​GROWING up in Iloilo City, in the Philippines, Prue Langdon watched her sister train as a nurse then travel with her skills and decided that was the life for her
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Now a community nurse with Turanga Health, Prue first worked in a medical-surgical ward before moving to New Zealand in 2011.

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There was, as expected, a delay while she processed her overseas registration so she was delighted to be confirmed a New Zealand Registered Nurse just two years later.

After that, much of her employment was in aged care with her last posting in that environment being the demanding role of co-ordinating an entire unit that included both rest home and dementia care.

In the interim, the keen traveller had been passing through Christchurch Airport when she met her now husband. The couple now have two young children and Prue says they are their absolute joy.

“In nursing, your main aim is to help people but I also needed to be available to my own children so working with Turanga Health gives me the best of both worlds.”

Prue has a client base of around 100 whānau who she sees with varying regularity -- depending on their needs – and supports in their sometimes complicated navigation of the health system.

“Turanga Health has a big focus on whānau and the flexibility of being a community nurse enables me to spend time with my own family while still doing work that I love,” Prue says.
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“It's a great environment to work in and gives me the opportunity to make a real difference in people's lives.”

IT can be tricky finding jobs for whānau not ready for traditional work but Richard Brown says if he can't find a job, he'll make one.

As work broker for Turanga Health's Vanessa Lowndes Centre for those with mental, physical or intellectual disabilities, Richard works with around a dozen whānau to help find and support them in work.

“It might only be for a few hours a week but that matters in terms of enriching their lives while they get to make a contribution,” he says. “But we do sometimes have to get a bit creative in finding that work.”

To that end, Turanga Health runs a car valet service that provides work for whānau; some do laundry for local schools; some might go out to pick fruit; while others are employed by cleaning contractors.

“As well as putting a bit of money in their pockets, being engaged in work gives our whānau mana and purpose, and that's something we all need.”

Richard's own employment history shows a clear path to Turanga Health's door, his work in roles like sports development, education and mentoring youth all focused on helping others be their very best.

And as he tells the VLC whānau, sometimes you just have to muck in, like he did working through the Covid-19 lockdown, helping Turanga Health deliver countless meals and thousands of “Covid kits”.

“Being part of that reminded me of why Turanga Health is such a great place to work,” he says. “It has this strong connection with the community that you really see in times of need.”

Outside of work, Richard is a sports nut who played at a high level in both rugby and league, and to this day runs the Tairāwhiti junior league because “if people don't get involved, these sports will die out”.

He's also dad to four children – from pēpi to near-teen – who he reckons keep him on his toes. Like him, they're all sporty. And though he is a blond-haired, blue-eyed Pakeha, his partner's role as a tutor in te reo Māori means all four are fluent speakers and are well versed in te ao Māori.
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“That's just how we live, it's who we are as a whānau,” he says. “We love being together and doing things together. I just love spending time with my kids.”

Far from the hustle and bustle of working in Australian hospital emergency rooms and operating theatres, nurse Rebecca Hoani has settled into a quiet but important role supporting vulnerable māmā and their pēpi in Gisborne.

“I feel very settled and really enjoy my job,” says Rebecca, who right now is walking her own difficult journey reconnecting with life after the loss of her spouse two years ago.

Rebecca, Rongowhakaata, Ngāi Tāmanuhiri, Rakaipaaka, is coordinator of local service E Tipu e Rea – a holistic programme helping look after mothers who are facing challenges while they are pregnant, or when they have a newborn or young child.

Visiting nurses and kaiāwhina will wrap as many services as needed around the family such as the nationwide Tamariki Ora Well Child service, healthy home improvements, smoking cessation, or links to other services such as drug and alcohol. 

Alongside this support the staff may be able to help the māmā to access essential items purchased using the small E Tipu e Rea putea or fund.

“Some whānau can be managing very stressful situations on top of bringing up a newborn or young baby,” says Rebecca. “It might be violence in the home, drug and alcohol issues, or even homelessness. This small putea through E Tipu e Rea can be used for things like a cot, a car seat, or a breast pump - items that will help support the whānau to ensure their  baby can be kept healthy and safe.”

