HWD postgraduate funding for nurses

There is funding available through HWD, if you meet the following criteria: 

• You are a  registered nurse (RN) or registered midwife (RM who is also an RN)
• Hold a current annual practicing certificate (APC).
• Be currently employed as an RN or RM by a health service that is funded by a Health NZ Waikato or the Ministry of Health from Vote Health.
• Work .6 or above (equivalent to 3 days per week or more)
• Be a NZ citizen or hold a NZ residency permit as conferred by the NZ Immigration Service.
• Have supporting evidence from current employer to meet training requirements.
• Meet the criteria required by education/ tertiary provider.
• Application completed fully within application time frame.
• A career plan is developed with clinical nurse manager or nurse educator to ensure that education is appropriate to scope, level of practice and role.
• Priority will be given to areas of high workforce development need.  A priority framework is on the Health NZ Waikato HWNZ website to inform applicants of the areas which will be considered first for funding.

Link to Health Workforce NZ webpages

When applying for HWD funding, you must identify which programme you are enrolling in.

A programme consists of:

• Postgraduate Certificate  = 60 pts
• Postgraduate Diploma  = 120 pts
• Masters  = 180 to 240 pts 

When applying for funding with HWD, if you have never completed any post graduate study, you MUST apply for a Postgraduate Certificate, before a Postgraduate Diploma for funding purposes. 

Most postgraduate nursing papers are 30 points, however some universities also offer 15 point papers.

Discuss the most appropriate pathway to complete a Masters qualification with the tertiary provider you enrol with.

For information on Nurse Practitioner and Registered Nurse Prescribing visit www.nursingcouncil.org.nz

• Nurse Practitioner funding streams [PDF, 109 KB]

To establish transparency and equity in the HWD funding programme, the following priority funding framework has been developed.

The following groups will receive priority

• Completion of a qualification – includes RN2s *
• Required for role – senior nurse position
• Identified service workforce development need.

This prioritising demonstrates support by Health NZ Waikato to those in nursing leadership, specialist and management positions. These applications receive high priority consideration for HWD funding.

* nurses who have completed the new graduate programme and are then doing their second year of practice

Population priorities

• Aged Care
• Maori health
• Pacific peoples health
• Primary Health
• Rural health, mental health and addictions.

A career plan that has been discussed at latest performance review must be included as part of the HWD application process.

• If you are a Health NZ Waikato employed nurse or midwife please click on this link to take you to the Tertiary Programme Application.
  
  
• Applications for 2026 are not open until July 2025

Please read the following information before completing the form:

All Nurses in the  Waikato area who are NOT employed by Health NZ Waikato wanting support to do postgraduate study in 2025 need to complete this form by midnight 13 September 2024. Applications after this date will not be considered.

Note: Your application form is now online and paper copies will not be accepted.

Before completing the Tertiary Programme Application form you need to:

• Discuss your application with your manager.
• Write down your short, medium and long-term goals (max 50 words for each). This information is required on the Tertiary Programme Study form.
• Know the paper(s) you are wanting to do. This includes the:
  • paper number
  • paper name
  • semester
  • points
  • amount of study days it requires
• Have a record of the papers that you have already completed. (The first two 30pt papers you have done are at certificate level, the following two 30pt papers are at diploma level and the final four 30pt papers are at Masters level) This includes the paper name.

When the funding has been approved, successful and unsuccessful applicants are sent an email informing them of the decision.

This notification should be sent by the middle of December. A list of the successful applicants is then sent to the appropriate universities so that there is a way to double-check enrolment does take place. 

Successful applicants are also asked to notify the Professional Development Unit corodinator by a specified date, whether they wish to accept the funding or not.

If you have been granted funding and decide not to take up this money, please inform the Professional Development Unit corodinator as soon as possible as it can then be given to someone on the waiting list.

You are responsible for ensuring your enrolment process with the tertiary provider is completed.

This process should be started prior to funding approval notification.

In some cases you will be placed on a waiting list for funding that may become available. The final decision rests with the director of nursing/midwifery.

If your application is unsuccessful you may initiate the appeal process by making contact with the nurse consultant: workforce, Professional Development Unit.

Before you undertake the commitment to do study you need to consider the following:

How much time will it take?

What is happening in your life and is it feasible for you to fit in time for studying?  While Health NZ Waikato and other agencies in the Waikato region are committed to supporting you through this – the dedicated study time will have to come from you. 

A rough estimate of the time commitment is about 20 hours per week (average of lectures, tutorials, private study) for a 30 point paper.

Have you thought about where you want your career to go? What study programme will enable you to achieve your goals?  It is advisable to talk this over with your

• charge nurse or midwife manager
• nurse or midwife educator
• nurse manager
• clinical nurse or midwife director
• a specialist in your field
• primary health care management
• Professional Development Unit, Health NZ Waikato

 Another option is to talk to other staff/colleagues that have completed or are enrolled in study.  Most of the universities will also be very happy to discuss pathways and what education you can do to get there.

Where do I want to study?

Predominantly our nursing staff study through the following:

• Auckland University (UOA)
• Auckland Institute of Technology (AUT)
• Wintec
• Victoria University
• Massey University
• University of Waikato

You need to find out which institution offers the papers that you want to do and also find out what support they will offer you. 

