The current members of the Nurses for Children and Young People Aotearoa national section are:

 Committee member profiles

• Becky Conway - Chairperson I am privileged to be a member of the NCYPA committee, where I can consider more widely the health needs of New Zealand children and will respond thoughtfully to policy which concerns children and their families by way of submissions.    I am proud to have worked “at the coalface” as a staff nurse in a paediatric surgical ward at Christchurch Hospital for nearly twenty years. I have recently been appointed to a Nurse Educator position in Child Health and bring enthusiasm, creativity and clinical experience surrounding children and surgery to this new role.
• Gilli Lewis - Committee Member Currently I am the Clinical Nurse Specialist for Paediatric Diabetes at C&C DHB. I really enjoy the comprehensive nature of this job - working with children when they are in-patients, out-patients and in the community. The nature of the job means I am developing long-term relationships with these children and their families, which I love. I have a passion for children, child health and welfare, and so it has been a privilege to become a member of this committee and get to know an amazing bunch of other child health enthusiasts from across the country. NCYPA is an opportunity for me to develop connections and collaboration with health professionals working in Child Health throughout New Zealand, and help establish a louder voice for Children.
• Lydia Snell - Treasurer I work as a Paediatric Liaison Nurse (PLN) for the Bay of Plenty District Health Board. My place of work is the community of the Eastern Bay of Plenty. I returned to nursing after being a fulltime mother of 4 children, now all adults. I worked in the local maternity unit for four years, covering shifts in antenatal, postnatal and the level 2 Special Care baby unit. I then moved into Public Health Nursing (PHN). I took on major roles in TB work, Wellchild provision, and also helped in coordinating the 2005 MeNZ B campaign, as well as working with children and their families through schools. During my time as a PHN I completed two post grad certificates, the Child and Family Health Nursing certificate, and Primary Health Care Specialty Nursing certificate. I also gained a Certificate of Proficiency in Professional Supervision. In my role as a PLN, I work as part of a family health team which consists of two 0.5 FTE social workers and myself fulltime. We work together to deliver child health services which are integrated across, primary and community services. A large proportion of the families we work with are Maori and also from high deprivation areas. I look forward to being able to work on the NCYPA committee to advocate for those who often do not have a voice.terest in oncology and palliative care.
• Rachel Geddes - Committee Member I am a Clinical Nurse Specialist at Christchurch Hospital working with children and their families living with cancer. I work both within the acute hospital setting and in the community. I discovered my passion for paediatric nursing as a new graduate while my interest in Paediatric Oncology developed while working in London. I have recently completed my Clinical Masters journey and I am working towards compiling my portfolio for NP endorsement. For the last few years I have been a nursing representative on the New Zealand Paediatric Oncology Steering Group (POSG) Pacific Island Project which aims to help improve outcomes for children diagnosed with cancer in the Pacific. It is with pleasure that I have been given this opportunity to work with the Nurses for Children and Young People of Aotearoa national committee.

• Linda Jackson - Committee Member I am a RGON but initially completed my RGN and RSCN in the UK in the 1990’s. I practiced in a wide variety of paediatric settings in the UK at Alder Hey Childrens Hospital  in Liverpool but in the longer term I specialised in Paediatric Burns/Plastics for 10 years. Undertaking post graduate study in adult education.
  Since arriving in NZ I have had more strategic roles in paediatrics. Initially employed in Kidz First, then as the Clinical Nurse Educator for Gynaecology and finally moving back into my chosen field as CNE for Burns and Plastics at Middlemore Hospital. I was particularly involved with education around care of complex paediatric burn patients in the adult centre. I also ran a 30 point 2 semester speciality paper for the University of Auckland for a couple of years in plastic surgery nursing – this incorporated both adult and paediatric perspectives.
  I am currently the CNE in General Surgery for MercyAscot Hospitals, the largest private surgical care providers in NZ. We cater for a number of children receiving surgical interventions both privately and through DHB contracts. My role involves leading our paediatric advisory group to review and develop paediatric policy/procedure, plus provide education to enable the meeting of local and international best practice and therefore provide excellence in care. I am particularly interested in children receiving surgical care in the adult setting and really looking forward to the opportunity this committee position will give me to be involved with paediatric care on a wider context as well as assist me in my local goals for paediatric care provision.
• Sharon Payne - Committee Member I am currently employed as a Nurse Practitioner in the Emergency Department of Hawkes Bay Hospital. My scope of practice includes the care of patients of all ages but with a specialty of children. My scope around children includes minor injury or illness to providing leadership during resuscitation. I really enjoy working with children and their families and making their ED experience memorable in a positive way, by providing good pain relief, appropriate age related communication and ensuring we go out of our way to make our department child friendly. I teach the Emergency Nurses paediatric course in NZ and Australia and also teach ACLS – mainly the paeds section. Occasionally in my spare time I do shifts in a primary health care facility, and have worked in Australia which provides me with a depth of how it is over a variety of places. 

• Penny Parsons - Committee Member In 2003, I moved with my family from the U.K. to New Zealand, and have been Manager/Children’s Nurse at Rainbow Place, the children and young people’s service of Hospice Waikato since 2004. This unique service supports children and young people affected either by life-limiting, life-threatening illness, or the death of a loved one. I embarked on a course of post graduate study in 2007 looking at Paediatric Palliative Care both in New Zealand and internationally. The Rainbow Place model of care has been developed based on this research and is fully supported by Hospice Waikato.  Flexible packages of care are provided by experienced children’s nurses and therapists in various settings including home, hospital and at Rainbow Place.  In 2011 an in-depth review of the service by international researcher and Professor of Nursing, Philip Darbyshire, has given Rainbow Place some expert guidance for future growth and development.
  I trained at Westminster Hospital and Westminster Children’s Hospital in London as a Registered General Nurse and Registered Sick Children’s Nurse.  My career has focused mainly on paediatric nursing in a wide variety of settings in the UK. I worked as a Staff Nurse on one of the first adolescent units to be set up in the UK at Westminster Children’s Hospital. This was followed by two years of children’s ENT nursing in Bath, after which I managed a general paediatric ward in Germany whilst serving as a Nursing Officer in the Royal Air Force. Back in ‘civi street’, I worked on a paediatric neurology ward in London, followed by five years as Head of Care at a special school for children with complex disabilities, and then five years as a Children’s Community Nurse in Poole Dorset..

• Kate Weston - Professional Nursing Advisor NZNO I am a Registered General and Obstetric nurse, having undertaken a hospital based programme at Palmerton North Hospital, completing in 1982. I undertook subsequent education, gaining a BA (Social Sciences) qualification majoring in Nursing Studies. I also hold a Masters of Nursing (Hons.) degree. My experience in nursing has been diverse, in both community and hospital settings, with a focus on Children’s and Women’s Health. I am passionate about quality care delivery and was previously the Quality of Service Manager in the Child, Women and Family Service, Waitemata DHB. I am currently employed as a Professional Nursing Adviser (PNA) , a position that I took up in May 2008. Part of my role as PNA is to provide support to NYCPA, The College of Neonatal Nurses Aotearoa, Flight Nurses and Respiratory Nurse Specialists. I am also the link person for the Midwives Network. Email contact: katew@nzno.org.nz.