2024 Excellence in Leadership - Established Leader

Jenny Prentice – Hall and Prior Group

An internationally recognised expert in stomal therapy, Jenny provides oversight and clinical care in wound, skin and ostomy management at Hall & Prior Health and Aged Care Group. She is committed to championing best practice in wound management as she works collaboratively with colleagues across multiple sights, transforming the way all staff approach wound care. Jenny was the Founding Editor of Wound Practice and Research in 1993 and is currently on the Editorial Board of Advances in Skin and Wound Care. She partners with her colleagues to provide timely, responsive expert reviews and management of complex and chronic wounds and advises and educates nurses on skin integrity and wound prevention, and wound identification and management. At the forefront of her field, she champions best practice use of ground-breaking wound care products to achieve optimum results for residents. Jenny is committed to going above and beyond in her nursing practice, delivering care and services to more than 1700 residents across 23 sites, travelling vast distances throughout the year to share her experience and expertise, in person, through telehealth and remote consultations to ensure prompt care delivery.  

Claire Easter – Kalgoorlie Health Campus, WA Country Health Service

Claire is a passionate Clinical Nurse Manager at Kalgoorlie Health Campus, paediatric ward where her role includes clinical leadership, resource management and business performance monitoring. As a state-wide paediatric expert, she provides advice and plans the management of paediatrics across KHC including patient and outpatient activity, giving clinical support and education to all clinical areas. Claire is a positive and solution-focused leader, effectively managing a multidisciplinary workforce, and demonstrates her leadership by standing alongside her team showing mindfulness of the environment and ward culture. As a collaborative nurse working with a team, she inspires and supports her workforce through role modelling, paying attention to her team and encourages strengths, teamwork, and cooperation, cheering successes. Claire consistently shows compassion and kindness in her approach to families and reaches out to individuals to provide physical and emotional support as required. Her role-model approach to leadership has achieved complete culture shifts and unified teams while also acknowledging individual needs and wants. Her joyful, honest and devoted approach fosters continued positive relationships with families, the community and health leaders to achieve the best outcomes for children and families.

Lesley Forrester – Great Southern, WA Country Health Service

Lesley is the Clinical Nurse Manager/ Consultant in the GS Regional Palliative Care Service in WACHS Great Southern (GS) Region. For the past 22 years she has made it her life’s work to ensure all GS rural and remote clients receive gold standard evidence-based and culturally sensitive palliative care. As a recognised leader in the field, Lesley consistently ensures the delivery of safe, quality care services and patients have the right to die in their place of choice. To achieve this, she has implemented medical and nursing collaborative processes that enable her patients to receive appropriate dignified and respectful care close to their family and communities. Lesley has facilitated effective outcomes for patients choosing Voluntary Assisted Dying and provided ongoing support for nurses participating in the challenge of end-of-life care. This has been evidenced by the high engagement and willingness of her team to step up when needed and go the extra mile to support patients and colleagues. Lesley is a values-based leader, and she demonstrates WACHS values every day. Her positive attitude in an often-challenging environment, proven ability to actively solve complex issues, and her ability to ensure all clients receive the best care equally in the region make a worthy finalist of this award. Dr Sarah Pickstock wrote in relation Lesley’s nomination:

“She is an inspiration

A beacon

A champion

Many of us continue to work in palliative care because of her

People move to Albany to work with her

We are proud to call her our leader.”