NZNO media release 12 October 2018
More than 300 nursing leaders will convene in Rarotonga on Monday (15 October) for the 19th South Pacific Nurses Forum and AGM.
The theme for the Forum this year is Transforming Leadership: Nurses as Change Agents for Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs) in the Pacific.
New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) Kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku said nurses must be positioned as partners in redesigning and advancing health care to address the challenges NCDs bring.
“NCDs, such as heart disease and diabetes, are probably the greatest health challenge Pacific countries now face and we as nurses are at the coalface in this challenge. We deal with the deaths and illnesses caused by NCDs every day and we need to lead the way in prevention and management to improve the health of Pacific people.”
Kerri Nuku will be part of an NZNO delegation to the Forum. The delegation will also include NZNO, NZNO President Grant Brookes, NZNO Pacific Section Chair Eseta Finau, NZNO Kaumātua Keelan Ransfield and NZNO Chief Executive Memo Musa.
A communique will be produced after the AGM that will make statements and recommendations about the strategic direction for nursing for members of the SPNF and Pacific countries.
High profile keynote speakers at the Forum will include World Health Organization Chief Nurse Elizabeth Iro, International Council of Nurses President Annette Kennedy and Chief Advisor Pacific Health (New Zealand Ministry of Health) Matafanua Hilda Fa’asalele.
New Zealand presenters at the Forum will include nursing leaders and experts from Auckland University of Technology, Alliance Health Plus, Manukau Institute of Technology, Victoria University of Wellington, Te Piki Oranga Ltd, Counties Manukau District Health Board, Auckland Diabetes Centre and the Office of the Chief Nursing Officer (Ministry of Health).
The forum meets every two years.
More information, including a full programme, is available at http://www.spnf.org.au/.
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Media inquiries: Rob Zorn, NZNO Media and Communications Advisor: 027 431 2617.