A recent safari in Tanzania is informing how Stephanie Clements, BSN, RN, is approaching her transition to chief nurse executive of Chesterfield, Mo.-based Mercy on April 28.
Ms. Clements currently serves as community chief nursing officer for Mercy’s Oklahoma hospitals and as vice president and chief nursing officer of Mercy Hospital Oklahoma City, where she leads about 2,400 nurses. Her new role will span Mercy’s clinics and 50 hospitals in Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma where she will lead more than 15,000 nurses.
In an April 11 interview with Becker’s, Ms. Clements drew a parallel between her 30-year leadership evolution and a safari experience that preceded mission work in East Africa.
“We were so excited, and we’re like, ‘Oh, let’s go over there, look at that over there,'” she recalled. The tour guide responded, “‘You know, I’ve been there, we can go there, but let me show you a path that’s a little bit more clear, you’ll see more wildlife. If you’ll just be patient and trust where I’ve been before, I’m going to give you this incredible experience.’ So I feel like that’s my role now, is to share my experience in a way that creates that trust and help provide that vision more clearly for our nurses and for all of our caregivers at Mercy.”
In 1994, Ms. Clements began her nursing career as a labor and delivery nurse in Texas. She has worked across several specialties — including outpatient infusion, perioperative services, neonatal intensive care unit and medical surgical nursing — and as a charge nurse, house supervisor and unit manager.
As a charge nurse, Ms. Clements said she was constantly “putting out fires running day-to-day operations.”
After moving into an operating role, she gained a broader view of care delivery, from ancillary services to environmental services and food services. Now, her focus is anticipating future needs, including the rise in healthcare delivered in outpatient and home settings.
As Ms. Clements and other system executives plan for the upcoming fiscal year and priorities for the next five years, she said she’s leaning on the legacy of Mercy’s nearly 200-year mission statement: “As the Sisters of Mercy before us, we bring to life the healing ministry of Jesus through our compassionate care and exceptional service.”
“I would have never imagined that this is where God would have led me 30 years ago,” Ms. Clements said. “I really just wanted to take care of people. That has evolved over time, and I feel like I do bring that unique perspective, having served across so many different levels. I will be honored that the nurses in Mercy trust me to be their tour guide through the next chapter of this journey.”
