Bobbie Cameron

Growing up in an impoverished community motivated Bobbie Cameron’s research on the provision of health care to underserved populations.

Bobbie undertook the research project as part of her Master of Nursing degree, conferred at EIT’s graduation earlier this year.

When she was 14, her family’s move from Levin to an inland village at the East Coast “was a big shock to the system,” she says.

“I found myself in a community where drugs and alcohol were the norm.  I feel the people there are in a rut, it’s a cycle that families follow.  Some break out of it and some don’t.  Ill health is very prevalent.”

Bobbie broke out of the cycle to pursue nursing studies.  Her midwife – who delivered Bobbie’s first three children before she was 20 – was “pivotal”, telling her she could achieve anything she wanted.

Having left school in her mid-teens, she gained a psychology paper through Open Polytechnic.  The young family then moved to Hawke’s Bay so she could start her Bachelor of Nursing studies at EIT.

For her Master’s research, she conducted phone interviews with five nurses providing outreach services to underserved populations throughout New Zealand.

There was some “awesome stories,” with some feeling it was beneficial to work and then go home and not worry about it further and others believing it was important to also work outside set hours within their communities.

“I make no judgement about that,” Bobbie says.  “It’s a matter of where you set the boundaries.”