Rebecca works out of the Turanga Health office on Derby St where all E Tipu e Rea referrals from around the rohe are managed from. Once approved staff from Turanga Health, Ngati Porou Hauora and Te Aitanga a Hauiti Hauora work with the families who are receiving support.

The work is busy, but nothing like the hectic shiftwork of Rebecca’s previous jobs.

​Born and raised in Gisborne Rebecca trained to be a nurse in Hawkes Bay and then worked for 15 years in​Melbourne across both tertiary hospital emergency ​departments and operating theatres.

“But something changed when we had our children and I couldn’t see myself in that environment of stress, trauma and shift work. That’s why I moved into recovery room nursing after I had babies.”

She, husband Bernard, their ​son, and with one on the way,  moved back to Gisborne three years ago ​to be closer to whānau as Bern's health was rapidly deteriorating as a result of a long term auto immune condition. 

​But in ​early 2019 the family lost Bern to illness. Bearing the unbearable, Rebecca has thrown herself into supporting her own two babies, now​ nearly three and six, and staying physically and emotionally well.

“After my husband passed it was time to do something for me. I wasn’t sure if I ​could go back ​to work in healthcare again. I knew I didn’t want to go back to frontline nursing so this has been something to help mentally change my focus.”

She says working in the E Tipu e Rea “hub” as its known, has been humbling. “It’s an honour to support the nurses and kaiāwhina working face-to-face with whānau in their homes.”

Now she’s back home Rebecca is loving the reconnections with her whānau and rohe.  She is improving her te reo Māori through Rongowhakaata wananga; has joined a waka ama team; and in winter loves nothing more than a cold water surf session. It shocks the body into feeling something and sharpens the mind, she says. “That rush you get afterwards, it can stay with you for hours.”

Rebecca reports to Tamariki Ora WellChild manager Janneen Kinney. Janneen is thrilled to have someone with Rebecca’s compassion working behind the scenes in such an important area of health.
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“Rebecca has a quiet strength, a strong connection with te ao Māori and understands the ‘whatever it takes’ kaupapa. She is truly an asset to the team and the wahine she is helping support.”

AFTER starting her family young, Turanga Health accounts administrator Alecia Lewis worked in both business and Māori development but says it was her first job that showed her what she wanted in a workplace.

“My first office job, from when I was 18, was with Mo Reedy Transport and I loved working there. There was a real whānau atmosphere with Mo being like my koro and between him and the rest of the team I learned heaps about both the job and myself . . . they all helped me grow into adulthood.”

Alecia, Ngāti Porou, spent the following years growing her family of three children, studying business and computing, and working for an accountancy firm and an iwi organisation.

Then in mid-2019 she joined Turanga Health where her desire for new challenges has been met . . . and then some.

“My initial focus was on payroll but there is no sitting in a corner and hiding behind your screen here,” she says.

“Lisa (Turanga Health corporate services manager Lisa Tamatea) has taken me under her wing to make sure I get a wide range of experiences.

“I have really benefited from Turanga Health's focus on personal development that is not only good for us as individuals, it’s something we take into all areas of our lives.”

And in addition to all those challenges, Alecia is working on furthering her studies in business, skills she hopes to use to help create better health outcomes.

“There are so many opportunities at Turanga Health and I feel I have already had the chance to do so much,” she says. “It has really brought me out of my shell.”
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IF you’re going to have “courageous conversations” you need to compile the data to back them up and, for Turanga Health, that is Adam Tapsell's job.

Since he joined the primary health organisation in August 2020, Adam's work as a data analyst has involved pulling together all sorts of information, from what staff have been doing to who they have spent time with, and the outcomes of those connections.

“And we share that data on a weekly basis,” he says. “On Mondays our teams all meet to see what is happening in their areas then on Fridays they come back together to look at the week that was, the aim being to measure the impact of our activities to help us define and manage future goals.”

Those goals, of course, focus on better outcomes for whānau and achieving that goal has been a constant in Adam's near 30-year career.

Born and raised in Gisborne, as a university graduate his first job was the seven years he spent as a probation officer, in Hamilton.

