Aged care nurse, Perri Waddell is the 2024 West Australian Nurse and Midwifery Excellence Awards (WANMEA) Nurse of the Year. Perri is a migrant, hospital-trained nurse who has called Australia home for the past 21 years. She has committed herself to role modeling aged care as a nursing career pathway. Perri holds a Masters in Clinical Nursing~Gerontology (ECU), Bachelor of Dementia (UTAS) and Post Graduate Certificate in Infection Control (Griffith). Perri is a credentialled IPC- Primary and contracted facilitator for ACIPC’s FIPC course and has facilitated over 600 students through the FIPC course. Perri is a Clinical Nurse Manager and IPC lead in residential care who recognises the challenges aged care IPC leads face when driving best practice from the front line.