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Te Kahautu Maxwell | Te Matatini Mātaatua representative [Interviewed by Dale Husband]
(Radio Waatea, 2024) Maxwell, Te Kahautu
This weekend in the Bay of Plenty, twenty-two kapa haka teams, including the reigning Te Matatini winners, showcased some of the nation’s best kapa haka performers during the Mātaatua senior regional tournaments.
Hardy’s Mines Ltd, of Waiorongomai
(Historical Research Unit, University of Waikato, 2016) Hart, Philip
Hardy’s Mines Ltd was formed on 30 April l904 to acquire all Edwin Henry Hardy’s mining properties. Because of his experience, Hardy was to supervise the work for the first three years of the company’s existence. Details are provided of the directors and shareholders, who included experienced businessmen from many places in New Zealand. Immediately upon its formation, the company had to undertake a considerable amount of dead work and to improve the battery before it could extract and process the ore. Much prospecting and testing was done, but only a small amount of gold was treated. Nevertheless, hopes were high during 1904 and 1905, and concentrates were tested in Australia. Being, as was the norm, under-capitalized, increasingly the company faced financial difficulties, and in 1906 most work ceased and the mines were protected because the payable ore had run out. In that year, Hardy ceased to be the supervisor. Exploration had proved that the lode below where he had extracted good ore was unpayable, being increasingly refractory and therefore expensive to treat. Once the capital was exhausted, further capital was sought, including in England. The company was reconstructed in 1907, but continued to be under-capitalized. It was hoped that a new low-level drive, known as McLean’s level, would strike good ore below the existing Colonist workings, but driving this took several years and the hoped-for valuable ore did not exist. A new company was formed in 1910, which continued to extend McLean’s level and to test any ore struck, all the while hoping to sell its property. Although mining had ceased, some income was received through treating the tailings using cyanide. When it was discovered that the mine manager had extended McLean’s level in the wrong direction, this work was abandoned, especially because assays revealed that earlier ones had been ‘misleading’. The company abandoned its property in 1924.
To explore the creation of a multi-skilled adoptable / agile perioperative Registered Nurse: A mixed methods study exploring the creation of a multi-skilled perioperative registered nurse at Waikato Hospital
(The University of Waikato, 2025) Ngatia, Judy Diane; Parsons, Matthew
Background: The global nursing shortage has highlighted vulnerabilities within the Aotearoa-NZ health system. Within large acute hospitals, the level of nursing specialisation within perioperative care (preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative) often means that nurses do not have the skillsets to operate across multiple areas and instead focus solely in one area of practice. Issues arise when departments within perioperative services become challenged, either through increased demand or staff shortages. Being able to relocate nurses across the service according to highest demand is important, but often not possible if specialised nurses lack the skills required of working within other areas. Objective: This study aims to explore the creation of a multi-skilled, agile perioperative Registered nurse equipped with skills to work across the perioperative department in Waikato Hospital. Participants: The study included two groups of participants. The first consisted of 14 health professionals (Nurse executives, n=4; Nurse operation managers, n=1; Senior registered nurses, n=2; Intermediate registered nurses, n=2; Junior registered nurses, n=2; and Senior specialist nurses, n=3). The second group (survey) consisted of registered nurses at differing levels within the perioperative department (n=88). Methods: A mixed-methods approach was employed in this study. Qualitative data collected through semi-structured interviews with health professionals working in the perioperative department was analysed using a general inductive method of enquiry. Online surveys were analysed statistically using qui squared and ANOVA to explore the relationship between satisfaction and ability to work across different areas in the perioperative service. Results: Five key themes emerged from the interviews: (i) Teamwork and role understanding; (ii) The current nursing configuration versus the desirable configuration; nursing skills; (iii) Knowledge and holistic care; and (iv) Leadership; and barriers to change. No statistically significant differences were identified between any of the variables. Conclusion: The absence of well-organised training for nurses, especially those in specialised areas, poses a significant challenge to develop a flexible workforce. To proceed further, the service should consider developing a training programme, accept cross-training as a method of career development and consider multi-skilling as an essential core part of the of the perioperative workforce.
History and philosophy of experimental philosophy: All in the family
(De Gruyter Brill, 2024) Sytsma, Justin; Ulatowski, Joseph W.; Gonnerman, Chad
Experimental philosophy (or "x-phi") is a way of doing philosophy. It is "traditional" philosophy, but with a little something extra: In addition to the expected philosophical arguments and engagement, x-phi involves the use of empirical methods to test the empirical claims that arise. This extra bit strikes some as a new, perhaps radical, addition to philosophical practice. We don't think so. As this chapter will show, empirical claims have been common across the history of Western philosophy, as have appeals to empirical observation in attempting to support or subvert these claims. While conceptions of philosophy have changed over time, across these changes we find philosophers employing empirical methods in pursuing their philosophical questions. Our primary aim in this chapter is to illustrate this fact. We begin by discussing the relevance of history to experimental philosophy (Section 2), then offer a necessarily condensed and highly selective history of empirical work in Western philosophy, rang-ing from the ancients (Section 3), to the early moderns (Section 4), to the late moderns (Section 5), and on to the present (Section 6).
A journey of leadership
(The University of Waikato, 2025) Wilson, Melanie; Parsons, Matthew; McKelvie, Rhonda
Background: Contemporary nursing leadership extends beyond traditional hierarchical structures and focusses more on leadership enacted at the point of care. This reconceptualisation recognises clinical nurse leaders as essential change agents who bridge frontline care and organisational priorities, advocate for equitable health services and foster team cohesion in increasingly complex environments, all without holding formal authority. To grow and sustain such leadership requires education and development programmes that are designed to be contextually relevant and responsive to the realities of point of care nurses. Objective: The aim of this research was to explore the design and evaluation of a health leadership development programme for registered nurses delivered at a tertiary hospital. Participants: There were two key population groups: Purposive sampling was employed to recruit an executive nurse leader (n=1) for the initial interview, followed by three focus groups with representatives from executive, operational and designated senior nurse leadership roles (n=13); and the second, pre- and post- intervention surveys with the participants of the education programme (n=12). All intervention participants responded to the survey (response rate = 100%). Methods: This mixed methods study involved an interview and three focus groups, which informed the development of the programme as well as pre-test / post-test online surveys of leadership programme participants. Both the interview and focus groups were thematically analysed using a general inductive method to develop key themes. The initial interview and focus groups were used to design the education intervention, which was evaluated using pre- and post- surveys, which included Likert scale type questions, which were analysed using a Paired Sample T Test. Findings: Thematic analysis of the interview and focus group transcripts revealed five key themes: (i) Leading in real life; (ii) Becoming future ready; (iii) Power, people and perspective; (iv) Owning the journey; and (v) Connection culture. Analysis of the survey data showed statistically significant results in: (i) Current leadership ability - leadership knowledge; (ii) understanding different leadership styles; (iii) Knowledge of leadership skills & attributes for effective health leadership; (iv) Understanding of health leadership in equitable healthcare delivery; (v) Understanding of relationship knowing self, cultural identity and leadership; and (vi) Development of skills for challenging conversations. Conclusion: This study provides evidence that leadership development initiatives for clinical nurse leaders are most effective when built on the acknowledgement of cultural, relational and emotional knowing and intelligence. Programme participants responded positively to this approach showing marked improvements in self-assessed leadership confidence.