For nurses — Waikato

As a health provider in an district with 21% of people identifying as Māori (compared to 16% total New Zealand), we have a specific commitment to cultural support for Māori and Pasifika midwives, and for all midwives to deliver culturally appropriate care.

Our cultural support team provides support for Maori and Pasifika students, new graduates and existing nurse.

Waikato Hospital funding for postgraduate nursing study

New nursing graduates

The nursing and midwifery education fund provides fair and equitable access to education for all nursing and midwifery staff at Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora Waikato.

What is the nursing and midwifery education fund?

The nursing and midwifery education fund was established in 1999. The fund continues to be part of the NZNO MECA. It comprises of fees generated from a series of student practice placement agreements and the funds negotiated as part of the NZNO MECA (1999).

Who is eligible for funding?

Registered nurses and midwives and enrolled nurses working in a nursing or midwifery role within Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora Waikato.

Who administers the fund?

The fund is administered by the professional development unit and the decisions around funding sit with the nursing and midwifery directorate. Outcomes of these decisions are reported to the group managers, nurse managers and NZNO on a quarterly basis.

Decision-making principles

The decision-making principles that will be used are:

• course or conference has been identified on cluster learning needs analysis (LNA)
• evidence of preparation and planning in the application
• applicants who meet at least 2 of the above criteria
• applications that demonstrate a clear link to safe patient practice.

Activities the fund will consider

As a general guideline, the kinds of activities that the fund will contribute to are:

• Course or conference — includes registration fees, accommodation and travel assistance
• Research — applications for funding to support research projects
• Guest speakers — includes funding for guest speaker costs and associated expenses on issues applicable to clinical practice
• Venue — payment to secure an offsite venue for study, research, guest speakers
• Level 7 courses.

Pre-approval

Where a nurse or midwife intends to submit an abstract to a conference requesting financial support from the nursing and midwifery fund, a provisional pre-approval of funding must be sought prior to submission. This will allow the nursing and midwifery fund to pre-allocate funding prior to abstract submission. This pre-allocation will only be awarded once the abstract has been accepted.

Responsibilities

You are required to feedback and apply the learning in your service.

How to apply

Complete the Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora Waikato course and conference form, found on the intranet. Forms should be approved or supported by line manager or service manager. All supporting documentation should be attached to application, such as registration form, course outline, etc.

You need to remember that the sign off by managers, and then the approval by the directorate, can take some time so you need to start the application in plenty of time for all this to happen.

Note all course and conference forms need to be at the travel office:

• a minimum of 2 weeks before the commencement of the course or
• 2 weeks prior to early registration discount date.

To submit an application:

• email: nursingandmidwiferyeducationfund@waikatodhb.health.nz

You can also mail it to:

Administrator
Professional Development Unit
Percival Flats
Waikato Hospital
Ph: 021 241 5802

Incomplete or unauthorised forms will be returned and not processed until fully completed.

Finding out if you have been successful

The nursing and midwifery directorate meets Monday fortnightly.

The directorate will approve or decline your application.

Declined applications will be sent back via email stating why the application has been declined. This will be done within a week of the directorate meeting.

For approved applications:

• an email will be sent to you stating the amount approved within a week of the directorate meeting
• a copy of this email is also sent to the authorising signatory on your application form
• a copy is sent to payroll
• a copy of your application is sent to the travel office to complete your registration, accommodation and travel bookings
• a copy is retained on file in the professional development unit.

Other information

If you don’t get study leave approval from your manager you can still apply to the fund if you will be attending in your own time.

There is no limit on the number of times that nurses or midwives can apply, but this will be taken into consideration.

The steering committee is the nursing and midwifery directorate.

Preceptorship training

Professional Development Recognition Programme

Professional supervision is a structured process to support professional and practice development. This is usually negotiated on a monthly basis for an hour with another health professional who has completed training to be a supervisor. It can be one-on-one or sometimes as a group.

