National Enrolled Nursing Advisory Council (NENAC)

TAFE Directors Australia (TDA) established the National Enrolled Nursing Advisory Council (NENAC) in August 2020. The council brings together experts from across Australian TAFEs in education and training to better represent and advocate for enrolled nursing education.

Ensuring the quality of the education and training experience for enrolled nurses and keeping up the supply of appropriately qualified enrolled nurses will be vital to both the health sector and to the broader economy, especially as the population ages. The call on new capabilities expected of Enrolled Nurses requires contemporary education and training approaches, reflecting local, national and global health priorities beyond that which is prescribed within national training packages.

The advisory council will share better practice approaches in enrolled nursing education across the network of TAFEs and in doing so will ensure the best possible outcomes for education and vocational preparation of enrolled nurses. As with all better practice, the focus is on shared learning and continuous improvement. This is critical in preparing students to meet the dynamic and increasingly complex environment in which they will operate.

NENAC will provide learned insights and strategic advice to both regulatory and core nursing and midwifery organisations on relevant policy and education matters relating to enrolled nursing, including courses that transition into and from enrolled nursing programs. NENAC will lead and represent those who provide education to enrolled nurses and promote the public image of enrolled nursing.

For further information, please contact NENAC Chair, Gabrielle Koutoukidis, at gabrielle.koutoukidis@holmesglen.edu.au or TDA representative Lyndal Manson at lmanson@tda.edu.au.

NENAC Submissions and Documents

NENAC Members

ACT

Linda Willington

Senior Teacher, Diploma of Nursing Coordinator - Canberra Institute of Technology

Linda is a Registered Nurse who has worked in the health industry for over 30 years and in the VET TAFE sector for over 20 years.  Linda has worked across Australia in areas such as surgical nursing, midwifery, residential aged care, and community aged care.  In the VET sector she has taught in TAFE NSW and in the ACT across both individual support and nursing programs.  In the last 7 years Linda has been the Senior Teacher and Coordinator of the Canberra Institute of Technology Diploma of Nursing Program. Linda is very passionate about promoting the role of the Enrolled Nurse and advocates for Enrolled Nurses to work to their full scope of practice.

Linda was appointed the Senior Aged Care Consultant for the Federal Government MyAged Care Project and was responsible for the design and development of the training requirements for all levels of the national workforce. 

Linda is a committee member and assessor for the Australian Nursing & Midwifery Accreditation Council Enrolled Nurse Accreditation Committee.

Linda is a member of the Moderation Delivery Committee, a national consultative body for all matters relevant to the education and scope of practice for Enrolled Nurses.

Linda has formed strong industry partnerships through leading Industry Advisory groups and involving key stakeholders in the development and validation of the Diploma of Nursing program.  Linda represents Enrolled Nursing students in the ACT as a member of the ACT Nursing and Midwifery Leaders Network.

 

Qualifications:  

  • Diploma of Applied Science (Nursing) 
  • Graduate Diploma of Health Science (Midwifery)
  • Diploma of Management  
  • Advanced Diploma of Adult Learning and Development  
  • Certificate IV Training and Assessment

NSW

Zach Byfield

Discipline Lead for Nursing - TAFE NSW

Zach Byfield is the Discipline Lead for Nursing at TAFE NSW. Zach has worked as both Enrolled Nurse and Registered Nurse across a range of areas, with a particular passion for paediatric settings.

Zach is passionate about quality nurse education, having held education roles in both clinical and higher education settings before joining the VET sector with TAFE NSW. In addition, Zach has a strong interest in evidence based practice and teaching, and is active as a researcher, Associate Editor for several nursing journals, and editor/contributor for nursing texts in both higher education and vocational education.

Zach holds a Bachelor of Nursing, Masters of Nursing (Teaching and Learning), Masters of Philosophy (Health), and a Doctorate of Professional Studies.

NT

Professor Jo Sieler

Dean of Nursing and Midwifrey

QLD

Debbie Blow - Deputy Chair

Director of Faculty CSH&N, Executive Leader Health & Nursing - TAFE QLD

Deb Blow RN BN Grad Dip Crit Care Grad Dip FET GAICD has worked in the health industry for over 30 years.  Over this time, Deb worked as an aged care worker before going on to become an Enrolled Nurse and then a Registered Nurse. Deb has   worked in a diverse range of areas including; aged care, surgical, emergency, peri-operative and critical care in public, private and rural / remote settings prior to transitioning in to the university and then VET sector.

