Waikato Hospital funding for postgraduate nursing study

You are eligible if you meet the following criteria: 

• You are a registered nurse (RN) or registered midwife (RM who is also an RN).
• You hold a current annual practicing certificate (APC).
• You are currently employed as an RN or RM by a health service that is funded by Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora Waikato or the Ministry of Health from Vote Health.
• You work .6 or above (equivalent to 3 days per week or more).
• You are a New Zealand citizen or hold a New Zealand residency permit as conferred by the New Zealand Immigration Service.
• You have supporting evidence from your current employer to meet training requirements.
• You meet the criteria required by education or tertiary provider.
• Your application if completed fully within the application time frame.
• Your career plan is developed with a clinical nurse manager or nurse educator to ensure that education is appropriate to scope, level of practice and role.
• Priority will be given to areas of high workforce development need. A priority framework is on the Ministry of Health | Manatū Hauora website to inform applicants of the areas which will be considered first for funding.

Health workforce — Ministry of Health | Manatū Hauora (external link)

When applying for health workforce directorate funding, you must identify which programme you are enrolling in.

A programme consists of:

• Postgraduate Certificate — 60 pts
• Postgraduate Diploma — 120 pts
• Masters — 180 to 240 pts.

When applying for funding, if you have never completed any postgraduate study, you must apply for a Postgraduate Certificate before a Postgraduate Diploma for funding purposes. 

Most postgraduate nursing papers are 30 points, however some universities also offer 15 point papers.

Discuss the most appropriate pathway to complete a Masters qualification with the tertiary provider you enrol with.

Information about nurse practitioners and nurse prescribing is on the Nursing Council of New Zealand website.

Nurse practitioner — Nursing Council of New Zealand (external link)

Nurse prescribing — Nursing Council of New Zealand (external link)

To establish transparency and equity in the health workforce directorate funding programme, the following priority funding framework has been developed.

The following groups will receive priority:

• completion of a qualification — includes RN2s*
• required for role — senior nurse position
• identified service workforce development need.

This prioritising demonstrates support by Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora Waikato to those in nursing leadership, specialist and management positions. These applications receive high priority consideration for health workforce directorate funding.

*nurses who have completed the new graduate programme and are then doing their second year of practice.

Population priorities are:

• aged care
• Māori health
• Pacific peoples health
• primary health
• rural health
• mental health and addictions.

A career plan that has been discussed at latest performance review must be included as part of the health workforce directorate application process.

If you are a Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora Waikato employed nurse or midwife, you can apply through Ko Awatea LEARN.

Ko Awatea LEARN (external link)

Applications for 2026 are not open until July 2025.

Before completing the tertiary programme application form you need to:

• discuss your application with your manager
• write down your short, medium and long-term goals (max 50 words for each) — this information is required on the tertiary programme study form
• know the paper(s) you are wanting to do — this includes the:
  • paper number
  • paper name
  • semester
  • points
  • amount of study days it requires
• have a record of the papers that you have already completed (the first 2 30-point papers you have done are at certificate level, the following 2 30-point papers are at diploma level and the final 4 30-point papers are at masters level), including the paper name.

When the funding has been approved, successful and unsuccessful applicants are sent an email informing them of the decision.

This notification should be sent by the middle of December. A list of the successful applicants is then sent to the appropriate universities so that there is a way to double-check enrolment does take place. 

Successful applicants are also asked to notify the professional development unit coordinator by a specified date, whether they wish to accept the funding or not.

If you have been granted funding and decide not to take up this money, inform the professional development unit coordinator as soon as possible so it can be given to someone on the waiting list.

You are responsible for ensuring your enrolment process with the tertiary provider is completed.

This process should be started prior to funding approval notification.

In some cases you will be placed on a waiting list for funding that may become available. The final decision rests with the director of nursing or midwifery.

If your application is unsuccessful you can initiate the appeal process by making contact with the nurse consultant: workforce in the professional development unit.

Before you undertake the commitment to study you need to consider how long it will take and where you'd like to study.

How much time it will take

What is happening in your life and is it feasible for you to fit in time for studying?

While Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora Waikato and other agencies in the Waikato region are committed to supporting you through this, the dedicated study time will have to come from you. 

A rough estimate of the time commitment is about 20 hours per week (average of lectures, tutorials, private study) for a 30-point paper.

Have you thought about where you want your career to go? What study programme will enable you to achieve your goals?

It is advisable to talk this over with:

• your charge nurse or midwife manager
• your nurse or midwife educator
• your nurse manager
• your clinical nurse or midwife director
• a specialist in your field
• primary health care management
• professional development unit, Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora Waikato

 Another option is to talk to other staff and colleagues that have completed or are enrolled in study. Most of the universities will also be very happy to discuss pathways and what education you can do to get there.

