The CNO's Role in Professional Transformation at the Point of Care

The work of the chief nursing officer (CNO) is interpreted many different ways by the more than 5000 people in that role in the United States. Some describe their accomplishments as primarily financial or strategic or turn-around expertise. But what really matters is how the CNO has been able to influence (positively or negatively) what happens at the intersection where the nurse interacts with the patient. The system of care the CNO has been able to create influences what happens at the point of care every minute of the day. Every decision and innovation the CNO creates has the inevitable potential of facilitating or harming that intersection.