2025 Excellence in Leadership - Emerging Leader

Melinda Olive

Melinda is the senior project nursing lead for Abortion legislation reform at the Women and Newborn Health Service. Coming from a strong clinical and workforce development background, she has worked tirelessly to partner with community providers to remove barriers, establish good governance, and build strong partnerships that strengthen abortion service accessibility for vulnerable priority population groups. Melinda has ensured the availability of services using a pro-choice, women-centred lens that focuses on the safety and wellbeing of women and their families. Something that has been the biggest challenge, yet greatest achievement and honour of her nursing career. Melinda is a people person enriched with kindness who has built on existing partnerships and collaborations, while establishing new ones across the multidisciplinary team, to establish and brand the Pregnancy Choices and Abortion Care Clinic, putting women at the centre of the Abortion Care Reform. She has worked in a values-based manner partnering with individuals daily to create and instil a positive culture within existing clinical groups, supporting the development of a gold-standard, women-centred, trauma-informed service. Melinda continues to listen and learn from others to ensure a streamlined and robust understanding of processes, and through phase 2 of the project is providing expertise and guidance to other Health Service Providers as they initiate their own services within the abortion care space. She is inspirational and continuously looks for new ways to influence change and support others, with many nurses and midwives touched by her ability to lead this amazing piece of work. Melinda has embraced the challenge of moving this legislation to practice. She is well respected and is passionate and confident leading up, down and across all health service providers and government departments.

Loreta Murphy

Loreta is a Clinical Nurse Specialist working at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in the Neurosurgery service, a specialty she has dedicated her career to over 35 years. Her specialist role provides, facilitates, and collaborates expert clinical care for Cranial and Spinal Neurosurgery patients including clinical assessment to any neurosurgical patient regardless of if they are in the ED, ICU, or ward environment. Loreta is committed to excellence, is a strong advocate for patients and their families, and is passionate about her role, focusing on neurological abnormalities. Her drive has led her to complete Neuroscience postgraduate qualifications. Most recently she has completed a PhD. Having noticed a gap in Neuro assessment and wishing to improve patient care she developed the Mini Neurological Assessment Tool for nurses, a bedside examination chart for whole brain assessment of Neurosurgical patients. The tool enables nurses to increase their professional competence by managing acute situations through noting subtle changes in a patient’s neurological condition to ensure prompt, and often life-saving treatment. She is continuing her mission collaborating both within Australia and internationally to validate the tool and pilot this amazing piece of research. Loreta is dedicated to the principles of holistic care and knows this is best achieved through innovative and inclusive professional, collaborative, and multidisciplinary approaches. Loreta is currently scoping the possibility of a Neuroncology Nursing role at SCGH and is closely liaising with a health service in Canada to learn and generate ideas. Her affiliation with various organisations provides her the opportunity to network and access resources that promote and support neurosciences which she happily and readily shares with others, fostering a supportive learning environment. She is famous for her impromptu, informative and engaging education sessions, which often happen on her day off and is widely known to engage and partner in multidisciplinary team and interdepartmental projects. Loreta describes her most touching experience as caring for a patient with a particularly aggressive brain tumour, and speaking to her husband to facilitate the patient to spending time at home with her family. After the patient passed, her husband thanked Loreta for the support she had provided the family during those dark days. To Loreta this was a humbling experience that reminded her how important her role is and, that as nurses, patient connections extend beyond clinical expertise.

Kathryn Boon

Kathryn is a clinical nurse in the hospital equipment service at Sir Charles Gairdner Osborne Park Health Care Group where her responsibilities include the management of clinical equipment, providing education and training, setting professional standards, and supporting the workforce. She goes above and beyond in all she does and is committed to her vision of having an inclusive and positive workplace for all. Kathryn, who is open about being neurodivergent herself, was a founding member of Neurokin, a staff led initiative to support neurodivergent staff, providing a psychological safe space to share in confidence and without fear while promoting an inclusive workplace culture. Together, Kathryn and Neurokin have forged ahead educating colleagues to identify and understand the benefits and challenges of a neurodiverse workforce, communicating their strengths and challenges to make for a harmonious and productive workplace. This has included Kathryn using her uniqueness and eccentricity to share her story courageously and successfully at the SCGOPHCG Senior Registered Nurse Forum, an experience she described as scary and overwhelming. Attendees, however, found her story heartfelt, impactful, and meaningful, challenging every SRN to think differently, embrace diversity and champion the unique strengths and perspectives neurodivergences bring. Kathryn continues to step outside her comfort zone to build positive partnerships and expand her networks with Neurokin which now includes nurses, doctors, project and admin/clerical staff from other Health Service Providers. In addition, she has established partnerships with WA Disability Health Network and the Staff with Disabilities and Allies Network. Kathryn’s commitment is also seen in her volunteering time and expertise as a neurodivergent role model for hospital public communications. On one occasion, while volunteering with the charity Leading Youth Forward, she bonded with a neurodivergent teen who asked a million questions about nursing. Thanks to Kathryn providing a safe space for his questions, he went on to obtain his degree and become a Registered Nurse.

Carli Beange

Carli is an experienced endorsed Midwife and the Midwifery Unit Manager (MUM) at Midwifery Birthing Centred based at Bentley Health Service (BHS), a role she describes as a personal milestone, fulfilling, and one she is proud to hold. Carli was the first endorsed midwife in WA and is recognised as a trailblazer working tirelessly to promote the profession and reshape the future of midwifery led continuity of care. Her current role evolved from a project role with a focus to develop the current pioneering model of care that re-introduced midwifery services to BHS, the proudest moment of her career. Carli has led from the front, and it is anticipated 300 births will be supported annually making a difference to women and families in the community. Her team describe her as a “midwifery rockstar who has managed to bring world class, 5-star, gold standard best practice midwifery care”. Carli’s influencing and networking skills enabled her to engage with stakeholders and take them on a journey to develop a suitable model of care which is truly midwifery led. Many challenges were faced, however each time she ensured the solution featured the women and their families at the centre. In a groundbreaking step in contemporary midwifery care Carli spearheaded the credentialing process for endorsed midwives to admit women into the BHS, facilitating them to work to their full scope of practice. As such, she ensures the provision of advanced and complex care for women and babies and states that witnessing the joy and satisfaction of the families served reaffirms her belief in the importance and value of midwife-led care.