John Fa’ukafa, who is of Tongan heritage, was awarded New Zealand's Young Nurse of the year, in September, at the New Zealand Nurses Organisation Toputanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki Aotearoa (NZNO) Annual General Meeting and Conference.

Fa’ukafa, a 29-year-old registered nurse at the Adult Sexual Health Service and Pohutukawa Clinic Te Toka Tumai in Auckland, received the award for his work in sexual health, including with sexual assault victims, and caring for marginalised communities.

Growing up among Auckland’s Pasifika community, Fa’ukafa said he was always curious about why sexual health was such a taboo topic of conversation.

After graduating in 2016, he worked in Auckland hospital orthopaedic and cardiac services before switching to the Auckland sexual health service in 2021, after noticing a lack of Pasifika presence. Fa’ukafa also works after-hours at the attached Pohutukawa adult sexual assault clinic.

“We need representation and presence in sexual health services — it’s such a stigmatising space . . . particularly in my culture,” Fa’ukafa says. “Why does representation matter? Representation matters because you want to see a physical manifestation of your dreams.”

Colleagues who nominated him said Fa’ukafa drew on his own experiences with racism and homophobia to support patients. He always sought to improve people’s access to sexual health services, and worked hard to support people with HIV.

Fa’ukafa also volunteered at hospital during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic and got involved with supporting gay and bisexual men at risk of contracting monkeypox during a global outbreak in 2022.

NZNO said he is recognised as a person who combines a professional approach with his authentic self, bringing out the best in other nursing staff by being warm, supportive, and honest.

"John consistently offers help to every other member of the wider multidisciplinary team. His generosity of spirit improves the working lives of everyone around him; doctors, receptionists/schedulers, nurses, cleaners, psychologists, and baristas.”

He is also the first Pasifika male nurse in New Zealand to provide after-hours forensic nursing care as part of the Pohutukawa Clinic, Adult Sexual Assault Service.