Richard Sullivan is pleased to announce the appointment of Nadine Gray (Te Whakatōhea) as National Chief Nurse for Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora, from 1 July.

Currently Chief Nursing Officer at Te Aka Whai Ora | Māori Health Authority, Nadine has a proven track record of strategic leadership, clinical expertise, and a deep commitment to advancing Māori health outcomes.

The primary purpose of the National Chief Nurse role is to provide strong professional leadership for our highly valued nurses across the system, ensuring the delivery of safe, high-quality care. This includes developing and maintaining the nursing workforce as well as increasing the proportion of Māori and Pacific nurses. As a member of the National Clinical Leadership Team, Nadine will help ensure that clinical advice and expertise underpins our strategic decisions, especially for service design and delivery.

Nadine’s previous experience includes roles as Clinical Chief Advisor Nursing at Manatū Hauora | Ministry of Health, and as Māori Clinical Nurse Specialist in Cancer Care at Capital & Coast DHB, supporting whānau Māori in cancer care pathways. She holds a Master of Health Sciences with First Class Honours and a Bachelor of Nursing and is currently an adjunct teaching fellow at the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Practice at Victoria University of Wellington.

We extend a huge thanks to Emma Hickson for the valuable contribution she has made over recent months as Interim National Lead, Nursing, pending a permanent appointment.  Emma will continue to support Nadine for the next few weeks, as she transitions into the new role.

Further appointments to the National Clinical Leadership Team will be announced over the coming weeks.

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