Ruth Melville RN, Grad Cert MGT, Certificate IV in Assessment and Workplace Training, FACORN Ruth is the past President, of the International Federation of Perioperative Nursing (IFPN) and IFPN Ambassador for Asia, Pacific and PNG; Past President of both the Australian College of Operating Room Nurses and the Periopertaive Nurse Association Qld (PNAQ) now ACORN Qld. Ruth is a lifetime member of ACORN and fellow of ACORN and an Alumni of the International Council of Nursing (ICN) Global Nursing Leadership Institute (GNLI). Ruth has been an active member of ACORN since 1985 and has held many positions at both a state and national level. Ruth has worked in the perioperative setting for over 40 years and has undertaken many management and clinical roles within the Operating Room and CSSD. Ruth is currently the Clinical Nurse Consultant for Perioperative Services at the Sunshine Coast Hospital & Health Service supporting patient safety initiatives in quality, redesign, innovation and compliance to standards across the health service. Ruth’s primary role within the Health Service focuses on how the National Safety & Quality Health Service Standards (NSQHS) are imbedded to support a perioperative safety culture and the business of safety and quality for all patients within their perioperative patient journey. Ruth is also an ACHS NSQHS Standards Assessor which gives opportunities to further reinforce the ACORN standards are embedded into perioperative practice in various health care settings both private and public. Most recently Ruth worked as a consultant representing ACORN, commissioning the Operating Theatres and CSU at Lae, PNG. This was an Australian funded PNG project though the Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade (DFAT) in collaboration with other multidisciplinary colleges like Australian College of Emergency Medicine (ACEM); Global Intensive Care Initiative (GICI.)

Aimee is a Perioperative Nurse with over 12 years clinical experience within various roles across the specialty. She is passionate about education and training because she believes a competent, capable and confident workforce is the foundation to the delivery of high-quality patient care. She currently works as the Perioperative Nurse Educator at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in South- East Queensland and represents perioperative nursing education for Queensland on the Statewide Anaesthetic and Perioperative Care Clinical Network (SWAPNet) Steering Committee. Aimee is also a member of the SWAPNet Rural Perioperative Team Training Program faculty supporting the delivery of multidisciplinary, multifaceted team training over two days in the operating theatres in 26 rural facilities across Queensland. Aimee acts as a clinical advisor for the Digital Informed Consent Project and has been involved in several other projects recently including a statewide review of perioperative clinical documentation and the implementation of critical incident debriefing.

Elke began her health care career as an enrolled nurse before becoming a registered nurse. She has been in the perioperative setting for over 20years in both the private and public sector. Elke is passionate about empowering staff to pursue their passion in health, inspiring them to grow as leaders, whilst fostering a culture of safety and respect. Outside of work Elke embraces life enjoying photography, skiing, and traveling.

Rebecca graduated from Deakin University, Geelong in 2004 with a Bachelor of Nursing and undertook her Graduate training in a large private hospital in Melbourne where she developed her advanced nursing skills primarily in Perioperative Nursing for 7 years following this. Her passion to live on the land brought her back to her roots and she returned to Echuca Regional Health where she studied and completed a double Master’s Degree, a Masters of Nursing (Perioperative) and the Masters of Nursing (Nurse Practitioner). Her passion is preventative health, conservative treatment, general surgical and weight loss surgery, orthopaedic surgery and sports injuries, most importantly she treats her patients holistically never simply focussing on the complaint that is presented to her. She also served on the Australian College of Perioperative Nursing (ACORN) Board for 8 years, an additional 2 plus years at ACORN saw Rebecca under take the CEO role of the college where she lead ACORN through not only COVID and the impacts it had on Australia’s perioperative suites but a large Governance restructure.