“I'd actually studied management but had always wanted to help people and that job taught me the important lesson that you should never take people at face value.”

By the early 2000s, though Adam, Ngāti Porou, Te Arawa, Ngāti Kahungunu, had a hankering to travel so headed for the United Kingdom where he worked for New Zealand Immigration, and where he and wife, Kylie, had their first child.

But while they were connected with the Ngāti Rānana London Māori Club, the couple missed whānau support and headed back home where, between Gisborne and Rotorua, Adam worked for ACC, Housing NZ and Whānau Ora, as an advocate for whānau for the Ministry of Social Development, and in iwi finance and job placement.

“My work has always been focused on the betterment of people and if you are into spreadsheets and numbers, which I am, the data analysis I am doing now is a useful way of doing that,” Adam says.
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“In terms of where Turanga Health currently sits and how it wants to grow as an organisation, data is a powerful tool it can use to its advantage in that ongoing journey.”

WITH the help of her extraordinary grandparents Tara Collins went from early school leaver to community nurse becoming a mother along the way.

“What my grandparents taught and showed me didn’t sink in immediately, but it did when I hit my late teens and I take my hat off to them for creating that lightbulb moment in my life.”

Tara, 28, is a community nurse with Turanga Health. Passionate about delivering healthcare in a community setting, and with a goal of working in mental health, Tara’s journey to nursing is a tangled and happy story.

Like others in her family Tara’s commitment to education in her early years was somewhat sporadic.

She grew up in Auckland with three of her six siblings and there wasn’t much money to go around. Home life could be unstructured and school just wasn’t a priority. “It was common for us kids to not go to school.”

At age 11 Tara was taken in by her Napier-based maternal grandparents Bernard and Valerie Harrision, and to this day, she attributes her own accomplishments to their love and care, and introduction to her faith.

“My grandparents began caring for me and suddenly there was money to do sport, and education became a focus. If that didn’t happen, I believe I would have been young, pregnant, and making poor life choices. That’s where my life was heading. They saved me.”

Despite leaving school early, with the support of her grandparents, Tara decided to pursue a long-held passion in woodwork and earned a level 3 certificate in carpentry from Tairawhiti Polytechnic. She enjoyed creating wooden furniture and many of her early pieces such as an outside recliner for her grandmother are still in the family home today.

Still young at this time she was recently married to husband Andy Collins and starting a family was a goal.

But that’s where the life plan became a little unstuck. Babies proved harder to come by than expected, and so with the building industry in a recession, Tara joined her painter decorator husband in his trade and they successfully carved out a life for themselves in Christchurch.

Childless, and with a desire to be closer to family, the pair returned to the North Island in 2014 and Tara became a caregiver at a resthome, first in Tauranga and then at Ryman in Gisborne.

“I didn’t initially have a burning desire for that kind of work but I thoroughly enjoyed it.”

Tara remembers one day when an idea that was brewing … finally took hold. “I was slogging it out, showering and looking after residents, and I was often drenched in sweat and doing the heavy lifting. I looked at the nurses and I thought ‘Right, do I want to care give the rest of my life, or do I want to educate myself and move up the ranks?’”

“I think caregivers are wonderful. But I also knew that if I wanted the sort of life for myself that my grandparents had had, then I needed to get back into the workforce.”
 
By this time Tara and Andy had endured seven years of infertility and two years of fertility treatment.

“When I decided to go into nursing I thought ‘we’re probably not going to have kids, and so this is my back up plan’.”

Tara says she always struggled at English, maths and science at school so before attempting the degree she did the six-month New Zealand Certificate in Study and Career Preparation.

“I remember crying a lot during this time. My brother who was Year 11 at the time, had to help me with the maths.”

She slogged through, used rote learning, and held on to the vision that she would be the first person in her family to get a degree.

After finishing the foundation course Tara felt confident and enrolled in the Bachelor of Nursing. She studied for six months of the three-year degree and then …. the unthinkable happened.

“Halfway through my first year, blimmin miracle, I got pregnant!”

Nine months later Tara and Andy introduced Gideon Bernard to the world (named after her grandfather of course) and if you can believe this, she had a daughter two years later.

