Tulane Health System promotes Childress to associate chief nursing officer

Tulane Health System has promoted nursing veteran Ron Childress to associate chief nursing officer, where he will provide nursing leadership and input into system quality and patient care initiatives. Childress will start this new role on Jan. 1 at Tulane Health System’s Tulane Medical Center campus.

Additionally, Childress was recently accepted into the prestigious LCMC Health Executive Development Program’s Class of 2019. Tulane Health System is owned and operated by LCMC Health.

“Ron is an accomplished nursing leader who has already proven his ability to provide strategic leadership at Tulane Medical Center in the areas of nursing engagement and retention, quality care, process improvement and patient satisfaction,” said Jana Stonestreet, Tulane Health System’s chief nursing officer. “We are thrilled to elevate his involvement to the next level, and we look forward to what he will accomplish.”

The 12-month Executive Development Program is committed to expanding LCMC Health’s pipeline of successful senior leaders by providing candidates with the education and training needed to successfully transition into an officer role. The program combines executive exposure, best-in-class curriculum, in-role development and peer networking to fully prepare nurse leaders to be successful CNOs.

Childress joined Tulane in 2003 as a medical surgical unit nurse before being promoted to a clinical supervisor role in 2005. He quickly rose through the ranks to become a clinical nurse manager and for the past three years recently served as the director of medical surgical nursing. As director of medical surgical units, Childress achieved significant goals related to nursing engagement and retention, quality and patient safety, and he served as the lead for the roll-out of a new nursing clinical documentation system.

Childress earned an associate degree in nursing from Pearl River Community College in Poplarville Mississippi, and a master’s in nursing from Loyola University, New Orleans. He is also a certified TeamSTEPPS master trainer, certified in medical surgical nursing, and a member of the Louisiana State Nurses Association.