Where you want to study

Predominantly our nursing staff study through the following:

• Auckland University (UOA) (external link)
• Auckland Institute of Technology (AUT) (external link)
• Wintec (external link)
• Victoria University (external link)
• Massey University (external link)
• University of Waikato (external link)

You need to find out which institution offers the papers that you want to do and also find out what support they will offer you. 

Talking to colleagues who have done postgraduate study to find out their experiences of the institutions is also a good idea. Once you have chosen an institution it is recommended that you to stay with this institution until you have completed your qualification.

Financial support is offered to students who work 0.6 and upwards. Those with higher FTE are prioritised.

Paper costs

• The full cost of your paper will be paid for successful applicants.
• If you receive a reminder that your fees have not been paid please contact the professional development unit coordinator straight away.

Travel and accommodation

• Costs if travel is under 100 kms — no travel or accommodation allowance.
• Costs if travel is 100 kms and over — up to $1,000 for actual costs of a 30-point paper. You need to request support for travel and accommodation on your application form. 

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora Waikato employees

• You need to complete a staff expense claim form for travel and accommodation.

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora Waikato staff expense claim form (PDF 58KB) [PDF, 58 KB]

Non-Health NZ/MOH funded services

• You need to complete a reimbursement form for your expenses. This must be done at the end of your study.
• You need to complete where you have travelled to or from and the number of kilometres travelled. If claiming for accommodation you need to attach the original tax invoice and proof of payment. You then send the completed reimbursement form and attached documents to the professional development unit coordinator for signing and she will arrange payment.
• Some providers, such as University of Auckland, offer some papers in Waikato which is usually based on numbers being sufficient to provide this option. The funding for these papers does not include travel or accommodation.
• Unfortunately, if you enrol in an onsite paper which then changes back to the original provider, such as University of Auckland, travel costs and accommodation will not be able to be claimed as they have not been claimed from the health workforce directorate.
• Depending on the amount of study days required, the allowance may not cover all travel and accommodation costs.

Reimbursement form for expenses (DOCX 38KB) [DOC, 39 KB]

Clinical release

This covers the cost (per hour) of releasing you to attend the study days of your course during working hours. The maximum amount is $28 per hour. Health workforce directorate expects that you will complete all the formal components of the course. If you are required to take the study day as annual leave or leave without pay then your employer is not eligible for clinical release funding. If you are required to take leave without pay then you may be paid the clinical release directly. This would need to be approved on a case by case basis.

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora Waikato employees

Clinical release reimbursement will be at the discretion of your nurse or midwife manager and the clinical nurse director of the professional development unit.

Non-Health NZ/MOH funded services

Your employer can also claim for clinical replacement funding by sending a GST invoice to the professional development unit coordinator.

Clinical mentoring

Funding is also available to assist in meeting a portion of the costs if clinical mentoring is a requirement of the paper.

Libraries

Libraries usually have facilities and teaching sessions on how to search for literature. The Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora Waikato library will have some nursing journals and information available. If you are an employee you can access this. If you are not employed by Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora Waikato you are also able to access the library, borrowing up to 10 books at a time. By enrolling at your university you will have access to their libraries electronically and through them access to many journal databases.

If you get a chance to attend a session on searching a database, attend it. It is very helpful and can reduce the time you need to spend on the computer.

Assignment help

Assignments are the usual assessment process. The universities should offer help in this area from the student learning centres. Some universities offer assignment writing sessions at the beginning of their first papers for new students and we encourage you to access these. The support is being offered by people who are already walking the postgraduate pathway or who have already completed it.

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora Waikato offers academic writing workshops onsite in February, March and July to help in these areas.

Applicants must discuss the option of changing papers with the professional development unit coordinator before doing this. The contract is fixed with the health workforce directorate and changing papers has an impact on this.

If you are thinking of withdrawing from a paper, discuss with your manager and contact the professional development unit coordinator as soon as possible so personal implications can be discussed with you. This may mean more support can be put around you which will assist and lead to success in the paper.

If it is agreed by all parties that the best solution is to withdraw from the paper, you must email both your manager and the professional development unit coordinator to inform them.

Once the decision to withdraw has been made, you are responsible for processing your withdrawal with the tertiary provider.

If you fail to pass, you will need to self-fund your next paper, but on successfully passing this paper you will be eligible to again apply for health workforce directorate funding for the next paper to complete the qualification.

Your grades are provided by the university directly to the professional development unit.

As a health workforce directorate requirement, the professional development unit must forward quarterly reports to the health workforce directorate. This is to ensure that your circumstances have not changed — for example, you have not withdrawn. 

You need to contact us if your circumstances have changed.

Please remember the professional development unit staff are available to answer any queries you may have.