Nurse practitioner heads new college for community

Nurse practitioner heads new college for community nurses

A nurse practitioner working in Katikati in the Bay of Plenty, Rosemary Minto, has been elected the chair of the New Zealand Nurses Organisation’s 2000-strong College of Primary Health Care Nurses.

The college, officially launched last month, includes practice, public health, district, sexual health, prison, school and rural nurses and nurses working for Māori and iwi health providers.
Minto works as a nurse practitioner in adult family health in a rural general practice in Katikati and believes nurses working in the community should have a strong collective voice.

“A strong collective voice will also help remove the funding and legislative barriers which hinder the full potential of nurses working in the community. And the college means we will all learn from each other and that can only benefit patients,” she said.

“Ultimately, the college will improve patient care, avoid duplication and improve patients’ experiences of health services. The college will actively promote a collaborative approach to delivering services, so patients are not seeing lots of different nurses for different aspects of their care,” Minto said.

A former chair of NZNO’s College of Practice Nurses and a long-time practice nurse, Minto is excited about her new role but admits to some trepidation.

“It is a very big role and this is a time of major change in health, politically and legislatively. But I’m very excited that we’ve achieved the vision of a united college for all nurses who work in the community.”

ENDS

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