Because of the delightful interruption of motherhood, it took Tara five years to do her degree. Much of it is a blur of nappies, note-taking, exams and excruciating tiredness, but through it all her grandparent’s belief in her was steadfast.

“It was their support which now means I try and inspire my younger siblings. I tell them I started from scratch, from nothing, and it’s there if you want to grab it.”

Tara joined Turanga Health late 2020 and has found herself immersed in a nursing model dedicated to ensuring a connection between an individual’s wellbeing, whanau and home.

“I wish I had done my nursing placements here,” she says. “Every day I get to see the difference that we can make by seeing people in their homes.”

She says further down the track she would like to pursue an interest in mental health nursing. Her passion is driven by personal and professional desire.

“I want to be involved in improving mental health and suicide statistics in New Zealand. In Gisborne we have lost friends to suicide. They were receiving services but it’s still not enough. With new research we can be trying new things and I want to be a part of that. We have to do better don’t we?”

This May, with her husband, children and grandparents in the audience, Tara Joy Collins will take part in the graduation ceremony to receive her Bachelor of Nursing.
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“That’s going to be special. I take my hat off to my grandparents. I hope my children can also flourish in the path paved for me by my grandparents – then I will be happy.”

THERE is fun, laughter and lots of learning, but there is also a serious side to Turanga Health's bi-monthly antenatal classes.

At the rate of 2.2 per 1000 births, the rate of Sudden Unexplained Death in Infancy (SUDI) in te Tairawhiti is more than three times the national average.

And Hauora Tairawhiti Mokopuna Ora safe sleep co-ordinator Kaniwa Kupenga-Tamarama says that through wananga like Turanga Health's, she is determined to change that.

“It is critical to protect pepi from SUDI for that whole first year of life so we teach many ways of making sure baby is sleeping safely and doing that in a culturally-appropriate manner.

“There is a long tradition of bed-sharing, for example, and we aren't here to say 'don't do that'. What we can do is show whanau how they can use things like pepi pods or wahakura (woven basket beds) to keep baby safe. It's about making every sleep a safe sleep for baby.”
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While Ngati Porou and Hauiti hauora both run wananga in weaving wahakura, Turanga Health commissioned a local weaver to make them as gifts at antenatal wananga for mamas who need one for their pepi.

“Our two-day antenatal wananga also cover all the other things that can help whanau keep baby safe, from healthy homes and substance-free pregnancies to labour and birth, and options around breastfeeding,” says Turanga Health Well Child Tamariki Ora co-ordinator Janneen Kinney.

Around 700 pepi are born in Gisborne every year and these days about half are registered with the Tamariki Ora service run by Turanga Health.

“The antenatal classes are perfect for first-time mamas – or mamas at any stage – who might need extra awhi and support: this could be getting a capsule, stopping smoking or getting ready to safe-sleep baby in a wahakura,” says Janneen.

 “So in addition to Tamariki Ora, we can offer a wrap-around service to help take them through their parenting journey.”
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 -- December 4 is National Safe Sleep Day for 2020. Turanga Health's next two-day antenatal class will be held on January 27 and 28.

AFTER two decades with Tūranga Health, service delivery manager Dwayne ‘Tama’ Tamatea is returning home to Taranaki to take on a key primary care service development job for Pinnacle Midlands Health Network. The culmination of everything he’s achieved at Tūranga Health has prepared him for this senior leadership role and he’s excited about sharing his experiences and learnings with his own iwi, Taranaki. We caught up with Tama while he was chopping wood at Te Kuri a Tuatai Marae and had a chance to look back on his 20-year contribution to Tūranga Health and the rohe.



 IN basketball a good point guard is like a conductor in an orchestra, organising and marshalling his team's playing strategy, while encouraging and inspiring his teammates.

That's what Opunake-raised Dwayne “Tama” Tamatea brought to Gisborne when, in 1995, the then-24-year-old relocated to play point guard for the Gisborne Rising Suns.

And that's also what he brings to his role as service delivery manager for Tūranga Health, where he is this year one of four staff members to mark two decades at the Māori primary health provider.

Though formerly experienced in working with youth as programme co-ordinator at New Plymouth YMCA, Tama admits his work life got off to a slow start in Gisborne.

