Elizabeth Mary Chiarella AM (born 15 August 1952) is an Australian academic who specialises in issues relating to nursing, midwifery and the law.
She became interested in nursing by accident, because she wanted to do Voluntary Service Overseas and was advised she needed some skills.
She returned to Bristol to work as a senior staff nurse prior to moving to Australia at the beginning of 1976 to undertake midwifery at Crown Street Women's Hospital in Sydney.
She completed midwifery and went to work as the first anaesthetic sister at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, before being invited to work in the school of nursing there, firstly as a clinical teacher and then as a sister tutor without diploma whilst undertaking her nurse tutor's diploma by correspondence through Armidale College of Advanced Education.
She then obtained a position teaching law for nurses in the Department of Legal Studies at the Kuring-gai College of Advanced Education, which merged with the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS).
[6] She left to complete her PhD, prior to taking up a position as associate professor at UTS to introduce the Professional Doctorates in nursing and midwifery.
On her return to Australia she took up a professorial position at UTS funded by NSW Health to complete and oversee many of the projects she had introduced as CNMO.