Sandie Halligan SRHR trailblazer retires after 32 years

Some thirteen years ago, Sandie Halligan became the first Family Planning nurse to receive Nurse Practitioner status in sexual and reproductive health – a trailblazing accomplishment and one she considers a highlight of her career.  
 
I had the opportunity to speak to Sandie via Teams on an early Tuesday morning. I was dialling in from National Office in Wellington, and she was in her clinic room in Christchurch. It was a cold morning for me – even colder down in Christchurch. But my impression of Sandie was one of warmth and humility.

“I just come to work to do my job,” she tells me.  
 
Sandie started working at Family Planning (as Sexual Wellbeing Aotearoa was then known) in August 1993. She came to work for us as a cervical screener, having just completed her cervical screening training. When she recalls her first day, she describes excitement – to learn, connect, and help people. 

Sandie came from a practice nursing background, as a lot of our nurses did (and still do). When she started, the work still involved a lot of assisting doctors, but it didn’t take long before Sandie had her own list. “I could do more at Family Planning,” she tells me. 
 
From this brief conversation, it’s clear that “doing more” is what drives Sandie. When I ask her why she took the step to gain Nurse Practitioner status, she gives the same answer – she could do more that way.  

Nurses and nurse practitioners are at the heart of our mahi at Sexual Wellbeing Aotearoa. Their expertise and empathy help empower our clients to make choices about their sexual and reproductive health and wellbeing. For Sandie, it’s that ability to make a difference in people’s lives that’s kept her working in this organisation for nearly thirty-two years. 
 
Compared to when she started, clinics are busier now, and many issues she sees are more challenging. To Sandie, that’s a good thing – she likes being able to untangle issues and figure out the best way to help her clients. What’s changed most over the years, she says, isn’t the conversations she’s having, but the greater diversity and numbers of people she sees. 
 
As well as achieving Nurse Practitioner status, another high point of Sandie’s career was seeing the introduction of HPV self-testing in 2023. She saw the impact of this programme immediately – the day after it began, a woman who hadn’t had a smear test in twenty years came in for a self-swab, taking care of her health now she was able to do it on her own terms. 
 
Another highlight was the start of the outreach clinic at the Hornby Community Centre. Sandie has worked there since it opened in October 2022, doing a booked clinic on Thursday and a drop-in on Friday. She enjoys being able to provide most services, helping clients in South Christchurch be seen earlier rather than having to wait for an appointment. 
 
And of course, her team. Sandie couldn’t rave enough about the people she works with. It’s people she’ll miss the most when she retires – her clients and her colleagues. “I’ll miss my colleagues hugely,” she tells me. 
 
And Sandie’s colleagues think very highly of her too. Here’s what our former National Nurse Advisor Rose Stewart had to say: 

"Sandie has had a stellar tenure here at Family Planning and Sexual Wellbeing Aotearoa. She is a fabulous clinician. 
 
I have sat in with her many times and decided I would love to be her patient as she is so thorough and competent and very kind and thoughtful. It was also a pleasure to work with her in the nursing leadership space in which she was a caring and supportive colleague. 
  
Not afraid of a challenge, Sandie has always stepped up to take on wider responsibilities, and she has been very committed to our mission. Sandie has been a clinic manager and a Nurse Advsior as well as doing her Nurse Practitioner training. When she became a Nurse Practitioner the NP environment was very new and critiqued.  She made her way through this with aplomb.   
 
Arohanui Sandie and all the best for your next chapter in life."

– Former National Nurse Advisor Rose Stewart

During our conversation, Sandie and I also touch on some of the more challenging situations she’s faced during her career, like the Christchurch earthquakes and Covid-19 pandemic.

Sandie was at work during the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake. She remembers the moment the rooms went dark and reminds me how important it is to be prepared – make sure filing cabinets are secured to the walls, never let your car run short on petrol. Sandie’s car was short on petrol when the earthquake hit. She wouldn’t have had enough to drive around for the week, but she did have enough to get herself to a bike shop. For the rest of the week, she cycled to work, navigating liquefaction and cracked roads to deliver vital sexual and reproductive health care.

And during the Covid-19 pandemic, Sandie recalls one of the busiest stretches of her career – there was no time for bread-baking between her back-to-back virtual consults. And when it was time to go back to the clinic and deliver Depo Provera shots, she was one of the first ones there – decked out in full PPE alongside fellow recently-retired Christchurch nurse Kate Bridgman-Smith.

It's that kind of dedication that makes Sandie such a force to be reckoned with.

"Having worked with Sandie over the years I can truly say that she has been a trailblazer in terms of nursing practice within the field of sexual and reproductive health. She was the first Nurse Practitioners within the organisation, putting together a huge portfolio of her advanced nursing skills to present to Nursing Council. Seeing Sandie complete this and then work at the top of the nursing scope was inspirational to me and others in progressing our own careers on the nurse practitioner pathway. 

Sandie has provided her leadership, mentoring, support, knowledge and clinical skills to nurses at all levels across the organisation, showing her commitment to the job and passion for her work.

On a personal note, I have worked alongside Sandie over the years as a Nurse Advisor and now in my current role. Her sound advice, knowledge, leadership and patience have always been invaluable.

Sandie retiring will be a great loss to the organisation, and we will miss her very much but wish her well on her travels and next adventures."
 
– Julie Avery, Director of Nursing – Nurse Practitioner 
 

Five years ago, she wouldn’t have dreamed of retiring, but now she’s ready to pass the torch. Sandie has exciting plans for her next chapter – she’s soon booking tickets to the UK, and she’ll also be spending some well-earned free time living the caravan life and exploring the North and South Islands at her own pace. 

Written by Communication Coordinator, Sexual Wellbeing Aotearoa