Non-Nursing Mentors

RWJF nurse executive fellows are encouraged to select mentors who are not nurses. 

"They want us to think outside of the nursing box," Tuazon said. "My mentor is Elizabeth A. Ryan, JD, the president of the New Jersey Hospital Association. Her expertise in dealing with macro level of healthcare and her network of hospital leaders and legislators across our state will help me develop competencies in the three areas I've identified."

Windel's mentor is Sue Gin, the founder/CEO of Flying Food Group, a company that provides gourmet food for the airline industry.

"She's in a very different field from healthcare, but there are certain parallels that can be drawn, and leadership issues are similar across our industries," Windel explained. "She has tremendous business skills and has made innovations in her field that will help me develop personally over the course of the fellowship."

Skillings is planning on a residency experience with nurse leaders from larger healthcare systems to learn more about the role of the CNO in quality and safety, and has several mentors in the pipeline. "I'm seeking a combination of mentors from outside healthcare, as well as within the industry, to learn from," she noted.

Hoolahan plans to spend time with Chuck Bogosta, executive vice president/president of international and commercial services for UPMC, and has selected Diane Holder, president of the UPMC Health Plan, as her mentor.

"I hope to expand my knowledge of the business side of healthcare, to add to the years of experience I've had on the service side as a nurse leader," she said. "I'll be expanding outside my comfort zone as a nurse, which is a good thing."

Nurses at the Table

Hoolahan believes the RWJF program will allow nurse leaders to assume stronger roles at the table when healthcare decisions are being made.

"We just got back from a week-long seminar on inspiring and leading change, and had the opportunity to go to Capitol Hill and interact with people who are developing healthcare policy," she said. "Many of them are nurses, including Mary Wakefield [PhD, RN] who was recently appointed to lead HRSA [Health Resource and Services Administration]. She believes it's very important people know she's a nurse, and includes that information in her talking points.

"We talked a lot about the fact nurses are one of the best-positioned disciplines to move healthcare policy forward because we know how to move patients across the continuum of care," Hoolahan concluded. "However, it's important to recognize we can't do that alone, but need to partner with other disciplines."

Sandy Keefe is a frequent contributor to ADVANCE.