” A good mentor nurtures us with knowledge, provides the sunshine of motivation, and helps us grow—not just in skills but also in self-belief.”
1. What inspired you to pursue nursing, and how has your experience at IHNA shaped your leadership aspirations?
I never decided I would be a nurse. The first inklings came slowly; the first leader I encountered on my journey was my mother. She birthed me in what we called home, a decrepit old Darlinghurst mansion turned squat with a midwife friend in a strange commune of creatives and punks. She raised me as a single mother, a recovered addict who dragged us up out of a place of despair while juggling an impossible load of study. She did whatever was needed to help us survive and become something better. She dropped out, lost her path, but always taught me that I could become whatever I dreamed of and that education was the key that would unlock doors to a better life.
She could never be a gymnast, so she made sure that I could. I spent my adolescence flipping into pits, soaring on trampolines, and failing to meet the image of perfection in my Russian coaches’ heads. The little gymnasts around me suffered; we were all bruised, strapped together with tape, belittled, and our skills would never be beautiful enough. We banded together to get through the brutal realities of a training regimen brought to us by Olympic Russian team coaches and Chinese acrobats. When I quit, I said I never wanted to watch another little gymnast suffer in silence. That vow gave birth to Acropals Acrobatics School, a space where kids can fall, cry, try, and know they are safe doing it. Over the years, I have bandaged knees, braced ankles, and held tiny hands shaking after a tumble. I was already becoming a nurse without knowing it. From all that I’ve learned in my strange life, healing often starts well before a first-aid kit is cracked open; it begins when someone simply shows up and listens.
IHNA gave me my next step. It offered words for my instincts, a frame for my care, and a chance to move forward, not merely as an acrobatics coach or as a failure at school, but as a future nurse. I think of my mother finishing her bachelor’s degree a decade after starting, completing her master’s degree with four kids at home, one of whom was me, an unruly teenager with shattered dreams after leaving the national team and the only vision of myself I had ever known.
IHNA has listened to us all, believed that we could become more than we are, and shown us how to care for others and heal ourselves.
I may not be there yet; the journey to being a nurse is never- ending, and that’s exciting! We never have to end our education; we are committing to a life of learning. There are many difficult moments in study, on a ward, in a hospital, but I know how it feels to fall, and I have spent my life learning how to get back up.
2. When you think of nurse leadership, what qualities or examples come to mind that influence your vision for your own career?
When I picture strong nurse leaders, three traits leap out: authenticity, emotional intelligence, and fierce advocacy. I respect people who balance on that beam, a thin line between being truly approachable and demonstrating fierce strength. They listen with purpose and pass real power into the hands of their
peers.
At Acropals, we invite every little gymnast to question their coaches, just as my best coaches dared me to do. It provides the perfect moment to delve deeper into the reasoning behind what we do and an essential and often humbling moment of genuine learning for both teacher and student. Teamwork is woven into every class; slightly bigger acrobats mentor younger ones, protect them, and give them space to be heard and laughter to be found. Some of the best lessons come from broken lesson plans, stacks, failures, and brave recoveries. Leadership here means opening ourselves as mentors who teach but also listen, letting others’ ideas and values steer the ship with us.
I often picture the nurse leaders who quietly set the ward’s tone; those who build safe, caring corners where students and newer staff feel noticed and backed. They speak up and challenge systems, seek bigger fixes, and show kindness even in the darkest moments.
For me, leadership is not loud. It’s steady. It’s patient. It starts with listening. I hope to lead by proving that compassion is not a soft skill; it is the very ground we stand on when we heal.
3. Do you believe today’s nursing education prepares students to eventually step into leadership roles? Why or why not?
I honestly feel IHNA is headed in a good direction. We’re not taught to simply cross off a huge list of shift tasks; we’re digging into why each step matters for our patients and for our team. We’re covering clinical reasoning, cultural safety, and even boosting our digital skills one Zoom lesson at a time. All of these skills build the strong, adaptable nurses our ever-changing profession needs.
That said, I know we can improve this journey for all our students and create the kind of leaders nursing needs by integrating this into every class, as we do at Acropals. One of the things that has gotten me through the most challenging moments has been the banding together of my peers, sharing study tips, insights, and a good laugh when it’s all too much. Imagine if we asked semester 3 students to buddy up with semester 1 students, as we do in schools in Australia, as we have successfully demonstrated in Acropals classes. Students could lead research and data collection for IHNA through group discussions and interviews. We should embrace authentic moments of collaboration where we highlight each other’s strengths, lend a microphone to the quietest voices in the room, and celebrate the unique backgrounds and strengths of other students.
Why don’t we do individual presentations on other students, interviewing and delving into their motivations to start this journey? We could hold live interview panels and embrace the diverse paths other students have taken, learning from their expertise in their own fields. Leadership starts with the smallest steps towards gaining confidence in ourselves, seeing others’ strengths and struggles, and recognizing that even the seemingly loudest students are silently doubtful. At IHNA, we can demonstrate that true leadership lies in identifying the strengths in others and giving them a safe space to shine.
