Nursing in New Zealand

Directors of Nursing

Below you can find information on the Directors of Nursing from each District Health Board (DHB).

Photo of Denise Brewster-Webb, Director of Nursing, Northland DHB.

Denise Brewster-Webb
Director of Nursing, Northland DHB

Website: www.northlanddhb.org.nz
Email: dbwebb@nhl.co.nz

Denise is proud to have been a nurse and midwife for over 30 years. She has worked as a clinician, nurse manager, nurse leader in acute care, extended care and primary care in both the public and private sector. She has also worked in nursing regulation for five years

She holds the following tertiary qualifications:

Diploma Applied Science Nursing Management
Bachelor of Nursing
Post graduate Diploma Legal Studies
Certificate in Inter-professional leadership
Master Business Administration (Health Service Management)

Denise has worked in three Australian States (Victoria, South Australia and Queensland) and spent two life changing years in the Solomon Islands in the mid nineties. Prior to moving to New Zealand was a Nursing Director at an acute care Hospital in Brisbane.

She is passionate about:

patient safety & clinical risk management,
nursing & midwifery leadership
supporting nurses & midwives in the important work they do as key stakeholders in health service delivery
regulation that enhances roles of nurses & midwives whilst meeting the mandate of protection of the public

Jocelyn Peach
Director of Nursing, Waitemata DHB

Website: www.waitematadhb.govt.nz
Email: jocelyn.peach@waitematadhb.govt.nz

Photo of Taima Campbell, Director of Nursing, Auckland DHB.

Taima Campbell
Director of Nursing and Midwifery, Auckland DHB

Website: www.adhb.govt.nz
Email: taimac@adhb.govt.nz

Denise Kivell
Photo of Denise Kivell, Director of Nursing, Counties Manukau DHB.

Director of Nursing, Counties Manukau DHB

Website: www.cmdhb.org.nz , www.cmdhb.org.nz/Counties/Funded-Services/PHC-nursing/default.htm
Email: dkivell@middlemore.co.nz

Denise became the Director of Nursing in May 2007. Prior to this appointment she has worked at Counties for 15 years in a variety of inpatient, community and primary health care leadership roles. The most recent position as Nurse Leader Primary Healthcare was a shared role with the University of Auckland with responsibility for the strategic direction of primary care nursing at CMDHB and worked in partnership with the university to influence and develop relevant courses to enhance capability and capacity of the nursing workforce.

Denise is a member of the Executive Management Team and advises the Chief Executive on nursing and related clinical matters. She has responsibility for developing and implementing the strategic vision for nursing across CMDHB (funder & provider arms). A key principle is promoting nursing at all levels across the continuum of care.

Denise is committed to linking strategies utilising the nursing workforce to positively impact on reducing health inequalities and actively advocates a population health approach.

Some of the initiatives to support nursing Counties are:

Professional Development and Recognition Programme (accredited by NCNZ).
Nurse Entry to Practice Programme (accredited by NCNZ).
Extensive Clinical Training Agency funded Post-graduate Nursing qualifications that are aligned with workforce development and the District Strategic Plan.
Strong senior Clinical Nursing Director partnership with General Managers & Clinical Directors.
Leading a quality initiative Releasing Time to Care-adapted from NHS Productive ward programme.
Active Primary Health Care Nursing reference group.

Photo of Sue Hayward, Director of Nursing, Waikato DHB.

Sue Hayward
Director of Nursing, Waikato DHB

Website: www.waikatodhb.govt.nz
Email: haywards@waikatodhb.govt.nz

Sue has been Director of Nursing and Midwifery (DON/M) since February 2008, and has been nursing since graduating in 1977. Sue’s clinical background is neonatal, and has worked in neonatal units and services in the Hutt, Whangarei and Christchurch Women’s hospitals. Sue is a Registered Nurse with a Bachelor of Nursing, Postgraduate Diploma in Health Management and Masters in Health Sciences.

