“The Council remains committed to cultural safety as a core tenet of safe nursing practice. The Council will continue to require it in its regulation of nursing practice,” she told Kaitiaki via email.
The promise followed a public update for nurses from Brownie confirming the commitment and the release of a series of videos on cultural safety for nurses.
See the videos here.
But pressed on whether she meant kawa whakaruruhau — a Tiriti-led approach underpinning the Nursing Council’s guidance till now — Brownie would not specify.
She said only that the Council “remains committed to ensuring competency expectations are safe and respectful to Māori” — the bare minimum required under the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act.
However, even those obligations to Māori would be stripped out under proposed Government changes to the Act — leaving just a watered-down version of cultural safety in the law governing health professionals.
Before Brownie took over in April, part of sweeping changes by the Minister of Health Simeon Brown, the Council had set strong expectations that nurses be guided by the rights of tāngata whenua to equitable health outcomes.
In 2024/25, updates to (enrolled and registered) nursing scope and standards required them to be culturally, as well as clinically competent, within a Tiriti context. That was soon followed by a major launch of the Council’s new guide to cultural safety, attended by the whānau of late nursing educator Irihapeti Ramsden — the architect of kawa whakaruruhau.
‘Kawa whakaruruhau is about patients, about acknowledging tāngata whenua, and respecting tino rangatiraranga.’
NZNO kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku said the approach was a “totally evidence-driven” way for nurses to be aware of their own biases when caring for Māori, who continue to experience worse health and longevity statistics than non-Māori.
“The really sad thing, New Zealand was leading Irihapeti’s work, which is internationally renowned . . . and we’re just removing it. It seems so wrong.”
The Nursing Council had spent the past eight years embedding kawa whakaruruhau into its nursing standards, or ‘pou‘, after a 2018 challenge from Māori nursing leaders to do better for Māori.
Nuku said that had sprung from the Waitangi Tribunal 2575 health services and outcomes inquiry, which found Māori were poorly-served by the health system. Several Māori nurses from Te Rūnanga o Aotearoa-NZNO gave evidence at the inquiry.
Now the Coalition Government seemed intent on ripping it away, disregarding all that evidence, she said.
“Kawa whakaruruhau is about patients, about acknowledging tāngata whenua, and respecting the tino rangatiratanga Māori must have within the health space.”
Sense of ‘uncertainty’
Māori nursing educator Pipi Barton said there was a sense of uncertainty about the profession’s future currently. But nurses must continue to focus on equitable health outcomes no matter the Government of the day, she said.
“Governments change, governance appointments change. For me, the more important issue is, how do we retain our professional independence in the current political environment?”
In June, Brown refused to reappoint several Council board members, including chair Ngaira Harker (Ngāti Kahungunu). He made eight new appointments, including Brownie, leaving just one Māori and one Pacific representative on the 15-strong board, prompting allegations of a “whitewash“. Previously, there were six Māori and two Pacific members. Two internationally-qualified nurses also quit in protest.
Then-chief executive Catherine Byrne quit shortly after along with several other senior leaders.
Brown told Newsroom he expected the Nursing Council to focus on its “key role which is to ensure patients have access to timely care, through the education, registration, and discipline of the nursing profession”.
Brown has also accused the Medical Council of becoming “distracted” by ideology, ousting chair Rachelle Love (Ngāpuhi, Te Arawa) and deputy Simon Watt, saying the doctors’ regulator needed to focus on “core responsibilities”.
‘For me, the more important issue is, how do we retain our professional independence in the current political environment?’
The Government is currently reviewing Te Tiriti references across 19 pieces of legislation in what Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says will ensure clarity and “consistency”.
As well as stripping away Te Tiriti obligations, the Government’s proposed amendments to the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act would give it more power to the minister to enact policies — something NZNO has condemned as political overreach and a risk to patient safety.
Second interim chief executive appointed
Perioperative nurse Rob McHawk was initially appointed interim chief executive and registrar. But less than two weeks later, the board replaced him with Chelydra Percy, who has no nursing background but led GNS (Geological and Nuclear Sciences Institute) through its merger with NIWA (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research) last year. She was previously chief executive at BRANZ — a private building and construction research company.
McHawk remains registrar — previously part of the chief executive position and a statutory role under the Act.
Percy has been hired for six months, as recruitment for both roles continues.
Percy was known for “open, transparent leadership” and building strong relationships, Brownie said.
Meanwhile, the deputy chair position has been vacant for five months, since Brownie vacated it to become chair. This is despite the Council’s own policy that one of the roles be Māori.
Brownie said a deputy chair would be elected at the next board meeting.
Hundreds of Māori nurses and health-care workers recently voted to reject Government “attacks” on cultural safety in nursing practice.
Nuku also said the Council’s recent decision to pause nurse recertification audits was a patient safety risk.
However, Brownie said continuing competency requirements remained, even though its auditing of five per cent of nurses — about 4000 — were on hold for up to a year.
