More than 300 nursing leaders from throughout the South Pacific are studying health issues across the region at four-day conference in Auckland, beginning today.
The last time the biennial South Pacific Nurses' Forum (SPNF) was held in New Zealand was in 1992.
The conference opening today includes speeches from the president of the International Council of Nurses, Rosemary Bryant, and New Zealand's new chief nurse, Jane O'Malley.
The theme of the conference is Nurses at the helm: Steering health across the Pacific. It is being attended by nursing leaders, educators and practising nurses. Discussion topics include leadership, education, workforce development and disaster preparedness.
Tongan Nurses' Association secretary Aspasia Katrina Vaka said one of the most important aspects of the forum was learning what nurses could do to become leaders in driving health and well-being in their own countries.
"It is important we collaborate with other nurses throughout the Pacific to strengthen the professionalism of nursing in our country and the forum offers us that opportunity," she said.
One of the smallest Pacific nations, Tuvalu, has only 38 nurses on eight islands and has sent a representative to the forum for the first time.
General secretary of the Solomon Nurses' Association, William Same, said it was hoped the forum would agree to a unified nursing curriculum for Pacific nations to ensure a standard level of nursing in Pacific countries.
- NZPA
Pacific nurses meet in Auckland
File photo / Daily Post
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