“They told me that, when I got here, I'd have a home and a job but, as it turns out, I had neither,” he laughs. “I ended up living with the whānau of team manager Ricky and Annie Gear – where I stayed for a few years – and doing a bit of relief teaching at Gisborne Boys' High School.”

While he loved working with the students the hours were a bit patchy so when he spotted Tūranga Health chief executive and Rising Suns fan Reweti Ropiha on a rugby sideline, he hit him up.

“There he was wearing shorts and a singlet in the middle of winter, and I just went up and told him I was looking for a job. He said to call in and see him on the Monday and I stayed 20 years!”

Starting as an asthma educator Tama took to the job straight away, loving the people, the work, and the focus on helping others.

He quickly moved up the ladder, working in the population health team before taking on the role of population health co-ordinator and, for the past decade, his current role of service delivery manager.

“As well as working with others to help define our targets, we have to make sure we deliver by supporting staff in meeting our goals, so it is a big responsibility,” he says. “But that's what we're here for and there is always more challenges to meet demand and relationships to build in making sure the work gets done.”

Though no longer living under the shadow of his own maunga, Taranaki, Tama says connections through whānau, basketball and community have helped him see Tūranga as home.

And it doesn't hurt that in his first year of working for Tūranga Health he met his now wife, Lisa Tamatea, and his first two sons from a previous relationship were soon joined by two sporty siblings."

Between work, whānau, studying towards a degree in business and multiple roles in basketball coaching and administration, life has been busy for Tama but he says that, like many, the Covid-19 lockdown gave him time to take stock.

“Obviously we worked right through and it was pretty full-on but without all the basketball roles, there seemed to be many more hours in the day.”

For Tama, having the business nous to help achieve good health outcomes has been key and he says a Pinnacle Midlands Health Network working trip to the USA was a huge eye-opener and was privilege and an honour to represent Tūranga Health.

“They took us to the Boeing factory to see a 777 being assembled, which showed how lean management can make for an amazing result,” he says. “There were thousands of workers but everyone knew what they were doing, everything was spotlessly clean, and every tiny piece of equipment was in its place.

“A trip to Microsoft to see new technology was also amazing and, overall, attending an international population health conference was truly a great experience.”

Closer to home, highlights have included the success of the whānau days Tū Marae duathlon event; running a rheumatic fever testing programme that revealed startling results; promoting home insulation, physical activity in kura, and heritage trails; and bringing the Breakers basketball team to town to inspire rangatahi.

“What is unique about Tūranga Health is that we have the freedom to try things. Of course, we drill down, do the research to make sure we are on the right track. But sometimes you just don't know how effective a strategy will be until you give it a go.”

Tama is also enormously grateful to his work colleagues. “They have put a lot of trust in me and played an important part in achieving all that we have.”

Tama says having the trust of his employer and freedom in decision-making have been the strongest drivers of his team’s success.

“Like in a coach/assistant coach situation, Reweti and I work well together and are always clear on our roles and responsibilities. He’ll be one of the people I will miss the most when I return to Taranaki and I can’t thank him enough for the support and space he has afforded me to develop my career.”

Reweti says Tama is a loss to the district. His rapport with people has seen him grow into more senior roles taking on large health projects that make a difference to hundreds.

“This has never been a Monday to Friday job for Tama and I think that came to the fore during the Covid lockdowns when he played a strong leadership and logistics role.”

Reweti says Tama’s work ethic has always been driven by doing what is right for the community. Thousands of children will have benefitted from his stewardship, mentoring and coaching over the years, particularly in basketball.

“There are three words that sum up Tama, and that’s passionate, committed, and loyal. Just this weekend for example he wasn’t supposed to be working but there he was helping cut up and deliver wood for whānau.”

“We often say that if you are an “I”, “me”, “mine” sort of person, then Tūranga Health is not the place for you. The language we want to hear is “we”, “us”, “ours” because, if we're not working as a team, then we are not going to get very far. Tama epitomises that in every way.”

“On behalf of Tūranga Health we thank him for his work and wish him all the best in Taranaki.”
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