National Executive Committee

The National Executive Committee is elected at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) held during our National Conference. Nominations for Executive positions are called for prior to the AGM. All executive positions become vacant annually and are open for nominations from members, subject to conditions within the constitution.

The Executive comprises office-bearers and ordinary members. From time to time there may be additional members for specific roles as determined by the Executive. 

The Executive meets monthly via videoconference. 

Current Executive  

Appointed at the AGM on 16 September 2022

President: Amy Curran
Vice President: Linda Ng
Secretary and Public Officer: Shelley Reid
Treasurer: Samantha Lannan
Professional Officer: Denise Harrison
Ordinary Members: Melissah Burnett, Nicol Franz, Kristin Hughes, Sarah Neale (Social Media), Margaret Broom

President: Amy Curran - QLD Amy is an English trained nurse who worked in Leicester and London before moving to Australia in 2004. Amy worked as a transport nurse for NETS, Victoria before moving to Townsville in 2007 and undertaking her Nurse Practitioner training, becoming endorsed in 2010.  Amy has been an active member within ACNN and is involved in the NNP and LRC special interest groups. She is the chair of the NNP Methods group within COINN, looking to explore the diversity of the Neonatal Nurse Practitioner (NNP) role globally. E-mail: president@acnn.org.au

Vice President: Linda Ng - QLD
Linda has clinical experience and qualifications in Adult Intensive Care and Neonatal Intensive Care.  Linda’s research focuses on postgraduate education of Registered Nurses and its impact on nursing care as well as on retention of nurses in the industry. She has an interest in simulation and neonatal skin. Linda is amember of The Honour Society of Nursing Sigma Theta Tau International-Phi Delta Chapter at Large and a collaborator in the Education, Simulation and Scholarship. E-mail: vicepresident@acnn.org.au

Secretary and Public Officer:  Shelley Reid - NSW
Shelley has a background in neonatal nursing and currently works as a clinical audit and research clinical nurse specialist at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital Newborn Care in Sydney. She was founding editor from 1998 and for the first six years of Neonatal, Paediatric and Child Health Nursing and continues to work as a freelance editor. Her particular interests revolve around developmentally supportive care for the preterm neonate, the psychological aspects of preterm infants within families, family centred care and professional aspects of neonatal nursing.  Shelley is currently a PhD candidate at the Susan Wakil School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Sydney. E-mail: secretary@acnn.org.au

Treasurer: Samantha Lannan - TAS
Samantha is a registered nurse and midwife who has worked as a neonatal nurse for over twenty years.  She has worked in several neonatal units around Australia and has held clinical nurse, clinical facilitator and nurse unit manager positions. Samantha is currently working as a neonatal nurse in Hobart and maintains her passion for family centred care. She was an active member of the Queensland Branch of ACNN before taking on the role of assistant treasurer and then treasurer on the ACNN national executive committee.
E-mail: treasurer@acnn.org.au  

Professional Officer: Professor Denise Harrison - VIC
Denise first joined ACNN over 30 years ago (when it was an association), as a new neonatal nurse. She is now a Professor of Nursing at the University of Melbourne, Australia. From 2011 to 2019, she was the Chair in Nursing Care of Children, Youth and Families at the University of Ottawa and Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO), Canada. Denise leads the Be Sweet to Babies program of research which focuses on improving pain management for neonates, infants and young children in partnership with parents, clinicians, interdisciplinary researchers and trainees. This work includes using social media as a medium for knowledge dissemination. Her team’s parent targeted YouTube videos show ease and effectiveness of performing heel lancing or venipuncture while babies are being breastfed, held skin-skin and given sucrose  and their health-care provider targeted video demonstrates best ergonomics for performing heel lancing while babies are being breastfed or held skin-skin. 
E-mail: professionalofficer@acnn.org.au

