Nurse Maude and UC strengthen community healthcare
A new partnership between the University of Canterbury and Nurse Maude will bring academic research and community healthcare practice closer together, helping to improve how care is delivered.
Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury (UC) and Nurse Maude Association have formalised their relationship through a Partnership and Funding Agreement, signed last week by UC Tumu Whakarae | Vice-Chancellor Professor Cheryl de la Rey and Nurse Maude Board Chair Jane Cartwright.
The partnership brings together two long-established organisations with strong connections to communities across Te Waipounamu South Island.
A shared research programme will combine UC’s academic expertise with Nurse Maude’s experience delivering front-line healthcare, with a focus on community-based models of care, ageing and complex care, workforce development, and equity in health outcomes.
Leading the work will be a new jointly funded Associate Professor/Professor of Community Nursing, who will help strengthen the link between academic research and clinical practice.
The new position will be recruited this year and begin in 2027, providing strategic leadership for the research programme focused on improving outcomes for patients, whānau and communities.
UC Professor Laurie McLay, Associate Dean – Research in the Faculty of Health, says the partnership will help ensure research is closely connected to real-world health needs.
“The real value of this partnership is that the research will be shaped by what is actually happening in community healthcare,” Professor McLay says.
“UC researchers work closely with organisations and communities to tackle real-world challenges. By working with Nurse Maude, we can focus on the questions that matter to patients, whānau and clinicians, and make sure the evidence we generate has a clear pathway back into practice to ultimately, improve patient outcomes and experiences.”
Nurse Maude’s clinical priorities will help shape the research programme, while UC will contribute academic expertise, research infrastructure and access to postgraduate students and wider research networks.
Nurse Maude Director of Nursing, Linda Hill, says the organisation is delighted to be closely involved with the establishment of this new role and excited by the value the partnership will deliver.
“We know that community healthcare is changing as our population ages. Care becomes more complex, and we have more people who need to be supported in their own homes and communities.
“This partnership gives us an opportunity to bring the knowledge and experience of our teams together with UC’s academic expertise. By working together, we can generate research that responds to the needs of patients, whānau and communities and inform how we provide care to people in a range of community settings.”
Research will be co-designed with clinicians, patients, whānau and communities to ensure it is relevant, culturally responsive and capable of delivering meaningful impact.
For postgraduate students, the work is expected to create new opportunities and strengthen connections between UC and the health sector, while also supporting interdisciplinary research across health, psychology, engineering and data science.
At a wider health-system level, the programme aims to generate evidence to support new models of care and strengthen the integration of research and clinical practice.
Representatives from UC and Nurse Maude will come together in late October to formally celebrate this partnership, as part of our activity as Nurse Maude begin to celebrate 130 years of service in New Zealand.
You can read more about the Professor of Nursing role here.
