Irihapeti Merenia Ramsden (1946 – 5 April 2003) was a New Zealand

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

nurse, anthropologist, and writer who worked to improve health outcomes for Māori people.

Biography

Irihapeti Ramsden was the daughter of writer and historian Eric Ramsden and Merenia Manawatu, and was of

Ngāi Tahu Ngāi Tahu, or Kāi Tahu, is the principal Māori people, Māori (tribe) of the South Island. Its (tribal area) is the largest in New Zealand, and extends from the White Bluffs / Te Parinui o Whiti (southeast of Blenheim, New Zealand, Blenhe ...

and

Rangitāne Rangitāne is a Māori iwi (tribe). Their rohe (territory) is in the Manawatū, Horowhenua, Wairarapa and Marlborough areas of New Zealand. The iwi was formed as one of two divisions (aside from Muaūpoko) of the expedition team led by Wh ...

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori, roughly means or , and is often translated as "tribe". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, and is typically pluralised as such in English. ...

. She was born and raised in

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

and trained as a nurse at Wellington Technical College. In 1963, she began working at Wellington Hospital. In 1979, Ramsden enrolled at

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington (), also known by its shorter names "VUW" or "Vic", is a public university, public research university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and w ...

and studied for a degree in

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...

. In the 1980s, Ramsden developed ''Kawa Whakaruruhau'' or Cultural Safety in Nursing Education, an approach to health care which was both original and controversial. The approach required people and organisations in the health sector to consider Māori and other cultural identities that a patient brings with them as they access health services. These cultures include the culture of poverty, gender, sexual orientation or social class. Many of Ramsden’s recommendations were later legislated into nursing and midwifery education and adopted by other professions and movements in New Zealand and internationally; in 1992, cultural safety was officially incorporated into nursing training in New Zealand. In 1984, Ramsden was one of the women who formed the Spiral Collective to publish

Keri Hulme Keri Ann Ruhi Hulme (9 March 194727 December 2021) was a New Zealand novelist, poet and short-story writer. She also wrote under the pen name Kai Tainui. Her novel ''The Bone People'' won the Booker Prize in 1985; she was the first New Zealand ...

's novel, ''

The Bone People ''The Bone People'', styled by the writer and in some editions as ''the bone people'', is a 1984 novel by New Zealand writer Keri Hulme. Set on the coast of the South Island of New Zealand, the novel focuses on three characters, all of whom ar ...

'', when mainstream publishers had rejected it. The book went on to win the 1984

Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a prestigious literary award conferred each year for the best single work of sustained fiction written in the English language, wh ...

. In 2002, Ramsden completed her PhD at Victoria University of Wellington; her thesis was titled ''Cultural Safety and Nursing Education in Aotearoa and Te Waipounamu''. Ramsden died on 5 April 2003 at her Wellington home after a long illness with cancer. She was 57 years old.

Tariana Turia Dame Tariana Turia (née Woon; 8 April 1944 – 3 January 2025) was a New Zealand Māori protest movement, Māori rights activist and politician. She was first elected to New Zealand Parliament, Parliament in 1996 as a representative of the Ne ...

, then Associate Maori Affairs Minister, and historian Michael King both issued statements of remembrance on her passing. Ramsden had been invested as an

Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have r ...

two weeks before she died, the honour having been announced in the

2003 New Year Honours The 2003 New Year's Honours List is one of the annual New Year Honours, a part of the British monarch's honours system, where 1 January is marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of ot ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramsden, Irihapeti 1946 births 2003 deaths Educators from Wellington City Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit Ngāi Tahu people Rangitāne people Victoria University of Wellington alumni New Zealand nurses New Zealand Māori nurses New Zealand women nurses Medical anthropologists People in public health Indigenous health