Currently, Deb works as a Director of Faculty and Executive leader in health and nursing for TAFE Queensland.  Her expertise and focus have been on supporting organisations to ‘grow their own workforce’. Deb also holds roles on National committees such as strategic ANMAC Accreditation Committee and the Nursing and Midwifery Strategic Reference Group.  Deb was a director on the board for the Gold Coast Primary Health Network and Queensland’s Health and Community Services Workforce Council.  Deb has also represented TAFE Directors Australia in Commonwealth appointed expert advisory groups in the health, aged care and nursing industry

 

SA

MELISSA GOTTING

Principal Lecturer – Health (Nursing) Health, Community and Foundation Skills - TAFE SA

Melissa Gotting is the Principal Lecturer – Health (Nursing) and Head of Discipline for the Enrolled Nursing Program at TAFE SA. She has worked as a Registered Nurse in both South Australia and Victoria in a range of areas including intensive care, cardiac and surgical settings.

Melissa has worked in the VET sector for over 20 years and has expertise in quality and compliance processes, particularly in relation to regulatory standards in nursing education. She provides leadership in program planning in line with strategic directions and identified workforce development needs for the Nursing Program at TAFE SA. Melissa is a long-standing member of the Australian College of Nursing and has experience as an assessor for the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Accreditation Council.

Melissa holds a Bachelor of Nursing. Bachelor of Education (Inservice)-Education and Training of Adults, Certificate IV in Training and Assessment, and a Diploma of Positive Psychology and Wellbeing.

TAS

Maree McCulloch

Education Manager, TasTAFE

VIC

Gabrielle Koutoukidis - Chair

Dean Health Science, Youth & Community Studies - Holmesglen Institute

Gabrielle Koutoukidis is the Dean, Faculty Health Science, Youth & Community Studies at Holmesglen in Victoria, with qualifications in nursing, midwifery, education, public health and management.

Gabrielle is a Registered Nurse and Midwife with extensive experience in midwifery, community health, indigenous health and education – both in enrolled nursing and Bachelor of Nursing, which includes over 20 years working within TAFE. Gabrielle has a very strong background in management, leadership and partnership building skills. She previously worked as a Nurse Policy Officer for the then Nurses Board of Victoria where part of her role was to both develop and inform policies and guidelines in relation to the nursing profession. Gabrielle was also a member of the Australian Nursing & Midwifery Accreditation Council – Enrolled Nurse Accreditation Committee for over nine years including being Chair of this committee for over four years. Gabrielle is also an editor and contributor of Tabbners Nursing Care & Theory 8E, which is a major nursing textbook for the Diploma of Nursing both nationally and internationally, as well as editor for Essential Enrolled Nursing Skills: For Person-Centred Care Workbook 2E.

Current Role:

Dean, Faculty Health Science, Youth & Community Studies at Holmesglen. Role and responsibilities include:

  1. Provide educational leadership to Faculty staff and strategic advice to the Directorate in relation to all programs and services offered by the Faculty of Health Science and Community Studies (HSYCS).
  2. Initiate, plan, promote and manage the programs, services and activities of the Faculty of HSYCS in both the recurrently and non-recurrently funded areas.
  3. Participate in senior management policy development and strategic planning for the Institute.

Qualifications:

  • Diploma in Applied Science, Nursing
  • Bachelor of Nursing, Midwifery
  • Graduate Diploma in Advanced Nursing, Education
  • Master of Public Health
  • Diploma of Business
  • Vocational Graduate Certificate in Business Transformational Management
  • Doctorate in Education (Research)

WA

Helen Hull

Director of the Nursing and Dental Portfolio – North Metropolitan TAFE WA

Helen Hull is the Director of the Nursing Portfolio at North Metropolitan TAFE. Helen is a registered nurse of 20 years and has experience in emergency, critical care, medical and surgical nursing. Since joining NMTAFE in 2010, Helen has worked as a clinical facilitator, lecturer, in quality, as Head of Program, Head of Discipline and Director roles.

Helen has a strong focus on quality teaching and learning and governance, with an interest in innovative delivery to meet the changing needs of the workforce. She is a member of the Australian College of Nursing and the Chair of the Enrolled Nurse Collaborative (Western Australia), where she provides leadership to the sector, and recently has lead several state wide projects, inlcuding the use of digital PEP tools.


Helen holds a Certificate IV Training and Assessment, Diploma of Quality Auditing, Bachelor of Nursing (Honours) and a Master of Nurse Education.

TDA Representative

lyndal-manson

Lyndal Manson

Director, Governance, Policy & Projects

Lyndal Manson joined TAFE Directors Australia in July 2017.  Lyndal has extensive experience in policy development, research and analysis, advocacy, communications and stakeholder engagement.  Lyndal has over 10 years of experience with the Australian Government working across a range of departments in the Australian Embassy and the Australian Delegation to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris, and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet in Canberra.  Prior to that Lyndal worked in the private sector primarily in human resources and hospitality.

Lyndal has represented the Australian Government in various international policy committees and forums across Europe on a number of issues including education, environment and climate change, international development financing, evaluation and multilateral effectiveness.

Lyndal holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Tasmania and a Master of Arts (International Relations) from Deakin University.