Factors Māori perceive essential for success in undergraduate nursing education in Aotearoa/New Zealand: A descriptive study

Increasing the number of Māori in the health workforce has been identified as being key to improving health outcomes for Māori. This can be achieved by more Māori being involved in decision-making processes regarding Māori health, improving access to health services for Māori, and being key personnel in the development of health services based on the Māori world view (Ministry of Health, 2014b). However, to increase the number of Māori Registered Nurses (RNs) in the nursing workforce, more Māori are required to enter into undergraduate nursing programmes and successfully complete the qualification. Literature has identified several barriers that can impact on Māori engagement and success in tertiary education, including organisational, personal, social and financial barriers (Ratima et al., 2007; Ratima et al., 2008). Knowledge and understanding of these barriers are important steps for improving proportionality between Māori and non-Māori RNs in nursing education and ultimately the nursing workforce. What is not clearly understood is the support systems or strategies that Māori nursing students perceive would help them succeed in gaining their undergraduate nursing qualification. This research aimed to understand what factors support Māori to succeed in Bachelor of Nursing education in Aotearoa/New Zealand. This qualitative descriptive study has explored the perceptions of seven Māori Bachelor of Nursing graduates, through semi-structured face to face interviews. Analysis of the data was guided by Braun and Clarke’s thematic analysis process (2006), and five themes were identified as main factors that support Māori to succeed in undergraduate nursing education. These included Striving to be a nurse; Whanau, financial and institutional support; Importance of relationships; Cultural nurture and connectedness in the learning environment; and finally, Developing resistance in the face of racism and unconscious bias. Several recommendations have been made for both Tertiary Education Providers (TEPs) and clinical learning environments as a result of this study to improve the success rates for Māori in undergraduate nursing education. These include, creating teaching and learning environments that are more culturally appropriate; bringing Māori support services to Māori; increasing Māori mentorship through model such as the tuakana/teina model; providing a culturally safe, culturally nurturing learning environment through professional development of faculty staff including correct pronunciation of te reo Māori and increasing the professional development of cultural competence of registered nurses in the current nursing workforce.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Health Science

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Grantor

Eastern Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2017

Author dc:creator

• Chittick, Hannah

• Aotearoa
• New Zealand
• Māori nursing students
• nursing education
• student engagement
• student success
• support
• barriers
• interviews

Statement dc:rights

• All rights reserved

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10652/6338

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:null:10652/6338