Postgraduate Study Funding

 Applications for Postgraduate Funding for the 2025 academic year open on the 1^st August 2024 and close on the 4^th October 2024.

Capital, Coast Hospital & Specialist Service works with tertiary education providers to support registered nurses across the district to study towards postgraduate qualifications. Nurses can apply for papers that build towards a postgraduate qualification.

The funding prioritises those working towards a qualification, rather than individual papers i.e. Postgraduate Certificate (60 pts), Postgraduate Diploma (120 pts) or Master (180 and 240 pts).

Postgraduate Roadshow

Tertiary education providers are represented at the Postgraduate Roadshow for Nurses, Midwives, and Allied professions.

Nurses can engage in, and clarify the process from attending the roadshow. 

Please view the webinar outlining the requirements for all nurses on the district websites.

For further details such as roadshow dates and venues, please view the poster in here.

Before you apply

Career conversations must be completed by all Registered Nurse (RN) wishing to apply for funding for the 2025 academic year. Career conversations enable you to consider what your future aspirations are, and how your study pathway will support your professional development to Identify the goals, activities, timelines and resources you need to achieve your career vision and work through the career planning process. Please make an appointment for a career conversation with one of the following people, for additional details, please view the career conversation flyer here. 

Please make sure you bring the following documents with you to your career  conversation and discussion:

• Professional Development & Career Plan - Signed and dated by yourself and your line manager.
•  A copy of your academic transcript or a screen shot of the grades achieved for the papers you have completed
  
• Level on the Professional Development and Recognition Programme (PDRP)
• Identify your future career aspirations and study plan for 2025
• Ensure your plan of study aligned with the government's policy Statement
• Assess whether your current role requires this level of preparation
• Consider the likelihood of funding, which is subject to demand within this funding stream.

• PG Road Show Poster
• PG Career Conversation flyer
• PD Funding Framework for nurses and midwives
• 2025 Funding PowerPoint
• Professional Development Career Plan (PDCP)
• 2025 Funding Prioritisation 

This application process is for the entire 2025 academic year i.e. Trimester 1, Trimester 2 & Trimester 3. Here are the steps involved:

1. Watch the webinar videos and the Tertiary Education Provider video for the institution where you intend to study.

2. Engage in a discussion with the appropriate person (Manager, & Nurse Educator) to complete your Professional Development and Career Plan (PDCP). This plan should outline your career goals and how you intend to achieve them, including the selection of relevant work/programmes based on your role and career plan. The PDCP should be agreed and signed by the manager/NE and the candidate.

3. Check your eligibility with:

• Postgraduate funding criteria mentioned below
• Your Tertiary Education Provider

4. Complete the Postgraduate Application Form, ensuring that all sections are completed accurately. If you encounter any difficulties while completing the form, contact the Workforce & Practice Development Unit for assistance.

5. Make sure to attach a copy of your PDCP - Signed and dated by yourself and your line manager in the application.

6. Ensure that your application reaches the Workforce & Practice Development Unit before the deadline.

7. For Hospital & Specialist Service (HSS) only: Your Service Line manager & Charge Nurse Manager will prioritise your applications for their respective areas, taking into consideration factors such as roster implications, skill mix on the ward, how the chosen paper will enhance patient outcomes, alignment with your area's PDCP plan, and the applicant's PDRP level. Nursing and Midwifery Leadership will complete the prioritisation process within the allocated funding.

Prioritisation follows the initial application supported by line managers and Nurse Directors. The criteria below is the minimum requirement for eligibility.

• Current portfolio on the Professional Development and Recognition Programme (PDRP) at time of application
• 0.6 FTE and above
• Educational preparation the role requires for delivery to service outcomes
• Parameters for applicants eligibility for one paper are:

• Competent RNs may be funded to PG certificate level (2 papers) based on service specifications/role
• Proficient RNs may be funded to PG certificate/diploma level (2 to 3 papers) based on service specifications/role
• Expert RNs may be funded to PG diploma level (4 papers) based on service specifications/role
• The prioritised papers include Pathophysiology/anatomy and physiology, Advanced assessment, Pharmacology for nurses on the clinical pathway. Other papers may be funded where directly relevant to the nurses role or strategic goals e.g. Māori health & wellbeing.
• RN Expert on a service agreed Nurse Practitioner pathway may be funded to Masters level based on service specifications. This may include nurses that have previously completed Masters degree
• Nurses in senior designated roles may be funded to Masters level
• Nurse Educators may be funded to Masters level with a focus on education

Eligibility guiding principles

NOTE: Late applications will not be considered.

