Te Kapunga Putohe (the restless hands): a Maori centred nursing practice model

Abstract

Maori are often confronted with nursing practices and services that are at odds with their traditionally wholistic and spiritually based worldview. Keeping Maori clients the central focus of nursing practice can be challenging for nurses but is one way they can increase their efficacy when working with Maori. However, in the nursing literature there is an absence of models to guide Maori centred nursing practice, that is, models constructed within a Maori cultural context. Te Kapunga Putohe (the restless hands) is a Maori centred nursing practice model that uses the hands to illustrate how Maori knowledge and the knowledge of nurses can be incorporated into the health experiences of Maori clients. This paper explains how nurses who possess knowledge of Te Ao Maori can use Te Kapunga Putohe (the restless hands) to work with Maori in a culturally appropriate and acceptable way to improve health outcomes.