Social Media: Sarah Neale - ACT
Sarah has worked in neonatal units around Australia and currently calls Sydney home. She is passionate about supporting new and innovative ways of improving clinical care and compassionate teamwork, and has completed a Masters in Nursing – Clinical Teaching and Leadership. Sarah manages the ACNN social media accounts, and hopes to  increase awareness of the work and research Australian neonatal nurses achieve, and to raise the profile of our profession.
E-mail: socialmedia@acnn.org.au

Ordinary Member: Melissah Burnett - VIC
Melissah is a long standing active member of ACNN and has held a variety of positions with ACNN, the Victorian Branch and LRC SIG. She has volunteered with ACNN in PNG four times and regularly attends the ACNN conferences and education activities. She is personally and professionally engaged with many ACNN members across Australia. Qualified with a Masters of Nursing and Certificate IV in Training assessment she has worked in the Mercy Hospital for Women NICU for 26 years but with a real passion for education and leadership has also worked in the higher education sector, as a Nurse Unit Manager and more recently as a senior clinical application specialist with a targeted focus on neonatal ventilation. Her current role is with Safer Care Victoria (Department of Health) leading an expert working group to review and update the Neonatal eHandbook Clinical Guidelines. She regularly works casual clinical shifts on the weekends and enjoys guest lecturing and supporting new and ongoing learners in the NICU/SCN.

Ordinary Member: Nicol Franz - QLD
Nicol holds both clinical and academic neonatal positions. After completing her Masters in Clinical Nursing, specialising in Special Care of the Newborn, Nicol took an academic position working for the University of Tasmania as Unit Coordinator, teaching the Post Graduate Neonatal theory and practice units. She has over 16years experience in Neonatal care both NICU and SCN. As well as her academic role with UTAS, Nicol works as a Neonatal Clinical Nurse/Clinical Facilitator in Queensland. Nicol has a passion for research and driving evidence-based practice also working with the Joanna Briggs Institute as a Global Field Expert Reference Group member. Nicol’s passion and publication interests involve neonatal abstinence syndrome. Nicol is an active member of the Executive, the Conference Committee and the QLD branch. Nicol is committed to improving neonatal care across Australia, working to develop novice neonatal nurses into confident clinicians through implementation of research and education.

Ordinary Member: Kristin Hughes - QLD
Kristin has worked in a variety of neonatal settings in New South Wales, Queensland and New Zealand as well as in paediatrics and primary health. She has recently graduated with a Master of Nursing through Western Sydney University, majoring in Clinical Leadership. Her Masters programme has allowed Kristin to explore her interests in leadership and quality improvement culminating in a Capstone project which explored issues with the insertion, securement and management of over 200 audited peripheral cannulas. Kristin is currently working as Clinical Nurse Consultant and Clinical Nurse at Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital and the Sunshine Coast University Hospital. As well as serving on National Executive Committee, she actively serves on seveal sub-committees as secretary of the Neoskin SIG and QLD Branch. She is also an advocate for Neurodevelopmental Care and has served on the NDC SIG committee in the past. Kristin is an enthusiastic nurse who enjoys learning new things, facilitating change, helping others grow, and lifting the profile of the special work that neonatal nurses do for their communities.  

Ordinary Member: Margaret Broom - ACT
Adjunct Associate Professor Broom was awarded a Doctor of Philosophy undertaken at Australian Catholic University in April 2017. She has over 30 years of experience in all aspects of neonatology with 20 years clinical experience.

Over the past 10 years in the role of the Neonatal Research Coordinator at the Centenary Hospital Women, Youth and Children in Canberra, she has translated her clinical experience into researching many topics to improve outcomes for neonates, families, and staff. She has led many research and quality improvement projects considering topics such as impact of NICU redesign, reducing pressure injuries, pain management, parents attending clinical rounds, Family Integrated Care, as well as the impact of visiting restrictions on families due to COVID19. She is an active member of the Research SIG Committee. In 2021 Margaret was presented the Australian College of Neonatal Nurses, Nurse Excellence Award.

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