Virginia Maskill has been an Executive Committee Representative Member (Educators/Academics with Rural interest), for Rural Nurses, New Zealand, since 2017.  Virginia is also a researcher and senior lecturer at the Centre for Postgraduate Nursing Studies at the University of Otago, Christchurch where her role includes being the Rural Health Academic Lead, for the Centre, undertaking rural health care research, and convening the Rural Nursing and the Primary Health Care – Urban/Rural Papers Papers.

Currently working in Southland as a Nurse Practitioner in Otautau and Riverton (Aparima). Living in Pahia near the south-coast of sunny Southland. Member of RNNZ since establishment in 2017.

Debi Lawry is a Board member of Hauora Taiwhenua. She has had a 47 year nursing career, that has been mainly hospital focussed. She brings a wide range of experience, from working clinically, to education roles, midwifery roles and nursing leadership roles – Charge Nurse / Nurse Consultant / Director of Nursing.

Debi worked at Dunstan Hospital in Central Otago from 2007 to 2020 in a nursing leadership / management role which included 6 months as acting CE. The last 2 years of her working life was spent as service manager for Rural Health at Southern DHB. This included managing Lakes District Hospital in Queenstown … in time for the pandemic to strike.

Debi joined the rural hospital network in 2009 and has been an exec member since 2010. She was a foundation member of rural nurses NZ and has been on the exec since it’s inception, including a term as Chair. These two organisations have morphed into chapters of HTRHN, and now benefit from being part of a larger rurally focussed organisation.

Debi’s focus is on rural hospitals and nursing across all areas of rural practice.

She would like to see equity in health outcomes for all. She believes a strong unified voice to champion key rural issues is vital. HTRHN is well positioned to provide that voice.

My name is Gemma Hutton, I am a Nurse Practitioner in Twizel and continue to provide Telehealth/Locum support for the West Coast which was the area where I started my rural journey.

The majority of my career has been in rural health. I was a former board member of RGPN and I remain involved in advocating for rural health within my local area.

Tracey Reid has been working rurally in Central Otago for the last 20 years. Tracey is passionate about rural nursing education and also works with the University of Otago’s, Centre of Rural Health, convening the Rural Interprofessional Simulation Course. Tracey is a Clinical Nurse Specialist at Dunstan Hospital and at Health Central and aims to provide the best care that she can to her local community. It’s a privilege to be on the Rural Nurses executive committee and represent Rural Nurses across the Motu.