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Recent nursing graduate Leon Haiu is currently a registered nurse at Etu Pasifika Canterbury.

Photo/ Supplied/ Etu Pasifika

Health

Recent grad inspired by the nurses who helped his dying brother

Leon Haiu says nursing is an industry ideally suited to Pacific people and hopes more men consider it as a career option.

Justin Latif
Justin Latif
Published
10 January 2024, 6:00am
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A recent recipient of a Pasifika Medical Association (PMA) scholarship hopes more Pacific men consider entering the world of nursing.

Leon Haiu, who won PMA’s Abel Smith Nursing award late last year, says after working as a youth worker and prison officer, nursing has turned out to be an ideal profession to combine his passion for his culture and serving his community.

“I can’t think of too many more things that are more beautiful than to be in the service of others, but it’s also part of our culture to serve, care and love - as it’s actually part of who we are.”

Haiu, who was the only male in his class at Ara-Te Pukenga in Christchurch, says that being in the minority shouldn’t put off other men from giving the industry a go.

“I would definitely say to all the brothers out there - think about a role in nursing, as we need to make sure that the health workforce is more representative of the actual population and the only way that we're going to do that is see more men get into nursing.”

Watch the full interview with Leon Haiu on 531pi below:

For Haiu, the idea of venturing into a medical career came while observing the palliative care nurses looking after his brother who passed away in 2016.

“In 2011 my younger brother Kurtis got diagnosed with cancer," he says

"He was playing for the Blues [Super Rugby team] at the time and was just about to head over to Japan.

“When he eventually moved into hospice-level care, we got to see first hand the really amazing hospice nurses. I’ve never met anyone quite like them. They were just so caring in how they were able to uphold his integrity.

"And not just care for him, but also how they cared for us as well as a family.”

Haiu, who’s father was the first Uvean migrant to New Zealand in the 1970s, says studying while a global pandemic raged around the world made his entry into nursing extra difficult but it also reinforced why it's a great workforce to be apart of.

"The pandemic really shifted everything up so it's been really hard. However, I'm so grateful that in the nursing study space there’s such a beautiful culture where it's not about one trying to get up over the other, but it’s a collective and everyone is really about helping each other.”

Haiu now works as a registered nurse at Etu Pasifika Canterbury and he’s loving being able to bring his whole identity to the role.

“It’s for Pasifika by Pasifika so it's really lovely to be here, because it's about serving tangata Moana and because we are Pasifika as well, we can bring our own lived experience.”

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