4. What challenges do you think nurses face when transitioning from clinical roles to leadership or executive positions?
One of the hardest ladders to climb is the one towards leadership; there are invisible steps, false ceilings, and no one at the bottom to support the ladder you are attempting to climb.
Transitioning from hands on caregiving to management is a massive identity shift, I know those feelings well, you feel as if you’ve lost your identity, the vision of yourself as a nurse you always had, like your losing an essential element of yourself because nursing is not just a job, it’s a calling.
At AcroPals, I have struggled greatly with transitioning from a hands-on teaching role to watching my teachers experience the pure joy and magic of working with kids. I want to be down in the trenches, experiencing the highs and lows, the bruises and belly laughs, the unbelievable reward of watching a child achieve a skill they never thought possible.
As a gymnast, I never wanted to teach; I wanted to perform. As a teacher, I never wanted to lead; I wanted to teach. However, I have learned that watching a student you mentored achieve something great is actually the greatest reward. As a team leader, I have learned that watching a teacher you mentored grow into the kind of teacher you wish you could be is an even greater reward. Stepping back and creating space for others to step into their roles is true leadership.
One of the most challenging aspects is the often-lack of support and education on essential skills like budgeting, staffing, policy-making, and planning. I’ve felt this myself as a small business owner; you can feel out of your depth. There may be resources available, but there is often a lack of time to learn the skills needed for management. In the fast-paced world of nursing, there is just no time to build the necessary skills before you are unexpectedly thrust into leadership roles.
If we don’t weave leadership development into nursing education and workplace culture, we risk pushing nurses into roles they are not prepared for. To lead effectively, we must first be well supported.
5. Are there any leadership development opportunities you’ve already experienced or are looking forward to as a student?
Absolutely! I’ve already had ample opportunities to streamline my leadership skills through individual and group presentations, both face-to-face and online.
I was fortunate to have AcroPals train me for presenting; teachers present to a room full of high-energy kids every day. During lockdown, we switched to teaching acrobatics on Zoom, as education changed forever and shifted online. Schools like IHNA saw the way the train was heading and jumped on board. Trying to teach 30 kids on tiny, blurry, and often black screens to do cartwheels was hilariously humbling. The energy required to engage a class of bored four-year-olds or a class full of struggling nursing students takes such confidence in oneself, and these skills we develop in presentations at IHNA, as well as through speaking up in classes, build us into future-ready, equipped teachers and leaders.
During group projects and tutorials, I’ve learned that leadership is essential. Someone has to gently steer the ship, raise the sails of confidence in the shyest students in the group, and keep us all working under the ever-darkening overhead cloud of a deadline.
In SBTs and OSCAs, I’ve found myself coaching other students, working together to stay calm, share strategies, tips, and practice behind the scenes. We can draw on each other’s experience; we have so many incredibly skilled AINs working with us. They have helped me learn to make an impossible bed, inflate an IDC balloon, and run to grab spare saline sacks when I’ve dropped them out of a tiny, precious aseptic field. Teamwork builds leadership. It’s about being a silent supporting presence, stepping up for a teammate when they need another set of hands. True leadership isn’t about having control; it’s about seeing the strength in others, learning from their strengths, and together mending weaknesses.
I find myself using these leadership skills in my business, AcroPals. What I learn in nursing school has improved how I communicate, teach, and lead. It has helped me create more engaging lesson plans and PowerPoint presentations, skills honed at IHNA that we now project live in kids’ classes. It has enabled me to guide my team of coaches and social media staff with the empathy and enormous patience we require to deal with the most difficult patients.
At AcroPals, we run a coaching development program where kids as young as nine help out in classes. It feels like planting little saplings that will grow into giant trees I won’t get to sit in the shade of. But I know we are shaping the leaders of tomorrow, teaching humility, respect, and reverence for hard work. Being in nursing school has made me a better coach and team leader; being a coach has made me a better team leader in class.
I was completely shocked to be nominated as the NSW VET Student of the Year by IHNA. It served as a reminder of what we can achieve when we chase change. I’m really looking forward to my final placement and the chance to learn from senior nurses in acute care settings. I believe that every little moment of leadership counts, whether it’s uplifting a fellow student or guiding a group task. I’ve found that teamwork in multi-disciplined teams, in nursing school and in a gymnastics club, is one and the same.
6. How important do you think mentorship is in helping nurses grow into leadership roles and what
Mentorship has always played a significant role in my life, starting with my fiercest advocate, my mother. She pushed me to keep training for the world championships when I was completely burnt out at 16. I did it for her, and she did it for me. I helped repay her sacrifices by reaching the pinnacle of my sport. Throughout the years, I have had a handful of inspirational coaches who taught in different ways, showed us respect beyond our achievements, and recognized the tiny light within us that they could ignite into a fire. They motivated us instead of yelling; they cried with us when we were broken. They demonstrated their humanity and ignited a passion in us to be the best we could be, honoring their efforts.
