Te Rau Ora is dedicated to strengthening Māori health and wellbeing through workforce development, research, leadership, and community-led solutions, focusing on mental health, addiction and cultural competency across Aotearoa.
This year, a nurse prescriber, graduate nurse and nurse trying to advance the Māori nursing workforce within the system, have made the organisation’s prestigious he pito mata (emerging leaders) list, alongside doctors and traditional Māori healers.
Grace Tairua
Ngāti Kahungunu, Tainui
Grace Tairua is a wife and mother of four girls, currently in her third year of a Bachelor of Nursing at Wintec, with one semester remaining. In her future nursing career, she plans to focus on Māori health in a GP setting, serving her community in Raahui Pookeka and working collaboratively to improve the health of Māori whānau.
Grace grew up witnessing her mother constantly suffering from health problems and then spending the first year of her second child’s life in and out of the hospital. During this time, she saw firsthand the vital role nurses play within the community and decided to acquire the skills needed to contribute to the community through the healthcare system.
Throughout her studies, Grace has been part of the Tihei Mauri Ora stream, which focuses on improving Māori health outcomes in the community by integrating Māori customs and protocols. This stream provides additional support through a manaaki care model rooted in Māori culture.
Grace believes it is important to have Māori healthcare professionals caring for Māori and have pathways encouraging more Māori to pursue nursing. In her future career, she plans to work alongside Māori families and advocate for their health and well-being. She also hopes to support children and be a health advocate for tamariki.
Waimarama Durie
Ngāti Kauwhata, Rangitāne, Ngāi te Rangi, Ngāti Raukawa
He uri whakaheke a Waimarama nō ngā kāwai whakapapa o Ngāti Kauwhata, o Rangitāne, o Tauranga Moana anō hoki.
Waimarama Durie stands as a beacon of excellence in mental health nursing and Māori workforce development. Guided by her whakapapa, Waimarama’s mahi is anchored in tikanga Māori and a vision for hauora equity across Aotearoa.
Currently, Waimarama is an principal at Te Whatu Ora’s national public health service, contributing to national Māori workforce strategies and a Te Tiriti-led Hauora Māori Tūmatanui directorate.
In addition, Waimarama supports Te Rau Ora as a Māori nurse educator to support the growth and recognition of Māori nursing across Aotearoa.
Also, Waimarama’s journey in Department of Corrections reflects her unwavering commitment to improving mental health care for the disproportionately high Māori population in the corrections system.
Her earlier contributions at Capital & Coast DHB and Te Whare Marie Specialist Māori Mental Health Service further highlight her dedication to enhancing kaupapa Māori health services.
Waimarama currently holds a Bachelor of Nursing from Universal College of Learning and a Postgraduate Certificate in Nursing from Whitireia Community Polytechnic. She has also achieved Expert-level certification in Huarahi Whakatū Dual Competence – a Nursing Council accredited professional development and recognition programme, specifically tailored by and for Māori registered nurses.
Beyond her professional life, Waimarama has a deep love for travel, finding joy in exploring the cultures and kai of Southeast Asia, South Korea and Europe. These experiences have enriched her worldview and deepened her connection to the diverse ways people nurture their wellbeing.
Through her clinical leadership and unwavering dedication to hauora Māori, Waimarama Durie continues to uplift the mana of Māori within the health sector, ensuring that our people are seen, heard, and cared for in ways that honour our whakapapa and wairua.
Aroha Ruha-Hiraka
Ngāti Awa, Ngai Tūhoe, Te Arawa, Tūwharetoa
As a registered nurse prescriber, Aroha Ruha-Hiraka is passionate about te ao Māori and applying that ancestral knowledge into practice. Te reo me ōna tikanga is the foundation of her nursing practice and forms the basis of her delivery of health services for whānau.
In 2017, Aroha graduated with a kaupapa Māori nursing degree from Te Awanuiārangi. The tikanga Māori component of her degree helped her gain the confidence to apply Māori frameworks into practice when working with whānau.
Growing up with te reo as her first language and through kōhanga reo and kura kaupapa, Aroha believes health interventions are already within pūrākau and traditional Māori practices.
As a new graduate nurse, Aroha was named the 2018 joint winner of the national Young Nurse of the Year Award.
The New Zealand Nurses Organisation’s annual award celebrates nursing at an excellent level and recognises that recipients have reached a high level in their everyday work. She was nominated by her employer, where she worked as a new graduate, for her competent use of te reo me ōna tikanga in practice.
Aroha is studying to become a nurse practitioner and plans to continue working amongst her whānau, hapū and iwi in the Eastern Bay of Plenty. Te Kura Maengenge, watch this space.