Specialist clinical nurse Jax Atkins has stepped into a newly created position designed to improve healthcare for whānau on the East Coast.

The new role came about in response to knowing that those based on the Coast are often unable to make it back to Gisborne Hospital for follow-up appointments, which can result in readmittance to the hospital.

This, in addition to a lack of access to specialist staff, means many people are not getting the care they need.

Ms Atkins has taken up a new specialty clinical nurse (SCN) role which is a specialised role in rural health.

She had been hoping for an opportunity to return to the East Coast where she could share her knowledge and clinical skills and hopefully contribute to reducing the inequities that exist.

“I’ve always wanted to be able to work up the Coast.

“When this opportunity came up, I knew it was the perfect role for me,” she said.

Ms Atkins will be travelling all over Tairāwhiti training healthcare staff permanently located in rural areas on all aspects of district nursing.

This includes wound care, oxygen management, intravenous medication management, equipment training, and doppler investigation (testing to detect blood flow).

Collaborating with whānau and learning what the community needs will make up a substantial portion of this role.

“It’s important that we deliver care that will benefit communities, said Rachel Compton, clinical nurse manager of District Nursing.

“Figuring out what that care looks like, and how we provide it will be a very important part of the mahi Jax will be doing.”

Ms Atkins is excited to cooperate with new communities and learn about the care they need. She’ll then be able to use her seven years of experience in nursing to help them directly or be able to connect them with the resources they need.

Both Rachel and Jax hope that this role is the beginning of a more expansive rural health service, inclusive of everything from allied health staff, to imaging, to nurses of all specialities.