Nursing wins out over rugby
Victor Tu’ungafasi used to dream of following in big brother Ofa’s steps into professional rugby.
But while All Black prop Ofa’s fearsome physicality on the rugby field has landed the odd opponent in hospital, Victor discovered his true calling was caring for others, leading him to pursue a career in healthcare.
Now, at the age of 21, Victor has graduated with a Bachelor of Nursing – Pacific from the Manukau Institute of Technology (MIT), and becomes one of just a handful of male Pasifika nurses in the country.
‘‘I’ve had some people ask ‘why are you going into nursing? That’s a lady’s job’. I said ‘it’s a new generation. It’s a femaledominated area, but men can do it too’.’’
According to the New Zealand Nursing Workforce 2014–2015 report by the Nursing Council of New Zealand, only 8 per cent of nurses were male and only 3 per cent identified as Pasifika.
Projections from a Future Nursing Workforce report by the Nursing Council of New Zealand show a shortage is expected by 2020, and by 2035 the country could be short 15,000 nurses.
Victor was the eighth of 12 children, born in Tonga and raised in the south Auckland suburb of Ma¯ngere.
He didn’t tell his family about his decision to go into nursing until after he’d enrolled, and says they were always very supportive of him.
He knew it was for him right from his first class. And being stereotyped wasn’t going to discourage him.
‘‘I always had that thought ‘what are other Pasifika people going to think of me?’
Victor says most Pasifika youth aspire to be sportspeople, and he wants to set an example, especially to young males, that they can pursue any profession they’re interested in.
Victor still plays premier club rugby in Auckland for Grammar TEC.
‘‘Playing rugby was the goal, but the more I do nursing, the more I don’t want to step away,’’ he says.
Now he’s preparing for his postgraduate study at Auckland University specialising in mental health nursing.
Of his cohort of 120 students at MIT, 12 were males and about five or six of them were Pasifika.
‘‘I just want to get it out there that nursing is an option for Pasifika males, it’s not just the rugby. There’s always a shortage in nursing, especially Pasifika males. It’s a rewarding career.’’