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Story: Mental health services

Mental health nurse practitioner

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Mental health nurse practitioner

Otago nurse Bernadette Forde-Paus became one of New Zealand's first mental health nurse practitioners in 2002. This qualification allowed her to prescribe medicines and order laboratory tests in her area of expertise. In 2009 the Otago District Health Board employed her to work with adults who had received a dual diagnosis of intellectual disability and major mental illness.

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Otago Daily Times

Reference: 17 January 2009

by Peter McIntosh

Permission of the Otago Daily Times must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Warwick Brunton, Mental health services – Community care, 1990s onwards, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/29426/mental-health-nurse-practitioner (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Warwick Brunton, published 6 April 2011.