The role of DON/M Waikato District Health Board (WDHB) reports to the CEO providing advice and guidance to the CEO and Executive team of which she is part of. Sue heads a team of 5 Clinical Nurse and Midwifery Directors who in turn provide professional oversight and lead Maori nurses, professional development, midwifery, rural, community and mental health. Alongside these roles the newly created role in 2009 of Nursing Director, Waikato hospital has key accountabilities to Sue as DON/M Waikato DHB and the Group Manager Waikato hospital. This structure ensures the operational and professional oversight of nurses in the main hospital of the DHB has adequate nursing involvement.

On a national level Sue is:

Chair of the Nursing Advisory Group to the CTA.
Represents NENZ on Workforce group.
Represents the lead DHB DON’s on the Cardiac Surgical network.

Sue has also been the Chair of the NETP project group, and was a member of the Safe Staffing Healthy Workplace committee of Inquiry.

On a local level the key activities are set out in the Nursing and Midwifery strategic plan. In summary our focus is on:

recruitment and retention.
developing the right staff and skill mix for each specialty.
developing a clear pathway for Nurse Practitioner development and inclusion within the organisation.
leadership capability of nurses and midwives.
implementing the recommendations of the COI Safe Staffing Healthy Workplace.
develop a culture that expects and encourages nurses and midwives to be involved and engaged, at every level of the organisation.

Christine Payne
Director of Nursing, Bay of Plenty DHB

Website: www.bopdhb.govt.nz
Email: christine.payne@bopdhb.govt.nz

Photo of Gary Lees, Director of Nursing, Lakes DHB.

Gary Lees
Director of Nursing, Lakes DHB

Website: www.lakesdhb.govt.nz
Email: gary.lees@lakesdhb.govt.nz

Gary has been a Nurse for 20 years and has worked in a variety of mental health settings covering clinical, managerial and professional roles. He moved to New Zealand in April 2006 to the role of Director of Nursing and Midwifery for Lakes DHB.

Gary's previous role was managing the learning and development system for an NHS Trust in the UK as well as being the Organisational Development lead. His main interests are organisational culture and how it is impacted by leadership practice, complex adaptive systems, partnership development and organisational learning

There are about 500 Nurses employed directly by Lakes DHB. There are also large numbers of Nurses working in varied roles within the Lakes communities. The provider arm of the Lakes District Health Board provides secondary hospital and community based health care services to the people of the region. Lakes DHB has hospitals at Taupo and Rotorua that have a combined total of 210 beds.

Photo of Lynsey Bartlett, Director of Nursing, Tairawhiti DHB.

Lynsey Bartlett

Director of Nursing, Tairawhiti DHB

Website: www.tdh.org.nz
Email:lynsey.bartlett@tdh.org.nz

Lynsey is a registered nurse with a clinical background in intensive care and paediatrics. More recently Lynsey as been working in the area of healthcare quality and risk prior to her appointment as Director of Nursing in 2005.

Lynsey has completed a PG diploma in health informatics and knows the value of using real information as a tool to identify, quantify and support the need for change. Lynsey also holds a PG Diploma in health management.

Photo of Kerry-Ann Adlam, Director of Nursing, Taranaki DHB.

Kerry-Ann Adlam
Director of Nursing, Taranaki DHB

Website: www.tdhb.org.nz
Email: kerry-ann.adlam@tdhb.org.nz

Kerry-Ann Adlam has been nursing since 1991. She gained both her Bachelor of Nursing and Master of Nursing qualifications in Sydney, Australia and worked predominantly in surgical, perioperative settings, and oncology before becoming the Director of Nursing at TDHB in 2001.

The Director of Nursing role reports to the CEO of Taranaki District Health Board (TDHB) and is a member of the senior executive team. It provides strategic direction for competent practice, education and performance across the nursing and midwifery sectors in the TDHB.

Kerry-Ann heads a team of 12 within the Nursing Directorate, encompassing the Assistant Director of Nursing, six Nurse Educators, a Nurse Consultant - Aged Care, two Administrators and a Personal Assistant. The main work programme for this team includes:

Return to Nursing - competency education programme for nurses returning to work.
Nursing Entry to Practice programme - new graduate mentoring and education.
Professional Development Recognition Programme.
Ongoing professional development programmes for nursing/midwifery courses.

At a national level Kerry-Ann is a member of the CTA - Nursing Advisory Group, on the Clinical Advisory Committee for Quality Health NZ, on the WITT and WINTEC Local Advisory Committees, and a member of the National Nurses Organisation. She has also held roles as the secretary of the Nurse Executives of New Zealand and Project Manager for the national Nursing Entry to Practice Programme (NETP).

