After months of contract negotiations with the nurses union, and a narrowly averted strike, at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital, hospital officials announced that the institution’s chief nursing officer is resigning as of Oct. 1 to focus on “opportunities in academia and consulting.”
Jackie Somerville will step down from senior vice president of patient care services and chief nursing officer on Oct. 1 to focus on “opportunities in academia and consulting,” the hospital has told the staff.
The Boston Business Journal noted that Jackie Somerville’s tenure as senior vice president of patient-care services and chief nursing officer coincided with very stressful times at the hospital, first during the hospital’s messy transition to Epic’s new electronic health record, in May 2015 and also during the months-long negotiation with union nurses over a new contract, which nearly led to 3,000 nurses going out on strike. Strike preparations and reduced patient volume cost the Harvard teaching hospital $24 million.
In any event, hospital officials praised Ms. Somerville’s work. The publication said the hospital noted that under her leadership, the Brigham was named one of 13 national affiliates of the Watson Caring Science Institute and that she is also a Caritas coaches at the hospital, in which position she mentors others on providing compassionate care.
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