Talking to colleagues who have done postgraduate study to find out their experiences of the institutions is also a good idea.  Once you have chosen an institution it is recommended that you to stay with this institution until you have completed your qualification.

Financial support is offered to students who work 0.6 and upwards. Those with higher FTE are prioritized.

Paper Costs

• The full cost of your paper will be paid for successful applicants.
• If you receive a reminder that your fees have not been paid please contact the Professional Development Unit coordinator straight away.

Travel and Accommodation

• Costs if travel is under 100kms - No travel or accommodation allowance.
• Costs if travel is 100kms and over -  Up to $1000 for actual costs of a 30 point paper. You need to request support for travel and accommodation on your application form. 

Health NZ Waikato employees

• You need to complete a staff expense claim form [PDF, 58 KB] for travel and accommodation.

Non-Health NZ/MOH funded services

• You need to complete a reimbursement form for your expenses [DOC, 39 KB]. This must be done at the end of your study.
• You need to complete where you have travelled to/from and the number of kms travelled. If claiming for accommodation you need to attach the original tax invoice and proof of payment. You then send the completed staff expense claim form/reimbursement form and attached documents to Professional Development Unit coordinator for signing and she will arrange payment.
• Some providers, e.g. University of Auckland, offer some papers in the Waikato which is usually based on numbers being sufficient to provide this option. The funding for these papers does not include travel or accommodation.
• Unfortunately, if you enrol in an onsite paper which then changes back to the original provider, such as University of Auckland, travel costs and accommodation will not be able to be claimed as they have not been claimed from HWD.
• Depending on the amount of study days required, the allowance may not cover ALL travel and accommodation costs.

Clinical release

This covers the cost (per hour) of releasing you to attend the study days of your course during working hours.  The maximum amount is $28 per hour.  HWD expects that you will complete all the formal components of the course.  If you are required to take the study day as annual leave or leave without pay then your employer is not eligible for clinical release funding.  If you are required to take leave without pay then you may be paid the clinical release directly.  This would need to be approved on a case by case basis.

Health NZ Waikato employees

• Clinical release reimbursement will be at the discretion of your nurse/ midwife manager and the clinical nurse director of the Professional Development Unit.

Non-Health NZ/MOH funded services

• Your employer can also claim for clinical replacement funding by sending a GST invoice to the Professional Development Unit coordinator.

Clinical mentoring

Funding is also available to assist in meeting a portion of the costs if clinical mentoring is a requirement of the paper.

Libraries

Libraries usually have facilities and teaching sessions on how to search for literature. Health NZ Te Whatu Ora Waikato library will have some nursing journals and information available. If you are an employee you can access this. If you are not employed by the Health NZ Te Whatu Ora Waikato you are also able to access the library, borrowing up to ten books at a time. By enrolling at your university you will have access to their libraries electronically and through them access to many journal databases.

If you get a chance to attend a session on searching a database, attend it. It is very helpful and can reduce the time you need to spend on the computer.

Health NZ Te Whatu Ora Waikato Library

Assignment help

Assignments are the usual assessment process. The universities should offer help in this area from the student learning centres. Some universities offer assignment writing sessions at the beginning of their first papers for new students and we encourage you to access these. The support is being offered by people who are already walking the postgraduate pathway or who have already completed it.

Health NZ Te Whatu Ora Waikato offers Academic Writing Workshops onsite in February, March and July to help in these areas.

Libraries

Libraries usually have facilities and teaching sessions on how to search for literature. Waikato DHB library will have some nursing journals and information available. If you are a Waikato DHB employee you can access this. If you are not employed by the Waikato DHB you are also able to access the library, borrowing up to ten books at a time. By enrolling at your university you will have access to their libraries electronically and through them access to many journal databases.

If you get a chance to attend a session on searching a database, attend it. It is very helpful and can reduce the time you need to spend on the computer.

Waikato DHB Library

Assignment help

Assignments are the usual assessment process. The universities should offer help in this area from the student learning centres. Some universities offer assignment writing sessions at the beginning of their first papers for new students and we encourage you to access these. The support is being offered by people who are already walking the postgraduate pathway or who have already completed it.

The Waikato DHB offers Academic Writing Workshops onsite in February, March and July to help in these areas.

Applicants must discuss the option of changing papers with the Professional Development Unit coordinator before doing this. The contract is fixed with HWD and changing papers has an impact on this.

If you are thinking of withdrawing from a paper please discuss with your manager and contact the Professional Development Unit coordinator, as soon as possible so personal implications can be discussed with you.  This may mean more support can be put around you which will assist and lead to success in the paper.

If it is agreed by all parties that the best solution is to withdraw from the paper, you must email both your manager and Professional Development Unit coordinator to inform them.

Once the decision to withdraw has been made, you are responsible for processing your withdrawal with the tertiary provider.

You will need to self fund your next paper, but on successfully passing this paper you will be eligible to again apply for HWD funding for the next paper to complete the qualification.

Your grades are provided by the university directly to the Professional Development Unit.

As a HWD requirement, the Professional Development Unit must forward quarterly reports to HWD. This is to ensure that your circumstances have not changed e.g. you have not withdrawn. 

You need to contact us if your circumstances have changed. 

Please remember the Professional Development Unit staff are available to answer any queries you may have.