Te Tiriti o Waitangi Māori Health Kawa Whakaruruhau Cultural Safety: Guidance for Nursing Education and Practice
Te Kaunihera Tapuhi o Aotearoa – the Nursing Council of New Zealand has released updated cultural safety guidance for the nursing profession.
The current Guidelines have served as an important
foundation for more than a decade.
The updated guidance
brings together Māori Health, Kawa Whakaruruhau, and Cultural Safety into one
coherent, aligned framework grounded in Te Tiriti o Waitangi. It articulates
clear guidance for nurses, educators and employers, emphasising relationships,
power-sharing, accountability, reflective practice and a commitment to
addressing biases and structural inequities within health systems.
Developed in partnership with nurses,
educators, Māori and Pacific leaders and sector experts, the guidance reaffirms cultural
safety as a fundamental professional expectation. It honours the whakapapa of
cultural safety in Aotearoa and the visionary leadership of Dr Irihapeti
Ramsden, whose pioneering work established cultural safety as a practice that
centres the experience of people receiving care and responds to inequity.
Fittingly, the launch was held on what would have been Dr Ramsden’s 80th
birthday, a moment to acknowledge her enduring legacy and influence on nursing
in Aotearoa.
The Council launched the updated guidance on 25 February
2026, and the document is now available on the website.