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UCOL Nursing Graduate Empowering Those In Need

By UCOL on Monday, 04 April 2022

Peta Chapman-Eynon

People are driven to a career in nursing for a variety of reasons. For Peta Chapman-Eynon, it was purely out of a passion for empowering others to feel better about themselves.

The youngest of the nine children, Peta began working as a Healthcare Assistant working primarily with individuals living with dementia, at the tender age of 18 after completing Freyberg High School.

“My first job supporting the vulnerable made me feel more confident about becoming a nurse,” says Peta.

After completing the Certificate in Health and Science programmes, Peta entered the Bachelor of Nursing programme in 2018 at UCOL.
While completing her degree, Peta was required to meet the clinical placement components of her study. Placements allowed Peta to gain hands-on knowledge, working at an aged-care facility, surgical/medical ward, mental health, addiction facility, and primary/community health facility. Peta says each facility taught her the role and responsibility of a registered nurse. “We put our study into practice and were able to find our own method of how we nurse individually and as a team.”

Currently working in a kaupapa Māori mental health service as a registered nurse, Peta says the best part of her role is being able to help and empower others to feel better about themselves.

Peta is now completing her postgraduate certificate in mental health and addiction nursing at Whitireia Polytechnic. “I eventually want to complete a Master of Nursing Practice and make my way to becoming a nurse practitioner.”

Peta is among the 2236 students graduating across UCOL campuses. Due to the Traffic Light System, UCOL will be celebrating graduation a little differently this year. Students will be collecting their graduation parchments from UCOL campuses. They will get an opportunity to have a small celebration with their family and friends, including hiring graduation gowns and taking professional photographs. Graduation parchment collection days are as follows:

Horowhenua: Thursday, 25 March 2022
Wairarapa: Monday, 28 March 2022
Manawatū: Wednesday, 6 April 2022
Whanganui: Friday, 8 April 2022

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