Janine is an Aucklander, however has lived many years in other parts of New Zealand and overseas. She lives locally and has two grown children who at this stage live mostly overseas.

Janine's background is in nursing. Having trained at Greenlane Hospital, she was employed as the first specialist nurse in stomatherapy and infection control. Many life and professional experiences followed from volunteering in a fertility clinic while living in Fiji; manufacturing clothing for hotel boutiques in Rarotonga, to managing her own graphic design and labelling company.

Her passion for palliative care has been realised in the past 15 years, initially working for Mercy Hospice Auckland. It was while working there that she was asked to spend some time at Eastern Bays Hospice in its infancy, to get a day programme up and running.

Her clinical knowledge and experience around the palliative care of people living at home with serious illness has enabled her to identify their needs and lead the development of the many services now found within 'dove house'.

Subsequently Janine became an employee of Eastern Bays Hospice and describes her satisfaction at seeing a progressive, professional service delivered by a skilled and sensitive team, which encourages the embodiment of wellbeing amongst their patients, making a very real difference to people's lives.