Nurse exec standardizes health system’s nursing practice, governance

UF Health recently hired AONL member Janice Walker, DHA, RN, as senior vice president and CNO to standardize nursing practice, professional development, recruitment and retention across the Gainesville, Fla.-based system’s 12 hospitals and hundreds of outpatient locations. After spending 90 days rounding across locations to learn the culture, Walker met with CNOs and University of Florida College of Nursing leaders to build UF Health’s first system nursing clinical excellence framework. Walker sought feedback on an initial draft from organization leaders to “stress-test it against variation” across locations. Goals include all system acute care hospitals achieving Magnet or Pathways to Excellence accreditation. She established one nurse residency program with a curriculum aligned system-wide to unify how preceptors, mentors and educators acclimate graduates to improve retention. (Becker’s Hospital Review article, 9/10/26)