Student nurse pivots to ICU educator

Designing educational posters for whānau of patients in ICU (Intensive Care Unit) wasn’t quite what student nurse Jakaea Rei had in mind when she won a scholarship for two weeks of clinical placement at the Taranaki Base Hospital.

But the project has given her a better understanding of patient care.

Jakaea, who has just completed her second year of the three-year Bachelor of Nursing degree at WITT, created posters that depict and explain how ICU works.

Jakaea - Ngā Ruahine, Ngāti Ruanui - was commissioned to create the posters under the Te Whatu Ora Taranaki Work Experience and Mentoring Scholarship she was awarded last year.

She says an earlier placement in ED (Emergency Department) got her interested in crisis care, and she was keen for hands-one experience in ICU .

Although she was eager to work alongside nurses to use what she had learned in nursing school, she found herself in the role of educator and graphic designer.

“The purpose of these posters was to help explain what the ICU and HDU [High Dependency Unit] environments entail, providing families and visitors with guidance on what to expect when they enter these critical care spaces.”

“Initially I was disappointed at not getting the hands-on nursing care, however over time I began to understand the significance of the project,” says 

“I was helping people navigate what can be an overwhelming environment. My posters had the potential to offer much-needed clarity to whānau members and loved ones, which ultimately gave me a deeper sense of purpose in my task.”

She spent time researching and speaking with families about their personal experience and discovering the things that they wish they knew before approaching this environment, as well as how to best communicate complex medical information clearly and with empathy.

“Although I wasn’t providing direct care, this project still allowed me to contribute to the unit and the whānau meaningfully, just in a different way,”

Jakaea decided to become a nurse because of her childhood memories of frequent hospital visits to see her chronically ill grandfather in New Plymouth. Her family moved to Melbourne when she was a pre-schooler, but they returned each year to visit ‘Papa’, her koro. She recalls being impressed by the nurses and how they cared for and communicated with patients.

“I know it sounds weird, but I’ve always enjoyed being around hospitals. I love helping people and I want to make a difference and be a good nurse.”

There is a touch of déjà vu being back in the Taranaki Base Hospital, she says. The familiarity of certain wards takes her back to her first impressions of the medical world and remind her of why she’s come full circle to find her place as a nurse now.

Her A2 posters were recently installed in the ICU ward.

Caption: Nursing ākonga Jakaea Rei with the posters she designed