Two nursing ākonga honoured as EIT and Te Kupenga Hauora Ahuriri formalise partnership

Source: Eastern Institute of Technology

9 minutes ago

“These scholarships, it’s about increasing our workforce. As an employer we can moan about the fact that there’s not enough talent there, but we have a role to play in growing it. We have an obligation to grow and nurture our pool of health and social services professionals.” — Nathan Harrington, CEO, Te Kupenga Hauora Ahuriri

We recently celebrated the 2026 recipients of two nursing scholarships at Te Ara o Tāwhaki, alongside our health partners Te Kupenga Hauora Ahuriri, Mamia (a support service for new mothers) and Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa, the New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO).

The first scholarship is named after prominent Māori and social services leader and former Chief Executive of Te Kupenga Hauora Ahuriri Audrey Robin and is awarded to a Bachelor of Nursing (Year 3) tauira.

This year’s recipient, Jessica Martin, has a passion for community nursing, especially in a kaupapa Māori setting. With support from NZNO during her study, she is now on placement at Te Kupenga Hauora Ahuriri as part of her final transition to practice and loving it.

She attributes much of her success to the tautoko of her lecturers. “My lecturers have been so encouraging. I actually wanted to leave in my second year, but they pushed me to stay, telling me I was doing really well, don’t give up. That was my push to keep going.”

The Marjorie (Te Maari)Joe Scholarship was intended to be awarded to an ākonga studying a Bachelor of Social Work (Year 3). This year, however, nursing ākonga Courtney Diehl was an exception to the rule.

Te Kupenga Hauora Ahuriri CEO Nathan Harrington explains the reasoning: “When we looked at the requirements for the scholarships, it was not purely about the academics. It was about your contribution to your communities and how will this make a difference to your whānau.” Courtney fit the bill perfectly, having worked at Mamia, a Kaupapa Māori service for ngā māmā and their pēpi in Waipatu, before committing to her nursing degree.

Now in her final semester, she can reflect on what it took. “It takes a lot and you definitely need the support in your corner.” The scholarship has enabled Courtney to step back from work to apply herself to study and placements, and with whānau to support, the scholarship has taken some of the financial pressure off.

Courtney has set her sights on pediatric nursing and is midway through her final placement at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital where she hopes to gain full-time employment.

With Aotearoa’s ageing population and ongoing inequities in Māori health, Harrington is clear about the urgency of attracting nurses from within their own communities. “We have an issue within health, and that issue is that we just don’t have enough people. But we also need our Māori whānau to see that a career in health, and a career in social work, is really viable and important.”

Attracting talent is one thing; supporting tauira through their studies and into long-term employment is where NZNO steps in.

Alicia Barrett (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Pahauwera), a member of the governance board for Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa and chair of its Te Matau a Māui branch, emphasises the importance of supporting tauira all the way through.

“They all have different life experiences, different disparities and social determinants within our study situation, but even our work life situation. It’s ensuring we have a solid support system of Māori who understand the issues we face and can stand up and put across what the need is, for us but also for the whānau.”

The ceremony closed with the signing of an MOU between EIT and Te Kupenga Hauora. EIT CEO Lucy Laitinen said the people, organisations, and communities represented at the occasion were interwoven in a shared commitment to supporting nursing students and strengthening the future health workforce. “This kaupapa will make a real difference in our communities, and these two outstanding scholarship winners are helping to strengthen our relationships in a new era of collaboration.”

Harrington sees a positive future ahead. “I’m very proud of our relationship with EIT. Like all partnerships, there was a rocky period, but EIT acknowledged there were cracks and promised to do better, outlining a new plan. It’s been absolutely incredible.”

EIT Executive Director Māori, Robin Fabish, sees the benefits for future ākonga. “We’re very grateful to have iwi representatives with strong practitioner experience supporting our programme development and delivery.”

Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/09/07/two-nursing-akonga-honoured-as-eit-and-te-kupenga-hauora-ahuriri-formalise-partnership/