Pakeha New Zealander, 3+ generations on Dad’s side, 1st generation on my Dutch Mum’s. Proud parent of three adult kids who whakapapa to Waikato Tainui through their Mum. Born and bred in Auckland, under the shadow of the Waitakere Ranges, with the Oratia Creek at the boundary of our home.
I have spent my life working as a nurse in mental health, having first registered in 1981. I remember travelling into town past the Avondale Mental Asylum when I was still a child. The sense of a place of fear, where others were kept away from society was palpable, even at that age.
It has always mattered to me that what I do is making a difference. I feel I have received a great gift from those I worked with and for, my nursing colleagues and many other mental health professionals, the amazing peer workers and advocates I have been privileged to work alongside, and most of all, the patients, consumers and whaiora who have let me into their lives and from whom I have learnt so much.
I tell my colleagues how blessed I have been in my career:
* the opportunities I have had, roles that have helped shape mental health and disability services in New Zealand and Australia
* the people I have been privileged to work with, working in partnership to improve mental health services for Maori, and for all who live in Aotearoa.
* the range of experience I have gained – in governance, management, leadership, funding and designing services, strategic planning, advocacy, and all the many clinical roles, both as an RN and as a clinical leader.
And then I tell my junior colleagues in nursing that there isn’t a more fulfilling career than this!
I have recently finished a 2 year stint as the team leader at Te Whare O Matairangi, the acute unit at Wellington Hospital. We made some transformative changes as a team; had a queue of people offering to work with us, had and continue to reach significant zero seclusion milestones, made a growing space for Te Ao Maori in the daily running of the unit, and and increased our peer workforce 6 fold in partnership with NGOs.
Before that I spent almost 9 years in Sydney, working at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, frequently acknowledged as the best hospital in Australia. I worked in many roles there, from an RN/CNC/NUM in the new trauma informed Short Stay Acute Unit to the management of the Camperdown Marrickville Redfern district and its teams. The common element in all the roles was my strong interest in the community/hospital interface and how to make that work better. One of the many highlights was managing the development of a team of Nurse Practitioners focused on improving that interface.
I’m a new member of Te Ao Maramatanga. Yet when I look through the website and see the colleagues I have worked with or know, it doesn’t feel like somewhere new, it feels like coming home.
Trained as a Registered Psychiatric Nurse at Carrington Hospital, Auckland
Advanced Diploma in Nursing, Auckland Technical Institute
Certificate of Perssonel Management and Industrial Relations, Auckland University
BA (Social Sciences) Massey University