30-year nursing veteran to ensure nursing excellence
One of Cleveland Clinic health system’s most tenured executive nurse leaders, Deborah C. Small, DNP, RN, NE-BC, has been named Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) for Cleveland Clinic’s newest hospital, Cleveland Clinic London.
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Charged with leading all nursing services for Cleveland Clinic London, Dr. Small will establish nursing practice standards and offer strategic guidance and support for the opening of the new 200-bed private healthcare facility near Buckingham Palace.
“Deb is extremely well-suited for this position. She is an incredible nurse leader who has extensive experience and a highly successful track record,” says Executive Chief Nursing Officer K. Kelly Hancock, DNP, RN, NE-BC. “Her numerous career accomplishments in strategic business development, service line management and quality improvement will be instrumental in helping grow and establish nursing presence at Cleveland Clinic’s first facility in London.”
Dr. Small’s vast leadership experience of more than 30 years in the profession of nursing has spanned five states and nine hospitals. She has held varying leadership roles in both administrative and clinical nursing management – successfully developing, organizing and leading diverse healthcare teams to achieve operational, fiscal and organizational success.
Prior to accepting her new role, she served eight years as CNO and Vice President of Patient Care Services at Cleveland Clinic Fairview Hospital. Under her leadership, Fairview Hospital received full accreditation by The Joint Commission and the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer Network, and also earned the prestigious Magnet® Designation for Nursing Excellence by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC).
Additionally, for the past year, Dr. Small served as Cleveland Clinic health system’s Interim Associate Chief Nursing Officer (ACNO) for Nursing Quality and Practice. Among many accomplishments, she is known for her development and implementation of patient satisfaction programs, safety and positive healthcare initiatives, and Cleveland Clinic’s system-wide professional nursing practice model.
Throughout her career, she has held memberships in several professional and community organizations, including serving as President of the Greater Cleveland Organization of Nurse Executives. She also taught medical-surgical and critical-care nursing at the University of Akron’s College of Nursing in Akron, Ohio, and the Carlow University School of Nursing in Pittsburgh.
Although Dr. Small has already assumed her role as Cleveland Clinic London CNO, the new six-story, 198,000-square-foot hospital in London’s West End won’t begin welcoming patients until 2021.
In addition to 200 inpatient beds, Cleveland Clinic London will have eight operating rooms, a full imaging suite, endoscopy and catheterization labs, day case rooms for surgery and a full neurological suite with rehabilitation. It will offer specialty services focusing on general surgery, cardiology and neurology and will include a state-of-the-art outpatient medical facility.
“I’m honored and privileged to have the opportunity to marry the best practices of nursing care Cleveland Clinic is known for with those best practices of the UK to deliver exceptional care to the people and communities of London, England,” Dr. Small says. “Our Cleveland Clinic Nursing organization prides itself on delivering compassionate, world-class patient care that is safe and reliable everywhere we are – from Cleveland to Abu Dhabi, and now, London.”
Dr. Small is a board certified nurse executive (NE-BC) by the American Nurses Credentialing Center. She is a board member of the Ohio Organization of Nurse Executives, a member of the American Organization of Nurse Executives, a founding board member of the North Carolina Great 100 Nurses program, and more.
She holds a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree from the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing at Case Western Reserve University and a Master of Science in Nursing Administration degree from Duquesne University.
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