Robyn Barriffe, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, CCRN-K, didn’t set out to become a nurse. A single mother of four, she felt something like a divine nudge and went for it. More than two decades later, having led nursing teams at NorthShore Health System in Chicago, Novant Health in North Carolina, and most recently Atrium Health Pineville, where she guided the hospital to its first-ever ANCC Pathway to Excellence designation, Robyn has just taken on the CNO role at Ascension St. Vincent’s Riverside in Jacksonville, Florida. Across every institution, her philosophy has remained the same: the organization is the patient, and quality metrics, teammate engagement, and patient experience are vital signs.
Nurses are educators. Nurses are scientists. Nurses are healers. Nurses are innovators. I used to say nurses were like MacGyver. Yes, nurses are definitely innovators.
Now, as a Johnson & Johnson Nurse Innovation Fellow, Robyn has discovered a framework she believes the profession has been missing. The fellowship, led by Marion Leary, PhD, MPH, RN, of Penn Nursing, pairs human-centered design methodology with Wharton leadership training and culminates in each team of fellows pitching a solution to a real problem inside their own health system.
Resources:
