Nursing
Nursing is a rewarding career that allows you to make a difference in the lives of patients, whānau and communities.
Subject overview
If you are someone who is highly motivated to build and maintain an excellent knowledgebase, and who offers empathy, good communication skills and a desire to help people achieve optimal outcomes, Nursing could be the ideal career for you.
The Nursing profession continues to evolve. In today's world nursing has become a critical patient-focused health science career that requires a sophisticated mix of expertise, knowledge, skills and nursing judgement.
Modern healthcare is now focused on integrated care, where teams of health professionals work together to provide the best treatment possible for their patient. It is important that tomorrow's nurses are able to work within that environment.
Nursing offers a variety of opportunities in regard to career progression.
If you are wanting to begin a career in Nursing, you must first complete your undergraduate study. Once you have completed your pre-registration programme, there are opportunities to advance your career through further postgraduate study.
With an ageing and increasing population in New Zealand, there is a rising demand for trained nurses, particularly in primary care, aged care and mental health settings.
Where can Nursing take you?
Nursing offers exciting opportunities for career advancement in a wide variety of clinical contexts.
Both the Bachelor of Nursing and the Master of Nursing Science are pre-registration programmes that prepare new nurses for the profession, while the Master of Nursing programme provides Registered Nurses the foundations to advance their knowledge and skill-base.
Potential careers in Nursing, or with Nursing qualifications, may include proficient and expert clinical Nursing practice in areas such as, but not limited to, acute care, primary care, mental health, addiction, aged and residential care, paediatrics, and public health. Within those areas of practice, there may be opportunities for roles in Advanced Nursing Practice, Clinical Nurse Specialist, Nurse Practitioner, Nurse Educator, Nursing Management, Nursing Research and Quality Improvement. It is also important for Nurses to be actively participate at a national level in regard to health care policy.