Optimization focus transforms nurse leader role

When the chief nursing officer at St. Louis-based Mercy left three years ago, the health system decided to transform the role. Mercy hired AONL member Betty Jo Rocchio, MS, CRNA, to be the system’s chief nursing optimization officer and take a less structured, more innovative approach to the work of chief nurse executive (CNE). “Optimization basically means we're driving the best outcomes with the best performance of our coworkers with a minimal amount of friction in daily processes,” Rocchio told HealthLeaders Media. Her goal is to make it easier for people to do the right thing for patients, she said. She added institutions wanting to retain a more traditional CNE role can enhance their ability to innovate by having their CNEs partner with a chief nursing informatics officer. (HealthLeaders Media story, 9/27/19)