Student Nurse Values Support

January 10, 2017

Claire Hokianga Harmer McLean in EIT’s Nursing quad.

As she continues on her learning journey, EIT student Claire Hokianga Harmer McLean is appreciating the support she receives from like-minded people.

“I’ve had my struggles,” the third-year Bachelor of Nursing student says. “It’s our friends and Māori and Pākehā whānau that uplift us.  Māori, especially, have to lift each other and reassure one another that they can succeed.”

Claire is Ngāti Kahungunu, affiliated to Kahuranaki marae at Te Hauke.  One of 11 children, she grew up in Mahora and went to Hastings Girls’ High School.  Looking back, she says she and other students didn’t know how to settle into a school environment.

“PE was my best subject and I got an excellence for that in fourth form.  I was good at sports.”

After leaving school, she worked in packhouses and then for Watties before meeting her future husband and moving onto his dairy farm at Opunake in Taranaki.  The couple had three children and Claire also helped on the property, driving tractors, milking cows, manning pumps and rearing calves. 

When the marriage faltered four years ago, she and daughter Honey moved to Hawke’s Bay.  The two boys, Gregory and Zayne, now 23 and 21, live in Australia.

In the weeks after her homecoming, Claire “twiddled her thumbs”.  She was used to being busy and wanted to work, which she was offered at a Hastings supermarket.  But after six months, she knew she wanted more out of life.

Having talked through study options with EIT careers advisor Eddie Carson, she opted for nursing and enrolled for the entry-level Certificate in Health Science.

“I wanted to see if I was clever enough,” she says of the programme.  “I found I was good at science and maths but that I needed to work on my writing skills.”

Claire progressed to degree studies but was struggling to deal with the fallout from her failed marriage.  Rising anxiety levels affected her study and that led to her repeating the second semester’s work.

“It was a pretty big year for me, 2014, but I’m still here,” she says of EIT.  “I am getting through it.”

Currently undertaking nursing placement at the Napier Health Centre, Claire has another six months of study to complete her degree.  She would then like to work in a hospital setting for perhaps four or five years before moving into primary health care.  Ultimately, she hopes to specialise in diabetic care.

Coming this far has been a challenge and, living with her mother, Milla Harmer, she honours her for her support.  “She’s been my rock,” says Claire.  Milla was also the main caregiver for Claire’s niece, Meriana Holianga, who is now in the Royal New Zealand Navy.

While there have been times when she has doubted herself, thinking tertiary study was out of her league, Claire has found EIT staff support her too – “they work hard to get the best out of you,” she adds.