Kissito Healthcare

Cheryl Ramey is Senior Director of Nursing at Kissito Healthcare with decades of clinical and leadership experience across long-term care. Having advanced from certified nursing assistant to senior nursing executive, she advocates collaborative leadership, workforce development and compassionate, highquality patient care.

A Nursing Journey That Shaped a Leadership Philosophy

My nursing journey has helped my leaderships skills in so many ways. It shapes how I approach my team to deal with the challenges we face every day in health care. I try to remember as a leader to be a part of the solution and not add to their stress. I have worked my way up as a nursing leader. I started as a Certified nursing assistant years ago so I can relate to their stress. I also have worked as an LPN for many years, so I can also relate to their stress and their role. I have worked in many roles as a Registered Nurse before becoming the Senior Director of Nursing. Everyone in health care is a part of the team. We cant do our jobs without housekeepers, dietary, therapy, and office staff etc. I always try to remember to treat others the way I want to be treated or how I would want my family to be cared for or treated.

Addressing Workforce Challenges in Delivering Quality Patient Care

The biggest challenges Nursing face in healthcare is staffing. The way to deliver quality care is to have adequate staffing. Other challenges healthcare faces are the constant regulation changes. Once you have one challenge figured out, it changes to something else. Long term care is the hardest profession and regulated the hardest. In long term care we take care of any age, all acute and chronic conditions, vent and trach patients and short stay therapy. I feel that the hospitals get more recognition and support. I have worked at home health, hospital and long-term care, they are all important, but long-term care is the hardest.

Supporting High-Performing Teams in a Fast-Paced healthcare Environment

I support my nursing staff by having shared decision making and good communication. I don\’t ask my team to do anything that I can\’t and will not do. I support their ongoing professional development and encourage them to further their education. I try to encourage work life balance as much as possible.

The Future of Nursing Leadership and Patient Care

I think the trend for nursing leadership is focusing more on active decision making versus task management, and work force retention. In health care now we must focus on more flexible scheduling and offering mental health support to help combat burnout. Retaining clinical staff is vital to providing quality care. Trends in patient care are more technology driven such as AI, automated documentation, and analytics just to name a few. This in turn is supposed to help nurses and certified nursing assistants spend more time with hands on patient care. I also believe that care is being pushed towards more community and home based versus hospital settings.

Leading the Next Generation

The healthcare field is very challenging and rewarding. To new nurses, I think they should find a great mentor and master your skills so that you can provide the best care possible to your patients. New or aspiring nurse should always remember to have integrity. Always do your best even when no one else is looking. To any aspiring leaders, they should always be supportive of your team. Encourage growth and build trust with your team. Always have an open-door policy and lead by example. The work ethics, clinical standards and positive attitudes you desire are the same as you should give every day. “If my team has failed, we have all fail”.