At IHNA, the nurse educators have believed in us, even when we felt like we were failing. They have dazzled us with their expertise and displayed the patience of the greatest coaches, knowing that the seeds they are planting now will grow into the caregivers of tomorrow. A good mentor nurtures us with knowledge, provides the sunshine of motivation, and helps us grow—not just in skills but also in self-belief. I have been fortunate to have mentors at IHNA like Amanpreet, Iffat, Nadia, Kanwal, Monica, Sitha, and the entire Sydney teaching campus, who recognized my potential even when I often struggled to see it myself.
This raw honesty is essential for nurturing leadership; it transforms the most delicate, timid individuals into strong and empowered voices. I now understand how damaging the wrong mentor can be and how transformative the right one can be. My best mentors taught us to treat others with respect, kindness, and humility. The hard work weighed on us more than any gold medal ever could; we gained strength from our lived experiences and appreciated our achievements more because they were born out of struggle.
The best mentors don’t just share their knowledge; they help unlock the potential that already exists within us.
7. In your opinion, how can healthcare systems better support the leadership potential of frontline nurses?
At Acropals, I’ve learned that leadership is about being wholly authentic. My students have seen me navigate the many downs and occasional ups of this journey—trying, failing, falling, laughing at myself, and then picking myself up to try again after many false starts and failures. I believe this honesty earns far more respect than any pretence of perfection ever could. I openly shared my academic challenges; dosage calculation was certainly humbling. I’ve even asked my senior students to help me, and we’ve shared our insights and interests in anatomy and physiology and how they apply to our practice in the gym. As a mature-age nursing student, I’m modelling for my students that it’s truly never too late to pursue one’s purpose, just as my mother did for me. Every path, as wild and wobbly as it may seem, is leading somewhere.
This concept is true for healthcare as well. Leadership should not be something that only starts when someone enters a formal management role; it should be incorporated into everyday clinical practice. Offering opportunities to shadow skilled nurse leaders and mentoring students should be reserved for nurses who receive education on leadership and want to take that next step toward management—not for nurses who are overwhelmed, overworked, and just trying to get through the next shift while caring for their patients. Through these opportunities, we can also help uncover and nurture leadership potential early on, much like the best sporting nations have done in years past by identifying talent early and nurturing it along its path to mastery.
Our healthcare system must adopt a similar approach. By recognizing leadership qualities in people from the outset and consistently supporting them, we can develop a generation of nurses who are not only clinically skilled but also ready to drive meaningful change in the future.
We need to prioritize nurse-led research, innovation, and feedback within healthcare systems. Leadership shouldn’t just trickle from the top down; nurses demonstrate their leadership skills every day through patient education, advocacy, and referrals. Leadership starts at the bedside, is present in the break room, and occurs in the everyday moments of patient- centred care.
Leadership is not about having a title. It takes courage to stand up in sometimes broken healthcare systems and advocate for our patients, report a problem, and speak out for improvements. When nurses are trusted, equipped, and empowered to lead change, it benefits the healthcare system as a whole. Nurses are the ones closest to the patients; they are relied upon to report a declining patient and escalate concerns, and they should be empowered to do the same within the healthcare system.
8. Finally, what kind of nurse leader do you hope to become, and what impact would you like to have in the profession?
I discovered my leadership style while working with Acropals. There, I learned to steer a room of noisy, mixed-ability kids, lift my teammates, and care for the most minor injuries, whether they were bruises on knees or hurts in the heart. When a shaken child fell, a bandage alone was not what was needed; they required steady eyes, soft words, and, above all, the plain fact that someone cared about them. Piece by piece, we rebuilt shaky confidence, showing each child that even tiny wins add tools to a growing toolbox called resilience, a toolbox they can carry into later tumbles and bigger setbacks.
Just as I urged those young acrobats to stand again after a hard fall, I want to shape a workplace for nurses, one where each person can grow, feels counted, and trusts that yes, they can meet the next storm with a brave face. The tools are already there inside them; as mature-age nurses, particularly, they have survived so much themselves, and that hard-won strength will help their patients survive or not, be seen, and be treated where they are at that moment, allowing for truly person-centred care. As a future nurse leader, I aim to uplift those around me, whether we’re celebrating a win or weathering a crisis together. I want to create a safety net so that my teammates feel free to speak up about their fears or doubts whenever they surface. With my background, I’m drawn to community health and paediatrics, especially diabetes education, trauma-informed care, and youth mental health.
I hope my presence helps patients and staff feel seen, respected, and stronger, as we never did when we were young gymnasts in a brutal gym. I intend to lead with heart, leaving an imprint that lingers long after the last hand-off. I also aim to amplify quiet voices and lend courage to anyone still searching for their own.