Professional, practice and political issues in the history of New Zealand’s remote rural ‘backblocks’ nursing: The case of Mokau, 1910–1940

Abstract

The new role of 'backblocks' nursing, established in 1909 to provide a nursing, midwifery, emergency and public health service to New Zealand's remote rural regions, created opportunities and challenges for the profession. For three decades, the novel nature of the role also provided numerous stakeholders with the opportunity to contest their authority and influence. This article explores the professional, practice and political issues of backblocks nursing through a case study of Mokau, a remote rural community in the North Island of New Zealand, 1910-1940. In particular, it considers professional issues of recruitment and retention, practice issues in delivering the new service in a challenging environment with few resources, and political issues in defining the scope of nurses' practice and dealing with competing stakeholders keen to determine its potential and limits. These issues were exacerbated by the location of the Mokau district in two administrative health regions.