| Pacific Nursing Section Established | | Print | |
 Siloma Masina, President, Pacific Nursing Section The 200-strong body is already busy advancing key issues in Pacific health. Its President is Siloma Masina (at right), the Pacific Advisor for the Hutt Valley DHB and the secretary of the Samoan Nurses Assocation. “The Pacific Nursing Section provides an avenue for us to really make progress on the issues that we’ve been battling for a long time.” says Siloma. “For example, the registration of nurses who come here from the Pacific. It has provided us with a voice and means we are being very proactive and bringing these issues into the open. Until now it has always been individual nurses taking issues such as registration to the nursing council.” “We want Pacific-registered nurses who come over here to be able to work as nurses. There is a lot of sharing of resources now across the Pacific, New Zealand, Australia, Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, Niue. I can’t see why we can’t work together more. I think for example, that if you train in Samoa you should be able to accredit that training here, because it is a regional labour market now,” says Siloma. Siloma believes the Pacific Nursing Section gives a voice for Pacific nurses to contribute to nursing decisions. “We are now up to the fifth generation of Pacific people in New Zealand and it is very important that we have a say in the planning and development of services that are relevant to the health needs of Pacific people. That’s why we set up the Section. It is important that we are represented at the top level in decisions that impact on Pacific people.” The Pacific Nursing Section is looking at other issues too. “We want to encourage our members to work in areas of real need for Pacific people. Pacific nurses are urgently required in areas like acute care, coronary care and emergency departments.” “We also want to look at the nursing standards in terms of a cultural perspective to see how appropriate they are when people are looking after Pacific patients,” she says. Feedback on this story (1)
Diana Grant-Mackie
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| Congratulations. It has been a long journey for Pacific nurses to have their contribution to nursing and health in New Zealand truly acknowledged. The Pacific is a region made up of many islands with the population moving around and consequently leading to differences and a similarities in health and well-being. Nurses work in all aspects and being close to people lead the way forward. |
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