Leader to Watch Colleen H. Swartz, DNP, MSN, MBA, RN, NEA-BC

For Dr. Colleen Swartz, chief nurse executive of UK HealthCare (UKHC), success is achieved by providing patient- and family-centered care through the combined and coordinated efforts of the entire team. Dr. Swartz is certainly a strong proponent of the essential value of nursing, but her experience and expertise have taught her that “it's all about the team in today's complex and sometimes chaotic health care environment. And nursing leadership plays a pivotal role in making teamwork a reality. My role and, in turn, what I hope is my legacy, is to enable the entire team to find a path to patient and family as the center of our collective knowledge and interventions. At times, that is very difficult, and not always evident in light of the swirling complexity and multiple, sometimes conflicting, messages that bombard the caregiver at the bedside.” © 2016 Mosby, Inc.