HSS Prioritisation Process

Once applications are processed considering eligibility criteria above, the following prioritisation occurs:

• Service Nurse Director and Line Managers rank applications from 1 (most supported) to 10 (less supported) using prioritisation order:

1. Māori and Pacific Nurses
2. PDRP participation at correct level as per criteria for application
3. Paper choice relevant to clinical practice
4. Senior nurses
5. NETP graduates (if not funded in previous year)
6. Intensive Care nurses will utilise the critical care funds for postgraduate study in the first instance prior to accessing postgraduate funding

PDRP Expectation

PDRP is fundamental to the commitment Capital, Coast and Hutt Valley District has to nursing workforce development as it supports nurses to articulate their practice which is key to identifying nurses’ unique contribution as part of the healthcare team. Previously all HSS applicants were required to be progressing or maintaining PDRP at the appropriate level (including having a current (not older than 1 year), Performance Review, Professional Development and Career plans and discussion with manager to ensure the choice of postgraduate papers is appropriate to level of practice, and role. However, Primary/ARC applications were accepted without a current PDRP with the expectation they will achieve applicable level within the year of study. With an increased amount of nurses participating in RN prescriber in community health programme and RN prescribing, NAML agrees that all nurses need to be current on the PDRP at time of application, including those working in Primary, Community and Aged & Residential Care.

All career conversations for nurses working towards a Prescribing Practicum or the Nurse Practitioner Pathway must be completed by Helen Costello.

• Support Flowchart for Prescribing Practicum
• Prescribing Practicum Support Plan

If you are planning to undertake a RN prescribing practicum or Nurse Practitioner (NP) advanced practice and prescribing practicum course, approval to enrol is required at a service level and from the Workforce & Practice Development Unit. Support to undertake the practicum courses relies on organisational agreement for role development during and after the practicum. A Prescribing Practicum Support Plan must be prepared before commencing the paper. This information also informs work-site planning, PG funding prioritisation and District's workforce development Helen Costello.

A Prescribing Practicum Support Plan will address the additional expectations for clinical teaching, prescribing supervision (often medical or NP) and advanced practice mentoring associated with these papers. PG funding contributes towards the additional costs associated with completing a NP advanced practice and prescribing practicum (e.g. professional supervision, clinical release). For more information or guidance, please contact Helen Costello.

Professional supervision

If professional supervision is part of your practicum plan, a list of supervisors can be obtained by emailing professional.development@ccdhb.org.nz once your application is approved.

Application for up to 10-hours clinical mentoring support must be approved prior to undertaking a course requiring this.

Clinical mentoring is the provision of clinical teaching and coaching to support the RN  to extend knowledge and skills through clinical experience, critical thinking, skilled health assessment and comprehension of diagnostic measures and outcomes. These skills are required for evidence based clinical reasoning.

Assessment courses that may require clinical mentoring

An assessment paper that requires learning and practising new clinical assessment skills through accessing clinical mentoring to extend practice in the workplace or a new setting.

• Assessment and Clinical Decision Making (Massey University)
  

Te Whatu Ora Capital, Coast & Hutt Valley Hospital Health Service provides funding for cultural supervision/mentoring and resources to support Māori and Pacific registered nurses undertaking postgraduate funded study.

Cultural Support funding is open to any person who has whakapapa and cultural links to whānau, hapū and iwi (for Māori) or is of Pacific Peoples descent and has established cultural links to the Pacific Peoples' communities.

Students who identify as Māori or Pacific Peoples descent in their application, will be invited to participate in a hui or fono to learn more about the cultural support.

• Whakapapa – Nurses who identify as Maori or Pacific
• Whanaungatanga – establish connections and relationships with other Māori and Pacific nurses. 
• Manaakitanga – pastoral care for Maori and Pacific NETP nurses. Supporting Post-graduate Maori and Pacific Nurses in academic studies, career goals and toward professional development. 
• Āwhinatanga – Mentorship programme for NETP nurses. Identifying and establishing new mentors from across the DHB.
• Whakaruruhau – provide a safe place for all Maori and Pacific to open up and discuss challenges, without judgment. 
• Kotahitanga – work together to grow a strong resilient Māori and Pacific nursing workforce.

For those undertaking funded post graduate studies you will be contacted before your paper starts and offered support to set you up for success and getting back into study. At this Hui / Fono we will start our conversation of what support you may want or need and take it from there. 

Any questions please contact: Lisa Karaka (Nurse Coordinator- NETP & Cultural Support) 

Definitions

Cultural supervision is a either a formal or informal relationship between members of the same culture with the purpose being to ensure that the supervisee is practising according to the values, protocols and practices of that particular culture. It is about cultural accountability and cultural development (Eruera, 2005).

Mentor is an appropriately qualified and experienced person, who facilitates learning, supervises and assesses trainees continually so that the trainee achieves their outcomes at the end of the programme. Mentors motivate and encourage trainees to continue their education. A mentor may also be someone trained in providing clinical (professional) supervision.

Cultural development is support that can be combined with cultural supervision or mentoring but funds for cultural development are limited to:

• Cultural resources.
• Membership to Māori or Pacific Health Professional Organisations.
• Cultural activities including Kuia/Kaumātua, and peer support.

Capital, Coast - Hospital & Specialist Services PG Funding Information

Victoria University of Wellington