For nurses and midwives who identify as Māori, cultural mentorship is also an option. 

Professional supervision and cultural mentorship for employees of Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora Waikato can be accessed through the nursing and midwifery professional development unit. If you wish to access this please discuss with your CNM/CMM who will then be able to provide you with the contact details of the nurse coordinators who facilitate these processes.

Within professional supervision options, there is an activity called structured reflection. This requires a referral process and is initiated through the CNM/CMM to the professional development unit.

The Pebbles programme is a professional development programme for clinically-based registered health professionals provided by Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora Waikato. It is open to health professionals working within Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora or contracted services.

Pebbles introduces purposeful development strategies for health professionals to extend clinical leadership expertise and/or prepare for senior roles. The programme recognises and builds on the contribution health professionals make in the provision of safe, effective, quality, person-centred healthcare.

Aim

The programme utilises a practice development approach to:

• Develop the capacity to improve health outcomes for consumers through strengthening,  promoting and enhancing the participants leadership competencies and abilities. (Huston 2008)
• Develop registered health professional capability to lead and manage change in clinical practice..
• Support succession planning for registered health professionals.

The programme provides a supportive learning environment and is seen as a means of contributing to the development of health professionals working within clinical environments.

It is designed to promote clinical leadership for those wishing to remain in the clinical environment as well as those intending to move into formal leadership and management positions.

Expected outcomes for registered health professionals attending Pebbles

You should be able to:

• demonstrate how knowledge regarding political, global, population and organisational influences on healthcare practice will be utilised in own clinical and cultural practice
• demonstrate increased knowledge and skills to facilitate the gathering and dissemination of knowledge, teaching and communicating, and responding to and leading change processes
• articulate the patient safety and quality priorities of the organisation and demonstrate how these will be implemented in practice
• articulate how increased knowledge and understanding of leadership theory will be applied in own practice
• further development of individual and collective leadership competencies such as communication and decision making, advocacy, empowerment, and partnership.
• develop a provisional plan for own career and professional development planning.

Prospective Pebbles candidates are required to:

• be a registered health professional with at least 3 years clinical experience and not currently in an appointed senior position. Ideally practitioners will have been in clinical practice for less than 10 years, but consideration will be given for those outside of that time frame.
• be employed by Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora Waikato or employed in an area funded by us.
• demonstrate a commitment in own practice to developing leadership skills — for example, is regarded for clinical expertise, engages in peer education, has completed preceptor training, leads, initiates or engages in quality projects.
• be nominated by their manager or team leader.

Manager or team leader commitment

• Release nominee for 4 full days over a 4-month period (1 day per month for 4 months).
• Provide coaching for their nominee throughout the Pebbles programme and beyond.

Programme overview

The programme introduces participants to a wide range of information including:

• leadership theories and methods
• practice development
• change management
• evidence-based practice
• professional responsibilities required for clinical leadership.

Early in the programme, participants will present to other members of the group about their area of practice. They will also be provided with readings and support to enable them to complete a change project within their clinical area. Participants will give a 15-minute presentation of their project on the last course day. 

The overall structure of the Pebbles programme aims to provide participants with an opportunity to reflect on their own practice and also to share and discuss common concerns and situations as well as the information contained in the course content.  Participants will be supported to consider leadership from different world views and how this may resonate with their own practice.

The programme aligns with the Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora Waikato strategy and priorities which include health equity for high needs populations, person centred care, and productive partnerships.

The programme is offered 3 to 4 times per year and is advertised through the CNM/CMM network, allied health leaders and ARRC providers.

Contact us

Kate Yeo
Associate Director of Nursing: Virtual Health and Older persons
Phone: 021 220 6344
Email: katherine.yeo@waikatodhb.health.nz

Lyn MacLeod
Nurse Coordinator Practice Development
Phone: 021 759 508
Email: Lyn.macleod@waikatodhb.health.nz

Study days and education