A failed paper set off a series of changes in Lemani Hingano-Taylor’s life, which has led her to a long list of successes.

Dunedin born and Wellington raised, Lemani had planned to be a Doctor from childhood. “We set up my high school subjects really well to get into medicine,” she says, adding she was strongly influenced by her parents. Her father had been a Psychiatric nurse (now manager in audit for Te Whatu ora), while her mum stayed home to look after the kids. Both parents immigrated from the Pacific Islands; her father (Tevita) from Vava’u, Tonga, and her mother (Salati) from Falelatai, Samoa and Fakaofo, Tokelau. When they arrived they spoke no English, and Lemani was always aware of how hard they’d worked to make a successful life here. The Pacific Island culture is very family oriented with strong cultural and spiritual values. “I had a strict upbringing and our parents endeavoured to raise us with a strong relationship with God, good values, morals and a good education so that we could do well in life.”

On track to reach her goals, after high school Lemani entered Otago University to study Health Science. She describes it as “a really big and hard year. There are 2,000 students all gunning for it”; it was highly competitive, and during that year Lemani realised “it wasn’t for me”. Despite all the preparation and good results through school, she came to the conclusion “I don’t think this is the right path for me”.

However, by the end of the year she did know she wanted to stay in healthcare, “so I chose Nursing”.  She went through some “what am I going to do with my life” thoughts as she changed gear and made a fresh plan. “I felt like I’d let my parents down, I’m the eldest child, (she has three younger siblings) I felt like a failure,” and keenly felt her position as a role model for her sisters and brother. “There was a lot of reflection, a lot of growth, realising [things] about myself, my values, my character,” it was a “learning who you are as a person” experience.   

Lemani switched to Otago Polytechnic and started her Nursing degree, then, in her second year she failed one paper, which shocked her. “Everything from Health Sciences was happening again... I felt embarrassed... Trying for something again was something I hadn’t really done before.” This prompted more soul searching; Lemani says she rethought her life choices. “I talked to Mum and Dad”, and decided to continue with Nursing. The course advisor had told Lemani about the Zero Fees Scheme at �ǿ�����MV��Ƶ����and it brought her to Invercargill.

“I repeated my second year at SIT, then did the third year. Having “stuffed up before” she says “It was another chance to redeem myself.” Lemani adds “my faith in God really grew as well” because of the second chance. “What other place do you really find God? He found me and pulled me out of that pit. It wasn’t until I was at my lowest point; God was very real to me. You start to trust less in yourself and more in God’s plan.”

And �ǿ�����MV��Ƶ����School of Nursing standards were considerably higher. “�ǿ�����MV��Ƶ����was stricter, where you only get one shot to pass”, and Lemani responded well to it. “Their rules really helped... I passed everything at �ǿ�����MV��Ƶ����with amazing support from our tutors. It’s not enough to do the minimum,” she explained. “It was stressful, but it pushed me to do well”.

“Trying harder and doing well means you work critically and have better comprehension... we’re the patient’s advocate and we catch a lot of things. Nursing teaches you to be a critical thinker.”

Shifting to �ǿ�����MV��Ƶ����also challenged Lemani to come out of her shell and learn confidence. “Yes, it was hard; I was new and an introvert; I always sat at the back of the class.” But she was happy to be at �ǿ�����MV��Ƶ����and made a couple of good friends. “We were there for each other”. She also had her church family to rely on. Their love and support helped Lemani through her training.

Lemani also appreciated �ǿ�����MV��Ƶ����Pasifika Liaison, Sam Sala. “He’s really good at reaching out to all the P.I. students and making sure he was there for support – in my last year it was so good to catch Sam in the events that he organised for the students, as well as helping to tutor other Pasifika students.

Now a Registered Nurse, Lemani works at the Adult Inpatient Mental Health Unit at Southland Hospital - It’s like the Emergency Department for mental health. “It’s very challenging, but fulfilling,” Lemani says.

“In physical health your body is very good at telling you something is wrong; the challenging thing [in mental health] is that often it is not obvious. But through many conversations (deep and superficial), therapeutic 1:1 care and engaging with whanau – that’s when you really start to paint the life story of the patient. Sometimes it’s not the current situation that is the key factor but more so the baggage of our past that we carry with us that makes us who we are.”

Lemani’s role includes dealing with patients and making appropriate treatment plans with the psychiatrist that focuses on their whole wellbeing. She will often liaise with whanau and other community supports to help give wrap-around support to the tangata whaiora (health consumer) on their journey once they are discharged from the service. “Our job is to help instil tools (sometimes not always possible due to lack of resources, but we try our best) in which they are able to maintain themselves once they are back in the community.”

There was “quite a lot” of learning on the job; as well as this, Lemani has completed postgraduate papers as part of her NESP (New Entry to Specialised Practice) requirements.

Lemani admits “I didn’t even want to go into mental health,” but her father (who was a Psychiatric Nurse in the 1990s) advised her to enter it. She also had a placement in mental health in her last year. Recalling his advice, “... it was the best type of Nursing to do, because of how holistic it is,“ she now acknowledges “Yes, Dad was right! For my personality, my values, who I am as a person; I feel like I need to be there.” Although there are some moments Lemani feels “I’m not cut out for this”, a situation will happen, and it reaffirms “I definitely ... should be in mental health”.

Lemani is settled in Invercargill and open to what the future holds. When she moved south, she met her husband Oliver, who’s from Fiji, while cherry picking in Cromwell in 2022. They married a month after she graduated in January 2024.

Looking back on her journey, Lemani said it was hard and stressful studying Monday to Friday, then working at the hospital at weekends. There was one stretch where she was at the hospital every day for three months, but she has made it out the other side, and is grateful for everything she went through. “It’s only by God’s grace, love and mercy that I’ve got to where I am,” she says.