Treaty of Waitangi
 

So I know this will come up in interview and have read the basic principles. Is there any peads/neonatal nurses about that could tell me (or signpost me to) specific implications for NICU/scubu

Re: Treaty of Waitangi
 

I'm not in any way medically trained and don't know what you have read up on already but I imagine the questions would be less about the treaty principles per se and more about how you apply those principles in your practice.

A lot of Maori cultural stuff is related to whanau (family), with specific significance around births, deaths, and treatment of body tissue (particularly the placenta) so definitely would have some impact on your work. I imagine the biggest challenge would be in having to make allowances for and accommodate the whole whanau when a baby is in need of special care. There will be large family gatherings, crying, singing and prayers and I am sure the hospitals have protocols and will provide specific training around how this is handled.

Have a look see if the DHBs have any online training material available.

Re: Treaty of Waitangi
 

When I had interviews it didn't actually come up at all.

When I've had to prove cultural safety as part of my Professional Development I've focused on Partnership, Participation and Protection as the three fundamentals in working alongside Maori.

It's all a bit wooly but I think as long as you can demonstrate an awareness of your own cultural values, the impact they have on your nursing and that you are making an effort to consciously value and support cultural beliefs and practices different to your own then you should be okay.

Nearly ALL teams in hospital will have access to Maori Cultural support workers and they are great for helping your clients out and you when you have stuff you're not sure about.

Re: Treaty of Waitangi
 

I guess it will depend on which Health Board as they will all have different priorities - those DHBs with high levels of Maori population no doubt will have something in their values about addressing inequity and improving outcomes for Maori and will state something to this effect in the job description. Almost certainly if it is a DHB priority or mentioned in the job description, then you would be as well to prepare and expect a question on it.

Re: Treaty of Waitangi
 

Absolutely you should prepare to answer the question and I have given suggestions around how to do this. But I have successfully applied for two jobs in NZ now and in neither interview did I get a specific question. That's a statement of fact - it doesn't mean that you don't need to understand and appreciate tikanga maori or have respect for different ways of being.

Re: Treaty of Waitangi
 

My suggestion would be to ask the NZ Nursing Council about this. In areas which have a high population density of Maori then it may be more important than where there isn't.

The NZ Nursing Council have a publication about this called
Guidelines for Cultural Safety, the Treaty of Waitangi and Maori Health. That should do for an overview. I would hope that any nurse entering a DBH from overseas would be given training and insight. Afterall we have Maori trained nurses here in NZ anyway.

Re: Treaty of Waitangi
 

Cheers they have sent that through to me.

Re: Treaty of Waitangi
 

I'd suggest thinking about equity rather than equality when you're applying Treaty of Waitangi to nursing, it's about making sure all clients/ families are able to access & make use of healthcare services, & achieve good health care outcomes no matter what their starting point. A bit like that cartoon where there's a line up of different animals, a monkey, an elephant, a goldfish and I can't remember what else, but the instruction is to climb the tree. Some families have much greater difficulty achieving good health & accessing the services they need, and we need to work hard to make sure that our services are presented in a way that makes them acceptable to all, regardless of their starting point. That obviously has to include being culturally safe - if we're not responsive to cultural needs we fail at the first post, but it's more than just culture, it's a whole holistic thing. It make also be worth looking at Maori models of health as well - I forget the names but they basically focus on the fact that a person has other needs that need to be balanced to achieve good health. The ministry of health website has information about those - really worth taking a quick look at those. Whanau (family) is one of the cornerstones of Maori health & of course working with children/ infants family is incredibly important. If that makes sense - sorry I think it sounds a bit jumbled but for me all the participation, protection & partnership pretty much boil down to equity for all