Newswise — Paula Hindle, MSN, MBA, RN, has been named vice president for nursing strategy and practice for Loyola University Health System. In this role, Hindle will work closely with Loyola’s parent organization, CHE-Trinity Health, and with Loyola University Chicago Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing and other key partners to develop strategic plans for the advancement of nursing.
Hindle also will focus on nursing quality research at Loyola and the implementation of the Institute of Medicine Report on the Future of Nursing. The goals of this report are: to ensure nurses practice to the fullest extent of their licensure and education; to achieve a higher level of education for nurses in order to be partners with other disciplines in redesigning the health-care system; and to use data to plan for future workforce demands.
“Paula is a skilled nurse leader who has been influential in shaping quality health care at Loyola,” said Wendy Leutgens, MSN, RN, chief operating officer, LUHS. “Her contributions to nursing make her invaluable for this new role and the health-care profession.”
Hindle previously served as Loyola’s vice president of health-care services and chief nurse executive. Hindle was instrumental in earning the Magnet designation for the hospital and its outpatient facilities in 2009. Her leadership skills also have been integral to patient satisfaction, pressure-ulcer prevention, fall reduction, supply-chain efficiencies, and quality and patient-safety programs.
Hindle implemented Loyola’s mandatory flu vaccination policy, which placed Loyola among the first medical centers in the nation to make seasonal flu shots mandatory as a condition of employment. She also helped to institute the organization’s aggressive methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus-screening program for every planned patient admission. This led to a 70 percent reduction in MRSA infections in the hospital.
Hindle’s concern for patient safety and emerging infections led her to work with the Loyola University Chicago Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing faculty to establish an online advanced education program for infection prevention. This is the first program in the nation to prepare nurses at the master’s level for infection prevention and patient and environmental safety.
During her tenure, Hindle also introduced a new model of care, which makes patients and their families partners in treatment with the goal of improving their physical and spiritual comforts, speeding healing and enhancing outcomes. She was honored for these accomplishments in 2010 with the Joan L. Shaver Illinois Outstanding Nurse Leader award.
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