Abstract: This thesis concerns the Professional Development Programme at Lakeland Health. In New Zealand, such programmes were introduced as a mechanism to openly recognise the clinical expertise of nurses. Clinical Career Pathways were introduced to nursing in North America in the 1970's at a time of nursing shortage. Prior to their inception, nurses wishing to develop their careers had to move to administration, management or education. The programmes recognised and rewarded expertise in practice. A qualitative, descriptive approach (using focus groups) was used with Registered Nurses to gather their perceptions of what helps nurses enroll in the Professional Development Programme. The ideas and insights of nine Registered Nurses were clustered around three main categories: The People (fear; being struck; motivation; feedback; peer support; ways of learning); the Programme (relevance; flexibility; Bachelor's Degrees; implementation; supporting information; fairness); the Place (time; regular and accessible; support from nurse leaders; management). These perceptions are discussed in more detail in the context of nursing at Lakeland Health and of Clinical Career Pathways in New Zealand. The findings are helpful for the evaluation and future development of the Professional Development at Lakeland Health. The research contributes to our understanding of what helps nurses enroll in a Clinical Career Pathway, and emphasises the importance of the People, the Programme and the Place.

Abstract: Exploring the past, and pulling ideas through to the present, to inform the future can make a valuable contribution to nurses and nursing in New Zealand. By gaining some understanding of the attitudes and beliefs nurses held, and how these influenced their responsiveness, we can learn what active responses might help inform our future. Nurses in New Zealand, as individuals and within the profession as a whole, reveal the primacy of the nurse – nurses who have made and can continue to make a difference to the health of the peoples of New Zealand. A hermeneutic process was used to interpret material, from international texts, national texts and public records over four decades, the 1960s to 1990s. This was supplemented and contrasted with material from twelve oral history participants. Analysis of the material led to the emergence of four themes: Nurses' decision-making: changes over time; An emerging understanding of autonomy and accountability; Nurses as a driving force; and Creating a nursing future. These four themes revealed an overall pattern of attitudes, beliefs and responses of the New Zealand registered nurse. The themes surfaced major revelations about the primacy of the nurse in New Zealand, nurses confident in their ability to take the opportunity, seize the moment, and effect change. The author suggests that the contribution this thesis makes to the discipline of nursing is an understanding of how the nurse actively constructs the scope of a professional response to the context. The author notes that the thesis demonstrates how nurses can learn from the past, that the attitudes and beliefs that underpin our active responses can either move us forward, or retard our progress. As nurses we can also learn that to move forward we need particular attitudes, beliefs and responses, that these are identifiable, and are key factors influencing our future, thus ensuring the continued primacy of the nurse.

Abstract: The question explored in this research project is: What are inpatient registered nurses' perceptions of the factors which influence therapeutic relationship development? The literature reviewed for this project includes the history of interpersonal relationships in nursing; therapeutic relationships; what constitutes these relationships. Also discussed is literature about phenomenology as the underlying theoretical and philosophical position that informs the research method. To answer the research question a single focus group was used to gather data from a group of registered nurses practising in inpatient mental health units. Focus groups as a data collection method produce data and insights that would not be accessible without the group interaction. The key themes to emerge from the data analysis were; time, environment, knowing / self-awareness, compassion and power imbalance / empowerment. These key themes are discussed in relation to the literature and the wider context of the mental health care environment. The contribution this research makes to nursing includes a list of recommendations to nurses, nurse leaders and managers who aim to provide therapeutic mental health unit environments.

Abstract: The author has taken a broad approach to this research to explore the views of Generation Y New Zealand Registered Nurses towards the nursing profession, the work itself and their career plans. This study arose out of the author?s interest in health care workforce planning for nursing and in particular the retention of young nurses given the current national and global shortage of nurses. Because of the broad and descriptive nature of the research, a wide variety of topics are included in the literature reviewed.
Chapter one provides background to the study and an overview of generational cohorts.
Chapter two explores selected literature relevant to the concept of work and the characteristics of the Generation Y workforce.
Other topics included in this chapter include Herzberg?s work motivation hygiene/maintenance theory and a selection of literature about key workforce recruitment and retention issues.
A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Health Sciences

Abstract: Examines cultural influences on perceptions and practices of cross-cultural communication among registered nursing staff from diverse ethnicities in NZ. Employs an exploratory approach to obtain qualitative feedback by means of semi-structured interviews with 36 Internationally Qualified Nurses (IQN) and 17 NZ Registered Nurses (NZRN). Uses data from the interviews to construct a questionnaire survey to seek responses from a random national sample of RNs.