Locally, key activities are centred around fostering and developing quality of worklife with positive patient outcomes, including:

Retention and recruitment
Continuing education and professional development
Professional nursing practice
Developing and expanding nursing career pathways

Photo of Elaine Papps, Director of Nursing, Taranaki DHB.

Elaine Papps
Director of Nursing, Hawkes Bay DHB

Website: www.hawkesbaydhb.govt.nz
Email: elaine.papps@hawkesbaydhb.govt.nz

Photo of Jeff Hammond, Director of Nursing, Whanganui DHB.

Jeff Hammond
Director of Nursing, Whanganui DHB

Jeff has been Director of Nursing at Whanganui District Health Board since December 2003.

Jeff graduated from Manawatu Polytechnic in 1987 as a Registered Comprehensive Nurse. He graduated from the Universal College of Learning with a Bachelor of Nursing in 2000 and from Massey University in 2003 with a Master of Nursing.

After a number of years switching back and forth from medical, surgical and mental health nursing in New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom, Jeff settled in mental health nursing in Wanganui where he held leadership positions since 1996.

Jeff is a member of the Te Atihaunui-a-Paparangi Iwi and affiliates with two Whanganui River hapu, Ngati Tuera and Ngati Pamoana.

Website: www.wdhb.org.nz
Email: jeffh@ghw.co.nz

Photo of Sue Wood, Director of Nursing, MidCentral Health.

Sue Wood
Director of Nursing, MidCentral DHB

Website: www.midcentral.co.nz
Email: sue.wood@midcentral.co.nz

Sue has been a Director of Nursing for seven years and is currently Director of Nursing at MidCentral Health. Prior to this time Sue was at the Royal Melbourne Hospital from 1985 to 1997, as the Quality Improvement Co-ordinator for seven years, the Nurse Educator of the Coronary Care Course for three years and was a cardiac nurse from the time of registration. Sue registered as an RGON in Greymouth in 1981. Her Masters thesis explored: Important aspects of nursing care: Do inpatients and nurses agree?

Chiquita Hanson
Director of Nursing (Primary Health Care), Mid Central DHB

Website: www.midcentral.co.nz
Email: chiquita.hansen@midcentral.co.nz

Photo of Helen Pocknall, Director of Nursing, Wairarapa DHB.

Helen Pocknall
Director of Nursing, Wairarapa DHB

Website: www.wairarapa.dhb.org.nz
Email: helen.pocknall@wairarapa.dhb.govt.nz

Photo of Cheyne Chalmers, Director of Nursing, Capital and Coast DHB.

Cheyne Chalmers
Director of Nursing and Midwifery, Capital and Coast DHB

Website: www.ccdhb.org.nz
Email: cheyne.chalmers@ccdhb.org.nz

Cheyne has a clinical background in respiratory, oncology, palliative care and otorhinolaryngology nursing. She was part of the development of National Respiratory Nursing Standards, and has had involvement in the development of post-graduate education for nurses including clinical and leadership pathways. This included the mentorship of leadership students at University of Auckland. Cheyne is also a member of Nurse Executives of New Zealand and College of Nurses Aotearoa.

Cheyne was previously a Nurse Leader at Greenlane Clinical Centre (Cardiac HBO), responsible for the professional leadership of nursing within Greenlane Clinical Centre/Maungakiekie Campus. She worked in partnership with the General Manager – Medical, Surgical and Green Lane and the Clinical Leader, Greenlane Clinical Centre/Maungakiekie Campus to ensure that the goals and objectives of the Auckland DHB were incorporated into the day to day operations. She also partnered with the other Nurse and Midwifery Leaders to develop and implement the strategic directions for nursing and midwifery at the Auckland DHB.

Capital and Coast DHB is currently undergoing significant change with the building of new hospitals. The Director of Nursing and Midwifery leads the development of strategies that enable nurses and midwives to deliver quality care to patient/family/whanau within the population we serve.

Nursing and midwifery is committed to working in partnership with the community and all members of the health care team to achieve the organisational strategies. This has four main focuses:

patient focused care – model of care, clinical effectiveness, quality and legal compliance
leadership
collaborative practice
professional growth.

