Abstract: Invites participants in the study to share their experiences, as Pasefika students, of enrolment in the Bachelor of Nursing degree. Uses a focus group to identify the prominent themes by means of thematic analysis: common facilitators and barriers encountered; relationships within the nursing profession; their sense of achievement; and their view of the prgamees as Pasefika students. Makes recommendations to improve the programme for Pasefika nursing students.

Abstract: Undertakes a descriptive exploratory study to ascertain the views of Generation Y NZ Registered Nurses (Gen Y nurses) towards nursing, work and career. Little empirical data exists about why young New Zealanders choose to become nurses in the 21st century. Further, little is known about their future career plans or their intentions to remain in the nursing workforce. Conducts a nationwide on-line survey of 358 Gen Y nurses from late 2009 to early 2010. Reports key findings: young NZ nurses are driven by traditional values of altruism, the desire to care for others, the ability to work closely with people, as well as being able to make a strong contribution to society when deciding to become a nurse, while seeking interesting, challenging and exciting work. Job security, the ongoing demand for nurses, the ability to leave and return, as well as the ability to combine work and family, are also important factors that help them to choose to become nurses.

Abstract: Identifies how traditional nursing practice in Maori communities may be enhanced. Highlights the need for nursing to broaden concepts of health, community, and public health nursing, to focus on issues of capacity-building, community needs, and a broader understanding of the social, political, cultural, and economic contexts of the communities primary health-care nurses serve. Explores how health is experienced by Maori women during in-depth interviews using critical ethnographic method, underpinned by a Maori-centred approach. Articulates a model of health that is a dynamic process based on the restoration and maintenance of cultural integrity, derived from the principle of self-determination.

Abstract: The purpose of this thesis has been to explore the discursive production of delirium in people over the age of 65 years. The philosophical approaches underpinning the study were derived from the field of critical gerontology, postmodernism and the utilisation of a Foucauldian understanding of discourse and power/knowledge. Data sources included published documents on delirium, interviews with people over the age of 65 years who had been delirious (as well as their clinical notes), family members, registered nurses and a doctor. Textual analysis revealed the presence of two contesting and contradictory discourses that impacted on being an older person who had delirium. These were identified as the discourse of delirium as a syndrome and a personal discourse of delirium. The discourse of delirium as a syndrome is underpinned by the biomedicalisation of the ageing process. This process utilises scientific methods as the foundation from which to understand, research and provide a health service to older people with delirium. Any personal perspectives on delirium are rendered unimportant and relegated to marginalised positions. Nursing through its vicarious relationship to medicine is interpellated into deploying the discourse of delirium as a syndrome and has largely ignored the personal dimensions associated with this phenomenon. Consequently, the older delirious 'body' is known and inscribed as unruly, problematic, physically unwell, cognitively impaired and at risk. Conversely, a personal discourse of delirium privileges the individual narratives of people who have been delirious and provides a different perspective of delirium. The deployment of a personal discourse of delirium offers another position that views this group of older people as bringing to the health care setting a rich tapestry of life experiences that are more than a cluster of signs and symptoms. It is these varied life experiences that need to be included as a legitimate source of knowledge about delirium. This thesis demonstrates how nursing needs to espouse a critical gerontological position when working with older people who have delirium. Critical gerontology provides nurses with the theoretical tools to challenge the status quo and uncover the multiple, varied, contradictory and complex representations of delirium in older people.

Abstract: Uncovers the significance for nurses who were trained within the 1970s apprenticeship model in NZ hospitals, in their present understanding of themselves as nurses. Confirms that the 1970s heralded the beginning of the end of the apprenticeship system of nurse training, and that literature related to this era of general student nurse training is limited. Uses philosophical hermeneutics to guide interviews with 15 former student nurses who trained within the Auckland Hospital Board School of Nursing, and who reflect 40 years afterward, on how their apprenticeship training influenced the type of nurses they became.

Abstract: Maintains that the Nurse Practitioner (NP) role has the potential to achieve more equitable outcomes for rural populations, particularly for older adults in their transition from hospital to the rural setting. Examines how NPs can reduce readmissions, from a thematic analysis of the literature using a realist synthesis approach, focusing on the Thames Coromandel rural community. Derives three themes from the analysis: self-efficacy, holistic care, and care grounded in nursing philosophy.

Abstract: Presents the findings of an integrative literature review exploring the possibility of applying Historical Trauma Theory to nursing practice. Uses Kaupapa Maori research methodology to apply Historical Trauma Theory to health care practice, in a Maori context. Considers how trauma theory can be used to support Wilson and Barton's Te Kapunga Putohe nursing model.