynaecology services from 8am on 13 April 2026.
26 Feb	Counsellors warn NZ is normalising crisis levels of youth distress Youth mental distress has become entrenched, suicide remains a national tragedy, and our systems are failing to intervene early enough, says the New Zealand Association of Counsellors (NZAC).
26 Feb	Record uptake nearly doubles advanced nurse education scholarships A record 235 primary care registered nurses will begin advanced education this year – nearly doubling the number originally planned – following strong demand for the Government’s new Registered Nurse Primary Care Scholarships, Health Minister Simeon Brown says.
19 Feb	‘Top Up’ to deliver faster access to support Seven grassroots mental health initiatives supporting small and hard-to-reach communities have received funding to deliver faster access to support, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey announced today.
18 Feb	Pharmac proposes funding new treatments that could transform early care for people with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, a type of blood cancer People in New Zealand living with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) could soon benefit from funded access to targeted treatments under a new proposal from Pharmac.
13 Feb	Te Whatu Ora’s embarrassing U-turn over proposed car park plan Te Whatu Ora needs to go back to the drawing board and prioritise worker safety after reversing plans to charge hospital workers market rates for car parks, NZNO says.
11 Feb	Stark differences in COVID-19 vaccination rates between Māori and non-Māori, research finds A new study analysing COVID-19 vaccine uptake has found markedly lower vaccination rates among Māori, which researchers link to existing inequities in healthcare access.
9 Feb	ICN’s call for International Nurses Day 2026: empower nurses to save lives ICN has announced the theme for International Nurses Day (IND) 2026: Our Nurses. Our Future. Empowered Nurses Save Lives. This focus sends a clear message that to maximize the full life-saving impact of the nursing workforce, we must empower nurses with safe, fair work environments and full nursing practice, influence, and leadership.
5 Feb	Global nurse leaders gather in Japan to address urgent workforce crisis Nursing leaders from Japan and around the world are gathering in Yokohama this week for two major nursing events that are advancing the global conversation on how countries can protect, retain and invest in their nursing workforce as pressures mount across health systems worldwide.
4 Feb	Midwives to deliver more vaccinations to help protect families Midwives are now able to offer a wider range of funded immunisations, supporting families from pregnancy through the early months of a child’s life, Health Minister Simeon Brown says.
30 Jan	Opening of E Tū Wairua Hinengaro – Mason Clinic Health New Zealand has marked the opening of E Tū Wairua Hinengaro, a new purpose-built facility at Auckland’s Mason Clinic designed to strengthen and modernise forensic mental healthcare in Aotearoa.
29 Jan	NZNO disgusted by nurse’s killing in the US Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO has expressed disgust at the shooting and killing of nurse Alex Pretti on a Minneapolis, US street on Saturday morning by federal officers.
27 Jan	New national group forms to support public healthcare in Aotearoa Kaitiaki Hauora - Together for Public Health has been formed as a national group bringing together patients, health workers, iwi and Māori health representatives, unions, advocacy organisations, and community groups, with backing from a growing number of organisations across the health sector.
22 Jan	Pharmac proposes to fund life changing treatments for people with cystic fibrosis Pharmac is proposing to fund new treatment options for people living with cystic fibrosis with eligible mutations, including young children, from 1 April 2026.
05 Jan	Nurses pay tribute to Dame Poutasi The passing of Dame Karen Poutasi has seen Aotearoa lose one of its foremost health leaders and a woman of high integrity, Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO Kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku says.
12 Dec	Holidays Act remediation payments update As of 12 December 2025, more than 83,000 current employees (representing nearly 93% of the current workforce) have been paid over $657m holidays act remediation payments for their current role.
8 Dec	Expanding access to everyday medicines Registered nurse prescribers can now prescribe nearly double the number of medicines, significantly expanding access to timely, local care for New Zealanders, Health Minister Simeon Brown says.
1 Dec	Govt breaking promise to local communities Labour’s new Family Doctor Loan Scheme will support doctors and nurse practitioners with low-interest loans to set up new practices or buy into existing ones.