Some of the initiatives to support nursing and midwifery at Captial and Coast DHB are:

leading a programme of change for new models of care in the new environment
ensuring the change management process/change preparedness of both senior nursing and clinical nursing staff towards the New Regional Hospital
Professional Development and Recognition Programme (accredited by NCNZ)
Nurse Entry to Practice Programme (accredited by NCNZ)
numerous Clinical Training Agency programmes run jointly with Victoria University
Professional Development Unit that coordinates and initiates education to meet clinical need e.g. preceptor education

Eldred Gilbert, Director of Nursing, Capital and Coast DHB.

Eldred Gilbert
Director of Nursing (Primary Health Care), Capital and Coast DHB

Website: www.ccdhb.org.nz
Email: eldred.gilbert@ccdhb.org.nz

Photo of Toni Dal Din, Director of Nursing, Hutt Valley DHB.

Toni Dal Din
Director of Nursing, Hutt Valley DHB

Website: www.huttvalleydhb.org.nz
Email: toni.dal_din@huttvalleydhb.org.nz

Toni was appointed to the position of Director of Nursing in July 2005. His previous role was Clinical Nurse Consultant for Mental Health and Director of Area Mental Health Services for Hutt Valley DHB.

There were a number of challenges when he started his current role including continuing work on gaining Magnet Recognition accreditation by the American Nurses Credentialing Centre that had started in 2002 This was a very valuable experience for him and the organisation.

Toni is committed to strengthening nursing leadership and education opportunities for nurses to encourage the development of a highly skilled autonomous workforce that can deliver effective interdisciplinary patient care.

The main focuses are:

continuing development of nursing leadership at all levels
implementation of the Magnet quality framework
review and consolidation of our nursing education and training programmes linking with our tertiary partners
endorsement and strengthening of the Professional Development Recognition Programme
facilitating nurses to articulate their practice and identify opportunities for practice development.

Photo of Phillipa Molloy, Director of Nursing, Nelson Marlborough DHB.

Phillipa Molloy
Director of Nursing, Nelson Marlborough DHB

Website: www.nmdhb.govt.nz
Email: phillipa.molloy@nmhs.govt.nz

Phillipa completed her NZRGON at Wellington Hospital in the early seventies. She then worked in many specialties as a registered nurse over the next 20 years including general medicine, orthopaedics, paediatrics, SCBU, postnatal and urology. Her last clinical post was as Charge Nurse Urology, ENT in Wellington in late nineties. She moved to Hutt Valley Health and spent two years working as part of the Nursing Development Unit in a Nursing Quality Improvement role. She was seconded to the Director of Nursing role for a period during that time. Phillipa has been at the Nelson Marlborough DHB since late 2000 initially as Nurse Advisor/Professional Educator for Nelson and Rural Hospitals and then through varying iterations to her current role as the DHB-wide Director of Nursing. She also spent a number of years working as a surveyor for Quality Health New Zealand.

Phillipa is the Central region chair of the Nurse Executives of New Zealand. She also belongs to the College of Nurses Aotearoa New Zealand, Royal College of Nursing Australia (RCNA ) and Infusion Nurses Society (USA)

Her professional interests are:

quality improvement in healthcare
palliative care in acute settings
nursing management and leadership including the Professional Development Unit model
undergraduate nurse preparation
rural health provision.

Photo of Jane O'Malley, Director of Nursing, West Coast DHB.

Jane O'Malley
Director of Nursing, West Coast DHB

Website: westcoastdhb.org.nz
Email: jane.omalley@westcoastdhb.org.nz

Photo of Mary Gordon, Director of Nursing, Canterbury DHB.

Mary Gordon
Director of Nursing, Canterbury DHB

Website: www.cdhb.govt.nz
Email: mary.gordon@cdhb.govt.nz

Photo of Annette Farr, Director of Nursing, South Canterbury DHB.

Annette Farr
Director of Nursing, South Canterbury DHB

Website: www.scdhb.co.nz
Email: afarr@timhosp.co.nz

Annette trained in the waning years of the old Hospital based system and her background in nursing includes Intensive Care/Coronary Care and many years as the Night Duty manager for Timaru Hospital. She has previously worked in both Australia and the United Kingdom.

