Running head: CHIEF NURSING OFFICER INTERVIEW

Chief Nursing Officer Interview

Leslie Rush
Ferris State University

CHIEF NURSING OFFICER INTERVIEW

Chief Nursing Officer Interview

At first look of this assignment, the choice was obvious whom to interview- Mary Lou
Wesley. Mary Lou is the newly hired Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) in the health system where I
work. With only six months on the job, this was a great opportunity to get to know more about
our CNO and she gladly accepted my request for an interview.
Mary Lou has had a thirty five year career as a registered nurse (RN). Her career started
after she graduated with her Bachelors of Nursing (BSN) from Mercy College of Detroit. She
was hired by St. Joseph Mercy Hospital as a medical-surgical nurse. St. Joseph is where she
spent twenty four years holding various positions: staff nurse, Director of Medical-Surgical
Nursing, Assistant to the CNO for Special Projects, Director of Medical-Surgical and Critical
Care Nursing, Associate Vice President (VP) of Nursing, and CNO. While holding these
positions, she finished her Masters Degree in Nursing (MSN) in Adult Health and
Administration from Madonna University and also taught four and a half years at Oakland
University, both graduate and undergraduate studies. After serving in the CNO position at St.
Joseph for eight years, Mary Lou accepted a position of CNO at Wellstar Health System in
Marietta, Georgia. She spent four years at the Wellstar Health System before she accepted an
offer to return to Michigan and take over as the CNO of Sparrow Health System. During her
career, Mary Lou has modeled her leadership style after several of her mentors. They taught her
about the transformational model and she has strived to emulate it. According to Yoder-Wise,
"Transformational leadership is based on an inspiring vision that changes the framework of the
organization for employees" (2011, 40) and this is what Mary Lou hopes to do within Sparrow
Health Systems.

CHIEF NURSING OFFICER INTERVIEW

Job Duties
On the Sparrow Health System organizational chart, Mary Lou reports to the Chief
Executive Officer (CEO) and president of Sparrow Health Systems. There are several people
that report to her including the VP of Nursing and the directors of each of the services lines
within the facility.
When asked about the duties that Mary Lou is requires to perform, she stated that the job
is a "system role" meaning that since Sparrow is a healthcare system she is responsible not only
for the main hospital nursing group, but all outlying hospitals and doctors' offices. She works
closely with the medical directors and senior nursing management to ensure that the hospital
adheres the nursing standards set forth by the American Nurses Association (ANA), the policies
and procedures written by the facility to protect patients rights and care, oversee quality
initiatives to improve patient care and satisfaction, and is leading the way for Magnet redesignation for the health system.
Collaboration
Being the CNO of a large hospital organization means having to collaborate with a
variety of departments in the hospital and different community organizations outside the facility.
When meeting for collaboration of ideas, Mary Lou likes to listen to the background of a project
and get a feel for the operation. She tries to look at how others look at or see the ideas and
"assume good intentions" on the part of those bring forth the ideas. By doing these things she is
identifying with one of the aspects of being a transformational leader: "Inspiring shared vision or

CHIEF NURSING OFFICER INTERVIEW

bringing everyone together to move toward a goal that all accept as desirable and achievable"
(Kouzes & Posner, 2007).
Legal or Ethical
According to the Code of Ethics "As an advocate for the patient, the nurse must be alert
to and take appropriate action regarding any instances of incompetent, unethical, illegal, or
impaired practice by any member of the health care team" (ANA, 2014 ). Mary Lou's leadership
style shows itself once more with the legal and ethical problem she described. About a year after
she took the position as CNO of Wellstar Health System, it was discovered that the physicians
would bring their office RNs into the hospital to function as nurse practitioners (NP). This
discovery presented legal and ethical questions. Once the problem was discovered, Mary Lou
brought the issue to her manager, began an investigation, and started explaining the legalities to
those practicing out of their scope. She met with RNs who were insulted with being told that
they could not practice that way and resistance from everyone within the organization because it
had always been done that way. Mary Lou spearheaded the project to re-educate the
medical/hospital staff about what everyone's scope of practice is and the expectations of Wellstar
Health System. She acted by "Modeling the way, meaning that the leader must take an active
role in the work of change" (Kouzes & Posner, 2007).
Power and Influence
During the interview the question was posed, "What makes a powerful nurse?" Mary
Lou had several responses for this question. First was to be clear about your own values and
what you stand for. Second is the ability to influence and consistency. Having the consistency
allows people to know your values, how you process decisions, and allows for an amount of

CHIEF NURSING OFFICER INTERVIEW

predictability. Transparency along with having an open door policy allows the staff to know that
management is accessible and interested in what staff has to say. Lastly is honesty and kindness.
The transformation leadership by Kouzes and Posner (2007) states, "Encouraging the heart by
giving attention to those personal things that are important to people, such as saying "thank you"
for a job well done and offering praise after a long day". Mary Lou has demonstrated this
towards the unit this author works. The unit accomplished a dramatic increase in our HCHAP
scores and Mary Lou sent the department a bouquet of flowers as a congratulations and to
encourage keeping up the hard work.
Decision-Making and Problem-Solving
According to Kouzes and Posner (2007) the transformational leader model has five
aspects to it. One aspect is to, "Challenge the process, which involves questioning the way thing
have been done in the past and thinking creatively about new solutions to old problems" (Kouzes
& Posner, 2007). Mary Lou demonstrated her problem-solving and decision-making capabilities
when she encountered the legal/ethical issue at Wellstar Health System. Tough decisions needed
to be made and she weathered the storm of resistance from doctors, nurses, and administration.
But, by making the necessary changes, patients experienced a safer hospital stay. Mary Lou also
recalls that when making decisions, a person needs to take into account what those actions will
have on other people and to remember to always put the patient first.
Management and Conflict Resolution
Part of being in a management role is the ability to manage people and resolve conflict
within an organization. As a manager, you should share your expectations clearly, be consistent
with values, processes, and discipline, listen to what your employees have to say, and be kind yet

CHIEF NURSING OFFICER INTERVIEW

firm. Having all the above management capabilities help with, "Enabling others to act, which
includes empowering people to believe that their extra effort will have rewards and will make a
difference" (Kouzes and Posner, 2007).
As stated by Covey (1992), "The goal of a transformational leadership is to transform
people and organizations in a literal sense, to change them in mind and heart; enlarge vision,
insight, and understanding; clarify purposes; make behavior congruent with beliefs, principles, or
values; and bring about changes that are permanent, self-perpetuating, and momentum-building"
(p. 287). Mary Lou Wesley is a true transformational leader. She worked her way up through
the St Joseph Mercy Hospital organization to the level of CNO, achieved a dual MSN in Adult
Health and Administration, and currently is serving as the CNO of Sparrow Health Systems in
Lansing, Michigan. She will maintain that every nurse should stick to their values, what they
stand for, and know where they are willing to compromise.

CHIEF NURSING OFFICER INTERVIEW

Reference

American Nurses Association.(2014). Code of Ethics. Retrieved from:

http://www.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/EthicsStandards/CodeofEthicsforNur
ses/Code-of-Ethics.pdf
Covey, S. R. (1992). Principle-centered leadership. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Kouzes, J., & Posner, B. (2007). The leadership challenge. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Yoder-Wise, P.S. (2011). Leading and managing in nursing (5th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier
Mosby.