Jean White trained as a general nurse in Swansea and on qualifying worked in a number of hospitals in Wales and London. In 1988 she moved into nurse education, eventually joining University of Wales Swansea, where she worked until 2000. Jean held appointments as Director – Quality and Standards at the Welsh National Board for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting and subsequently at Health Professions Wales. She took up the appointment of Nursing Officer within the Office of the Chief Nursing Officer in the Welsh Assembly Government on 1 April 2006. During this appointment she was the lead officer for Wales on the three year UK programme ‘Modernising Nursing Careers’. She became the Chief Nursing Officer for Wales in November 2010.

During her professional career Jean has achieved a number of academic and professional qualifications, including a PhD in which she examined how dyslexic nursing students can be supported to develop clinical competency. Jean is an Honorary Visiting Professor to the School of Nursing and Midwifery Studies, Cardiff University.

Jean has worked to support the governments and professional nursing organisations in other countries, namely Estonia, Slovenia and the Czech Republic, as part of their accession to the European Union. Most recently she completed a three months nursing scholarship at the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva and Copenhagen between May – July 2009. This was followed by work with the WHO European Office to develop a five year action plan for the WHO European Region.

Jean is a Trustee of the Florence Nightingale Foundation.