In 2006 she completed her Master of Nursing with a thesis titled “Satisfaction in nursing: Reality in a secondary hospital in New Zealand”.

Annette began working for the South Canterbury DHB as the Nurse Advisor in December 2004. The position includes the role of Staff Development Coordinator.

The focus for the Nurse Advisor role is to:

promote the professionalism of nursing through providing: professional advice, leadership and support to staff throughout the South Canterbury DHB
enable the development of an innovative and professionally competent workforce
ensure the development of standards for nursing and practice is achieved
provide professional nursing leadership in the overall development and direction of the delivery of nursing.

Photo of Teresa Bradfield, Director of Nursing, Otago DHB.

Teresa Bradfield
Director of Nursing, Otago DHB

Website: www.otagodhb.govt.nz
Email: teresa.bradfield@healthotago.co.nz

Photo of Leanne Samuel, Director of Nursing, Southland DHB.

Leanne Samuel
Director of Nursing and Midwifery, Southland DHB

Website: www.southlandhealth.co.nz
Email: leanne.samuel@sdhb.govt.nz

Leanne is a nurse and midwife with a passion for quality nursing and midwifery service delivery. She is passionate about public health care and enjoys her role for the wider Southland DHB.

In 1997 she attended a Harvard Medical School/JF Kennedy School of Government Executive Program in residence in Boston USA specific to Health Care policy. In 1998 she was awarded the Commonwealth Federation of Nurses scholarship to attend the National Health Service (NHS) anniversary celebrations in the United Kingdom. She worked in an independent midwifery practice, in partnership with two other midwives for over two years and in 2001 and 2002 she was the Manager of Corporate Development for the Royal Brisbane and Royal Women’s hospitals. From 2003 until now she has been the Director of Nursing and Midwifery for SDHB, a role she also held in the mid 1990s.

Southland DHB has over a 1000 nurse midwives working in many different parts of the health sector in the region and serve a resident population of 105,000 and thousands of tourists every year.

Recent highlights include:

Successful Nursing Council Accreditation for Education Programs – revalidated, PDRP, NETP, Return to nursing.
Consolidation of the secondary care Nursing/Midwifery leadership structure.
Consolidation of Emergency Planning direction.
Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) and Ministry of Health scholarship recipients for rural health and orthopaedics.
Four nurses won top awards in overseas conference presentations.
The nurse led MenzB project was highly successful.
Primary Nursing Health Care Nursing Strategy developed and supported by the Board.
20 Southland nurse leaders completed a Post graduate certificate in Nursing leadership via Auckland university via funds sourced from Clinical Training Agency.
Associate Director of Nursing (ADON) Primary Health Care has been appointed to roll out the primary healthcare nursing strategy
Part time ADON for Mental Health also appointed.
Emergency Planning support for Avian and other emergencies, for primary and secondary care providers is being strengthened in conjunction with Primay Health Organisations (PHO), Otago DHB and South Island Regional Emergency Centre.
Dedicated linkages/commitment to DHB/District Annual Plan priorities i.e. Health Eating Health Action(HEHA), reducing inequalities, the diabetes strategy, the heart manual etc evident in day to day nurse specialist and nurse educator practice.
Maternity Strategic Plan in operation to support rural primary maternity facilities and secondary care maternity.
Cap Plan pilot undertaken, and business case development to explore potential benefits in the medical/surgical/rehabilitation areas is ongoing
Nurse Led Clinic consolidation and growth in Orthopaedics, Urology, with future opportunities to be explored in areas such as: Ophthalmology, pre-admission clinics and Oncology
Baby Friendly Hospital Accreditation was successfully achieved at Southland Hospital in 2006
Family Violence initiative gathering momentum and meeting Ministry of Health/University of Auckland audit requirements
Director of Nursing/Midwifery membership of District Health Board New Zealand (DHBNZ) national MECA(Meras) bargaining strategy team
Southland DHB representative on Community Trust of Southland health scholarship program
Favourable results from the Auckland University NZ hospital nurses survey 2004 affirming of Director of Nursing role and improvements

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Page last updated: 23 November 2009