Nursing in New ZealandNew Zealand Defence Force Nursing Lieutenant Colonel Maree SheardDirector of Nursing Services Website: www.army.mil.nz/careers/become-an-officer/specialist-officers/nursing.htm Email: maree.sheard@nzdf.mil.nz Maree trained as a General and Obstetric Nurse in Whangarei in the late 1970s. Following registration she combined raising a family with part-time work in mental health and district nursing. Maree chose the military as a career when she was investigating challenging employment options. Following a selection process in 1993, she was commissioned into the Royal New Zealand Nursing Corps. Maree worked in primary healthcare in the New Zealand Army before being posted to the Royal New Zealand Air Force Base at Ohakea where she qualified as a New Zealand Defence Force flight nurse. From there she deployed for six months to East Timor with 3 Squadron Iroquois helicopters as an aeromedical evacuation nurse. In 2002 Maree was promoted to the rank of Major and appointed the Principal Nursing Officer of the 2nd Field Hospital at Linton Military Camp in Palmerston North. During her tenure at 2 Field Hospital she completed a six month tour of duty to Bamian in Afghanistan where she worked as a nursing officer in the Regimental Aid Post of the New Zealand Provincial Reconstruction Team. Upon her return from Afghanistan Maree attended the New Zealand Defence Force Command and Staff College in Trentham. She graduated from Staff College in December 2006 and was appointed Staff Officer to the Director of Nursing based at the Defence Health Directorate at the Headquarters of the New Zealand Defence Force in Wellington. Maree was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and appointed the Director of Nursing Services for the New Zealand Defence Force in 2007. Maree’s role is primarily in policy development and the career management of nursing officers in the New Zealand Defence Force. Whilst the focus of the position is, through the levels of command, to add quality to the delivery of healthcare to soldiers, sailors and airmen and women serving in the New Zealand Defence Force, Maree is proud to consider herself first and foremost an officer in the New Zealand Army. In addition to being a graduate of the New Zealand Command and Staff College, Maree has a Masters in Strategic Studies from Victoria University and is New Zealand’s Honorary Nursing Officer to the Queen.
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