Meet Our Leaders

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Terry Capuano, R.N.
Senior Vice President, Clinical Services

Terry Capuano, R.N., remembers when she received a phone call from a friend, desperately trying to find a hospital that could perform pediatric outpatient PET scans under sedation. Her friend’s nephew was in need of one, and well-known children’s hospitals in the region did not have the capability to perform them. So, Capuano checked with her staff and was told, “It is not our usual practice, but we could make it happen – especially if it’s the best thing for the patient.”

“This is patient-centered care,” says Capuano, senior vice president of clinical services for the past seven years. And it’s what drives her to be a great leader. “I want patients to feel comfortable, special and supported,” she says. That’s why she’s constantly asking herself – and encouraging staff to ask – “How can we improve care for our patients?”

Capuano recognizes that in order for patients to be satisfied, staff members must be satisfied, too. This means giving staff a voice in decisions that affect their work environment and opportunities to develop their careers. It’s the foundation of Capuano’s leadership and the reason her door is always open.

To give nurses a voice, Capuano created the R.N. Advisory Council, made up of a nurse from each unit. At these meetings, complaints about dress code and cafeteria hours remain at the door. “This board,” she says, “tackles real issues, like how to recruit new nurses and retain their colleagues.” Through intense brainstorming and lengthy discussions, representatives developed new programs for nurses, including a weekend program, which allows nurses to work full time while going to school, more flexible scheduling options and staffing incentives. They also worked with the Technical Partners Advisory Board to develop processes to improve communication between nurses and technical partners on the units.

Capuano also created the Center for Professional Excellence. Staff members receive guidance and support from colleagues for presentations at regional, national and international conferences and for articles published in nursing journals and magazines. “I want nurses to reach their goals, and have the resources they need to do it,” Capuano says.

She believes goals are necessary to achieve success. They’ve helped her earn master’s degrees in nursing and business administration and certifications in nursing administration – all while raising two daughters.

So, it was only natural that Capuano wanted to set goals for nursing at LVHHN. “Our future doesn’t just happen,” she says. “We create it.” She asked staff nurses to develop goals for nursing through 2015. More than 150 nurses participated in a process called Future Search to develop 29 vision statements regarding nurse-to-patient ratios, technology, family presence and more.

It’s only fitting that Capuano holds the $1.5 million Peggy Fleming Endowed Chair of Nursing. It’s an honor and responsibility that she enthusiastically embraces, because she sees it as one more way to support nurses and help them reach their goals. Money from the endowment is used to support nursing research, send staff nurses to national conferences and seminars, host national speakers and educators and collaborate with area colleges to enhance learning opportunities for faculty and students. The chair certainly is unique. Although chairs in nursing have been established at university-related hospitals, this may be the only chair of its kind for a community teaching hospital.

Capuano feels LVHHN is where she belongs. In the mid-1990s, she left LVHHN briefly, but was lured back. “This is exactly where I want to be, where we have the best clinical staff and people who truly care,” she says.

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