Q&A with Cherie Guster: Cleveland Clinic Akron General Chief Nursing Officer

Last November, Cleveland Clinic welcomed Akron General Hospital to its growing health system – including senior vice president and chief nursing officer Cherie Guster, MSN, RN, and her talented nursing team.

Cherie Guster, MSN, RN

As the organization’s nurse leader, Guster is administratively responsible for all inpatient nursing operations as well as several additional facets of the Akron General organization. Throughout her 28-year career in progressive healthcare leadership positions, Guster has been a champion for the delivery of high-quality patient care. With notable expertise in healthcare business and organizational performance, she excels in areas such as fiscal management, operational oversight, strategic planning and caregiver development.

Now that Akron General has been part of the Cleveland Clinic organization for more than six months, Guster offers an update on the nursing program, as well as insight to what lies ahead.

Q: What were some of your initial observations when the two organizations first came together?

A: One thing that is really amazing to me is how many similarities exist between Cleveland Clinic and Akron General cultures. As soon as our organizations joined, the Akron General nursing department felt welcomed and immediately realized several notable advantages to being part of a larger organization – such as enhanced best practices and innovative ideas. And the nursing research support we have gained through the partnership is a major plus and something we haven’t really have in the past.

Since becoming part of Cleveland Clinic health system, Akron General nurses have been included in Cleveland Clinic’s various nursing programs, including educational programs, the enterprise-wide Nursing Excellence Awards program, the treasury funds program for continuing education at national conferences and more.

Q: From a nurse leadership perspective, have you noticed any significant benefits the partnership has delivered?

A: Cleveland Clinic’s primary nursing leadership councils – the Executive Nursing Institute Council (ENIC), which is the strategic, steering and execution team, and the Executive Nursing Operation Council (ENOC), which is the ENIC plus key nursing organization partners like finance, human resources, marketing and communications – are engaging groups and have been very accepting of me and our thoughts and ideas, for which I am grateful.

Additionally, Cleveland Clinic holds an annual Nursing Leadership Summit, which is an interactive, strategic planning forum inclusive of executive leaders, hospital leaders and nursing floor/unit leaders. The Akron General nursing leadership team was invited to the 2015 event and will be participating in this year’s event, to be held in August. We will also be participating in the nursing research conference and various workgroups, among other activities.

The partnerships we have made with our new Cleveland Clinic nursing peers and colleagues have simplified things when our nurse leaders have questions. For example, if we need additional insight into nursing organizational structure, how to better prevent falls, or simply just want to compare notes, we know who we can call to help us get the answers we are seeking.

Q: Since joining Cleveland Clinic health system, what have been your main areas of focus for nursing at Cleveland Clinic Akron General?

A: To date, we have been working on what the comprehensive integration will look like when complete, which will likely continue to take several more months. In the meantime, caregiver engagement, bedside reporting and hourly rounding have been high on our list of priorities. We have also been heavily focused on meeting or exceeding our key performance indicators.

Q: What’s on the horizon for Akron General nursing in the near future?

A: Several new initiatives! Throughout the course of the next year, we will not only be working on integration, but also the opening of our new epilepsy monitoring unit, building our new emergency department, implementing the EPIC electronic health record software, preparing our American Nurses Credentialing Center Magnet® documentation for re-designation, and maintaining Joint Commission readiness for our upcoming visit.

More information

If interested, Guster is happy to share more on the integration of the Akron General nursing organization with Cleveland Clinic. She can be contacted at 330.344.7676, or cherie.guster@akrongeneral.org.