Mr Hellesoe in his role at the Auckland Spinal Rehabilitation Unit.
Aarona Hellesoe (Ngaai Tuuhoe) cares for patients recovering from serious spinal injuries at a dedicated rehabilitation unit in south Auckland.
“I love my job. People get some very bad breaks and I see them through the recovery. It’s the most rewarding job ever – I feel like I’m making a change,” Mr Hellesoe says.
It’s a long way from what he was doing a few years ago working in retail. The COVID pandemic leading to a career rethink with advice from partner Lydia and mother-in-law, who is a nurse.
Both suggested Aarona should apply to study Bachelor of Nursing – Maaori at MIT.
“I was happy with what I was doing at the time. My mum always said I was good at helping people when I was young. I put in an application, but I never thought I’d get accepted. I was ecstatic when I found out I got in.”
With a Samoan dad and Maaori mum, Mr Hellesoe was raised in Ruatoki, Bay of Plenty? where Aarona was brought up by his older sister Masela Hellesoe alongside her own two children.
“My mum Leah, and dad John, also sacrificed a lot for my siblings and I. They have been the biggest influence on my education. My dad always told us to aim him. He said ‘You can be anything you want except another statistic.’”
“That’s what was so great about MIT, it felt like whaanau from the very start.”
“Walking through the waharoa onto the marae was like coming home. I was a long way from the East Coast, but they made me feel like this is your home. I felt really connected with the people at MIT and I don’t think I would have got that anywhere else.”
“It was really hard to do all the mahi, the clinical part is difficult, but I felt really supported throughout my time at MIT. They really helped me keep in touch with my whaanau.”
“My tutor Dana Karem was great. He works for Ngā Ringa ?whina which is a support group for Maaori nursing graduates created more than 20 years ago by past Maaori nursing graduates of MIT.”
“He would message us all the time to just see how we were going. He created a team environment and was a big part of the support for me. The MIT whakapapa is very special.”
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Mr Hellesoe and whanau at his graduation.?
Before becoming a registered nurse, Mr Hellesoe worked as a Health Care Assistant in the Neurological Rehabilitation and Health of Older People Ward at Middlemore Hospital.
“That experience had a big influence on my approach to nursing, especially in how I value whaanau involvement, rehabilitation, and holistic care. I did a clinical placement at the spinal unit through MIT, then I was offered a full-time position.”
“I love my job. People get some very bad breaks and I see them through the recovery. It’s the most rewarding job ever – I feel like I’m making a change.”
“Having my two cultures is also great as patients can relate to me. It helps with the communication and rapport with patients and their whaanau. They know I can relate to their situation. Without the support and love of my partner Lydia, I would not be where I am today. She has been my biggest encourager and supporter.”
“A big part of the role is connecting with people. My dad has the gift of the gab and I suppose he’s passed that down to me. Some people say I could make friends with a brick wall,” Aarona laughs.
MIT’s Nursing Head of School, Associate Professor Deb Rowe says the rapport and connection with patients is key to positive health outcomes.
“All the stats confirm this. Cultural awareness is so important and that’s why we have the Bachelor of Nursing Maaori. Aarona and our other graduates have a nuanced understanding of the communities they’re serving which benefits their patients, the patients’ whaanau and wider society,” she says.
It is not a requirement to whakapapa Maaori to apply for the Bachelor of Nursing Maaori. It is a three-year degree which covers everything in MIT’s Bachelor of Nursing and additional tiikanga Maaori and other cultural elements.
Graduates of the degree then sit the Nursing Council’s State Examinations to become a fully registered nurse.
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