Office of the Chief Nurse

Jocelyn Peach
Jul 2, 2024
2 min read

Updated: Jan 10

Lorraine Hetaraka-Stevens (Tapuika, Ngāti Pikiao, Ngāiterangi, Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāti Kahu) joined the Ministry of Health / Manatū Hauora Chief Nurse March 2021 to present. Lorraine brings a clinical and academic background in nursing leadership, experience in strategy, workforce planning, policy and primary health care delivery.

She started her career as a registered nurse, comprehensively trained at Waiariki Institute of Technology in Rotorua 1994–1996. Post registration she worked as a registered nurse at Tauranga Hospital’s Te Puna Hauora (kaupapa Māori service) in the service’s first new graduate programme cohort. She worked in maternity services and rotated between postnatal, delivery suite and the special care baby unit. She then worked in paediatrics in Tauranga before moving to Starship Children’s Hospital in general medicine. She moved to HealthWest PHO to specialise in paediatric respiratory medicine with a primary focus on bronchiectasis. Lorraine completed a postgraduate certificate in Māori health followed by a postgraduate diploma in leadership and long-term conditions; is enrolled in the master’s programme at The University of Auckland. The experience and education sparked her interest in population health, primary prevention and health policy.

Lorraine accepted a position at Tamaki PHO as nurse leader, then applied for the role of associate director of nursing at Auckland DHB. In this role she was involved with a range of DHB advisory groups and on Ngā Manukura o Āpōpō (the national Māori nursing and midwifery workforce development group), the Northern Cancer Network and the Maternal Foetal Medicine advisory group. After four years she was appointed as nursing director for ProCare from January 2015 to December 2016, Homecare Medical New Zealand Nursing Director and then National Hauora Coalition Nurse Leader from December 2016 to December 2019. Prior to the Chief Nurse role she worked as Te Arawa Whanau Ora Chief Executive Officer from February 2020 to March 2021.