National Maori Mental Health Nursing Hui
Whangarei; Wednesday 10 March 2010; 11am

Hon Tariana Turia; Associate Minister of Health
Listen to our heart beating

On Saturday night we attended the Regimental Dinner in Auckland, of the 28th Maori Battalion Association.

It was a night of great sorrow, of pride, of honour, of courage.

The spirit of the Maori Battalion was given life through the korero of the veterans. There were tributes made to the legendary bravery and sacrifice in battle of those who gave such distinguished service at El Alamein, Takrouna and Cassino.

The gallantry of the Battalion was never expressed better than in the words of their marching song

Maori Battalion march to victory
Maori Battalion staunch and true
Maori Battalion march to glory
Take the honour of the people with you.

With those words singing through my veins it is extremely moving to come here today, within the kaupapa of this hui, E Tu He Maori koe – the challenge of Taa Hemi Henare to the Maori Battalion to stand proud, you are Maori.

Fitting words indeed to inspire us, to guide us in our contemporary battle against addictions and in the pursuit of mental health.

I was delighted to be invited by Te Ao Maramatanga, the New Zealand College of Mental Health nurses.

I have always thought te Ao Maramatanga is a wonderful concept in which to consider the concepts of partnership, of voice, of excellence in mental health nursing.

From a tikanga basis we might say that Maramatanga is the highest form of knowing; it is literally the world of light and illumination. You will be familiar of course with the call, ‘Tihei Mauriora, ki te whaiao ki te Ao Marama’ - celebrating the vital breath of life, the dawning of all knowledge.

The setting is indeed well set for this hui, to encourage and inspire Maori nurses, to honour the contribution of te Ao Maori in nursing practice, and to share together the models and frameworks which we recognise as the very best of Maori nursing brilliance.

And of course, none of us come to this hui without thinking of the legacy of the late Irihapeti Ramsden who continues to guide us forward in our mahi.

Over the course of this hui, there will be many ideas brought into the light, blending the strengths of kaupapa Maori with the best of nursing practice.

I am especially pleased to know that the experience of those involved in Maori nursing programmes will be evident as well as the expertise of Te Rau Matatini – the national Maori mental health workforce development organisation.

We remember that phrase - E Tu He Maori koe –the lasting salute to Maori.

Our challenge in 2010 is to carry that same salute into this arena, the area of Maori nurses in mental health and addictions.

The Maori mental health needs profile released by Te Rau Matatini told us that analysis of data for mental disorders amongst Maori shows no decrease in hospitalisations over recent years and there are marked disparities with non Maori.

The prevalence of mental disorder among young Maori is high.

The survey showed us also that three in every five Maori will experience a mental illness sometime in their life time. Anxiety disorders were common, despite having been given little attention as important mental health issues for Maori in the path.

Dependence disorders such as addiction and comorbidity within substance disorders was also common.

E Tu He Maori Koe.

So how do we bring all of our knowledge, our enthusiasm and our courage into the discipline of Maori mental health to ensure that Maori can stand proud and strong?

I believe that the answers truly lie within us, as indeed Ta Hemi Henare knew. The solutions are within our models, our words. They lie within our whanau, within our workforce.

The levels of excellence we must aspire towards are the pathways that will truly bring us into the light.

And I have to say I am really excited by the Maori mental health nursing career pathway – Huarahi Whakatu.

This is a dual competency programme supported by Nursing Council New Zealand and Te Kaunihera o nga Neehi – the Council of Maori nurses. It brings together competency content in both cultural and clinical professional development.

The original concept was piloted in nine Maori NGOs and three DHBs I understand now that it has been extended to include all Maori nurses.

It is just such a strong concept - that Maori mental health requires excellence in both te Ao Maori and mental health.

Earlier this morning I believe you had a workshop with Dr Nicole Coupe called Walking between Two Worlds. It sums up to me the leadership that is being demonstrated in Maori mental health – and which is a great model for the nation.

What you are doing, in effect, is drawing on all the strengths available to you to enhance whanau ora, mental health and wellbeing.

In the letter inviting me to speak at this hui the last line stated the commitment that this hui would expose Maori nurses to other Maori nursing brilliance.

Brilliance is a great way to describe what we are looking for in Maori mental health. We want to see that exceptional clarity of intellect and thought, to be truly magnificent. And while we develop these skills, we expect to emit those rays of brilliance which will encourage and inspire those around us.

We know that Maori working within this area are attracted to the learnings available through te oranga hinengaro and te oranga wairua.

Equally important within our work in Maori mental health is the need to work with whanau, to awhi them when a loved one may be mentally unwell; to source our solutions in the power and potential of whanau.

So too, for those Maori nurses working in this area – our whanau will also be a vital source of support.

We all know the stories of high stress and burnout of nurses, and the associated challenges recruiting and retaining Maori nurses. Maori nurses in your commitment to whanau ora, may do hours well over expectation, in our commitment to the whanau you are working with.

I am worried too that Maori undergraduate nurses undertaking the Bachelor of Nursing have higher dropout rates than non-Maori, particularly in the first year of their degree.

We must learn to listen to our own beating heart, to know that we can only be as good as our own mental health allows.

And as a system, we must not expect our whanau to be the sole source of support for Maori mental health nurses. We must enable them to continue developing their clinical practice and to also continue and build on their cultural development.

In this regard, I am pleased that with the appointment of Professor Des Gorman to the chair of Health Workforce New Zealand, we are seeing a very proactive highlighting of both Maori and mental health and addiction workforce issues.

Finally, I am reminded of a wonderful painting Robyn Kahukiwa created in her work, Mauri Ora. In this one particular work of art, We Must Love ourselves again, two heads come together, in the intimate exchange of breath we know as the hongi.

The title of the work is inscribed over the painting : ‘Me ata whakarongo ki to tatou manawa e kapa kapa ana’ - we must listen to our heart beating.

It is an amazing image of the calling we all feel to look inside, to our own history, our own whakapapa, our own stories, our own life force.

That to me, is the ultimate expression of whanau ora – that we are sustained because of our tribal identity, our collective being is strong because of the mana of our history and our present, mana motuhake.

This then, is the image I would like to leave with you in opening this national Maori Mental Health Nursing Hui. An image of our collective commitment, to bring all of our tools and technique, along with our tikanga, into our nursing practice.

It is about investing in a future which expresses whanau ora; which welcomes innovation; which ensures we engage with tangata whaiora and their whanau, and which is built on Maori worldviews.

E Tu He Maori Tatou.

ENDS

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