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As a young mother and sole breadwinner, Australian College of Nursing CEO Kylie Ward was motivated by both need and ambition to pursue a career in nursing management. Now she’s in a position to give back to the profession she respects so much.

Adjunct Professor and Australian College of Nursing CEO Kylie Ward is often asked where she gets the energy to do what she does. Her advice is simple: Do what you love, and try not to care what people think. 鈥淒are to be yourself,鈥� she said.

Despite her passion for the profession, nursing was not Kylie Ward鈥檚 first choice of career. Growing up in Emu Plains on Sydney鈥檚 outskirts, she aspired to be a fashion designer. Her parents, recognising her nurturing nature and academic smarts, gently steered her towards nursing. 鈥淣ursing found me,鈥� she said. And she didn鈥檛 look back.

Graduating from the Western Sydney University in 1991, Australia鈥檚 economy was in recession and nursing jobs were as rare as hen鈥檚 teeth. Ward was one of a handful to be offered a graduate job at Westmead 黑料吃瓜群网 鈥� a privilege she didn鈥檛 take for granted. 鈥淚 was hungry to keep learning, to do courses,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檇 come in on my time off to learn.鈥�

The young graduate was soon buzzing with ideas for how to improve the way she and her colleagues worked. She recalls sharing her thoughts with her unimpressed nursing manager. 鈥淚f you think you know so much, go do an introduction to management course,鈥� she said. Ward did, along with an acute care certificate.

A natural leader, Ward worked well with responsibility and within a year of completing her degree, she was running shifts as a team leader in the trauma ward. Looking back, she muses that it was lucky nothing went wrong. 鈥淣ow I鈥檇 say: 鈥楤uddy potential leaders and shadow them鈥�.鈥�

Motivated by life

By age 25, Ward had two young sons and was the sole breadwinner for her family, her then husband having injured himself and unable to work.

On maternity leave with only nine weeks鈥� pay, a mortgage and a family to feed, Ward鈥檚 second son was just seven days old when she interviewed for a role at an aged-care facility. 鈥淚 remember thinking: 鈥楬urry up, my milk is coming through鈥�.鈥� She got the job, and someone would bring her son in for breastfeeding during her breaks. 鈥淵ou do what you have to do,鈥� she said.

Ward loved working with the elderly. Ambitious, but also needing to earn more to support her family, she chose to pursue management in aged care, knowing her career would progress faster than in intensive care, where promotion into management roles could take years. Motivated and hard-working, Ward was acting manager for the facility鈥檚 dementia unit within a year.

Ward with her young sons.

Learning to lead

鈥淣ursing in management is more complex than most people realise,鈥� Ward explained.

鈥淵ou can be managing 20 to 40 people and a budget of up to several million dollars, along with rostering, clinical outcomes, managing patients and their families鈥� 黑料吃瓜群网 executives underestimate how busy a nursing unit manager is 鈥� they need to be very accomplished.鈥�

Ward thrived in the challenging environment, always looking at ways to free up nurses from paperwork so they could spend more time interacting with patients.

She didn鈥檛 have a formal mentor to guide her, but sought out people she trusted and respected when she needed a sounding board. Ward also learnt from observing people. 鈥淚 was shaped as much by what I did not appreciate [in managers] as I was by what I admired,鈥� she said.

Extending her reach

At 27, Ward commenced a Masters in Management, believing that education 鈥� combined with experience 鈥� provided credibility. By the time she鈥檇 finished her Masters, Ward was a single mother with a mortgage and a dream of starting her own business.

Climbing the healthcare leadership ranks, Ward held several executive director roles as well as becoming a director of statewide聽services, overseeing thousands of staff and influencing billion-dollar budgets.

Eventually, Ward turned her love of people management into a business 鈥� as a leadership consultant specialising in transformational leadership, providing coaching to executives, CEOs and boards.

鈥淣othing in a nurse鈥檚 training suggests that nurses should be entrepreneurial or have their own business,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou have to have faith in yourself.鈥�

Ward took on every job that came her way in the first couple of years, unsure when the work would dry up. Later, more confident in herself and her business, she could afford to be more selective about who she worked with. 鈥淚 had to let some clients go if their values didn鈥檛 align with mine. Especially if they didn鈥檛 treat people well,鈥� she explained.

Ward being invested as a Fellow of the ACN, with her mother, retired nurse Cheryl Bourke.

What it takes to lead

Having worked in nursing management roles, and later in executive roles, Ward has a clear view of what it takes to be a leader in health care.

鈥淟eadership is all about knowing yourself and committing to self-development, about being brave enough to speak up 鈥� to advocate for your patients, to allow your staff to develop and grow, and having the ability to influence others, including patients,鈥� she said. 鈥淲hen you manage people, you need to respect what they bring to the table, find their potential and strengths, and help everyone to feel like they鈥檙e making a contribution.鈥�

Ward believes nurses make particularly good leaders. 鈥淣urses bring emotional intelligence to the job, which is important to leadership roles,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e compassionate, kind and thoughtful, along with resilient, intelligent and courageous.鈥�

But being a manager in the healthcare system can be tough, and it鈥檚 important to take care of yourself, Ward said. 鈥淭he healthcare system is very competitive and pulls on the heart strings, so managers need kindness鈥� but also strength.鈥�

Ward at a rural and remote nursing meeting in the Northern Territory.

Return to nursing

To this day, Ward has remained a registered nurse, passionate about the profession and what nurses have to offer. So when she received a call almost three years ago, asking her to consider the position of CEO of the Australian College of Nursing, Ward took it seriously. 鈥淔or me to give up my business, it had to be for something that would fill my heart,鈥� she said.

In her role as CEO she wants to make a difference to the 350,000 nurses in Australia.

鈥淎s a female-dominated profession, nurses don鈥檛 get recognised for their contribution like doctors and other professions,鈥� she explained.聽鈥淣ursing is the most trusted profession in the community, but not at a government level. We need to invest in nursing leadership.鈥�

She would like to see nurses influencing policy and healthcare reform. 鈥淭he decisions are already made by the time we get to the table.

鈥淔or nursing to survive the future, we have to learn to be influential and to command a seat, rather than demand a seat.鈥�

Kylie Ward is a guest speaker at the forthcoming in Melbourne, 15鈥�18 October.