Forty-year veteran nurse to lead ambulatory care services
Cleveland Clinic has announced the appointment of, Brenda K. Mullan, MSN, RN, CDP, as associate chief nursing officer of ambulatory care. In this role, Mullan will lead and coordinate nursing practice for all ambulatory care areas within Cleveland Clinic’s systemwide Stanley Shalom Zielony Institute for Nursing Excellence.
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Brenda K. Mullan, MSN, RN, CDP
This includes 18 family health centers and ambulatory surgery centers throughout Northeast Ohio and Florida and oversight of more than 1,800 ambulatory care registered nurses.
She will direct ambulatory nursing practice as it relates to quality, safety, regulatory compliance and operational activities while collaborating with executive leadership in the development and implementation of strategic operations. Mullan will also spearhead strategic planning initiatives – from the design and implementation of business plans and the development of mechanisms to ensure uniform quality and adherence to licensing and accreditation standards.
“On behalf of the Cleveland Clinic Zielony Nursing Institute, we welcome Brenda with open arms and look forward to the expertise and strategic insight she will undoubtedly bring to the leadership of our ambulatory care services,” says K. Kelly Hancock, MSN, RN, NE-BC, Executive Chief Nursing Officer, Cleveland Clinic. “Brenda’s career accomplishments are many and her specialized focus on care navigation within acute care and ambulatory settings certainly brings added value to our organization.”
Having entered the nursing profession in 1976 as a registered nurse in intensive care, Mullan offers nearly 40 years of experience and expertise to her newfound leadership position. She spent much of her career with ProMedica, a locally owned, nonprofit healthcare organization serving northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan, most recently serving as the organization’s director of care navigation.
Her tenured career encompasses several decades of clinical nursing experience in a variety of specialty areas, including intensive care, oncology and medical-surgical nursing as well as telehealth/call center nursing. She also spent time as a staff development educator and has held notable leadership positions in ambulatory care since 2000.
Mullan brings to the associate chief nursing officer position, demonstrated leadership expertise in the development and implementation of a variety of clinical protocols and programs within the realm of ambulatory care.
This includes an integrated admission program to ensure systemwide access to care, an expanded call center answering and after-hours service, and the creation and implementation of the care navigator role within the acute care setting as well as an effective ambulatory patient-centered medical home model.
Mullan specializes in systemwide care management transformation and infrastructure development, regulatory compliance protocols and processes, and care navigation within acute care and ambulatory settings.
Mullan has a long-standing history of being a sought-after mentor to her colleagues on topics such as clinical quality and safety, patient engagement, transitions of care, education and training. Additionally, she served as a clinical preceptor and behavioral health nursing instructor at Lourdes University in Sylvania, Ohio, and Monroe County Community College in Monroe, Michigan.
“The shift from inpatient to outpatient care has created an unprecedented demand for nurses practicing outside the hospital setting,” says Mullan. “Ambulatory nurses partner with patients across all episodes of care to ensure that transitions are safe and care is coordinated. The ambulatory nurse’s role is vital to improved health and continued wellness for individuals, families, communities and beyond. I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to bring my nursing experience to the world-class team at Cleveland Clinic.”
Mullan is a certified dementia practitioner (CDP) and a member of several professional nursing organizations, including the American Organization of Nurse Executives, the American Academy of Ambulatory Care Nursing and the National League for Nursing.
She holds a Master of Science in Nursing from Lourdes University and a bachelor’s degree in Nursing from Spring Arbor University. Mullan started in her new position on in February 2015, and succeeds retired Cleveland Clinic nursing leader Jan Fuchs, MSN, MBA, NEA-BC.
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