Bay nurse from Te Teko wins top NZNO award

TOP NURSE: Te Teko nurse Pare O'Brien has won a prestigious New Zealand Nurses Organisation honour, the same award her mother, Puti Puti O'Brien, received in 2002.

Bay of Plenty nurse practitioner Pare O'Brien is following in the honourable footsteps of her late mother, Puti Puti O'Brien.

Pare O'Brien has been named the recipient of Te Runanga o Aotearoa New Zealand Nurses Organisation's highest honour, Te Akenehi Hei Award. The award was presented at an awards dinner in Wellington recently.

Pare, who became a nurse practitioner in February this year, said she was stunned and shocked by the award. Nurse practitioners are expert nurses who work within a specific area of practice incorporating advanced knowledge and skills.

"I am quite overwhelmed and feel so unworthy of it, particularly when I know of previous recipients. But I will accept it humbly on behalf of my whanau, hapu and iwi," she said.

Her mother, former patron of Te Kaunihera o Nga Neehi Maori, the Council of Maori Nurses, Puti Puti O'Brien, who died last year, received the award in 2002.

"My mother deserved it. I don't think I do. But I know she would have been proud I have received it."

From Te Teko, Pare, whose iwi are Ngati Awa, Ngati Porou and Te Arawa, works for the Maori health and social service provider Te Tohu o Te Ora o Ngati Awa, based in Whakatane.

She runs mobile clinics providing health care to small and remote communities.

Kerri Nuku from the Nurses Organisation said Pare was a worthy recipient.

"Pare is an outstanding nursing leader. What is significant is that her peers have seen her passion, commitment and inspirational leadership and put her name forward for this prestigious award. Pare has influenced whanau, hapu and iwi, supported tauira and shown that with resilience and tenacity everyone can achieve their aspirations."

The award was established in 2001 to mark the centenary of nursing registration and to recognise excellence in hauora Maori. It is awarded every two years to a nurse who has made a significant contribution to Maori health.