Nursing at HCA Healthcare
Supporting HCA Healthcare nurses and future nurses
At HCA Healthcare, we strive to champion the perspectives of our more than 100,000 nurses by fostering a supportive network and leveraging their voices to innovate and strengthen patient care. Our nurse strategy, Nurse Forward, is informed by the feedback from HCA Healthcare nurses and is guided by four pillars: Leadership and Advocacy, Clinical Education, Dynamic Care Teams and a Care-first Culture.
Remembering Sammie Mosier
Sammie Mosier served as HCA Healthcare’s senior vice president and chief nurse executive from 2021 until her sudden passing in December 2025. Sammie left a lasting mark on HCA Healthcare and on the nurses she championed. She helped shape nursing leadership across the organization with a focus on supporting nurses in their day-to day work while providing pathways for future growth.
Beginning her career as a bedside nurse at Frankfort Regional Medical Center in 1996, Sammie understood nursing from the inside out. During her nearly 30 years with HCA Healthcare, she carried that perspective forward as she grew into enterprise leadership. She was known as a “nurse’s nurse,” consistently advocating for nurses and recognizing the importance of listening to and learning from all colleagues.
Recognition was a central part of Sammie’s approach to strengthening nursing at HCA Healthcare. She played a key role in the development and execution of the Unit of Distinction and Unit of Distinction and other nursing recognition programs, underscoring the importance of acknowledging excellence in patient care and professional practice. Her efforts helped elevate these programs as meaningful markers of achievement, fostering pride and engagement across nursing teams.
Beyond her professional contributions, Sammie brought kindness and authenticity to every interaction. She valued relationships, made time for the people around her and was deeply devoted to her family, loved ones and the communities that shaped her. That sense of connection informed the way she led and is a part of the legacy she leaves with those privileged to work alongside her. Her example continues to guide HCA Healthcare’s nursing community, reminding us of the enduring impact of leadership that’s rooted in purpose, compassion and respect.
Leadership
and Advocacy
Clinical Nurse Coordinators
Clinical Nurse Coordinators are essential frontline leaders who maintain a consistent leadership presence on the unit. They support both nurses and the entire care team in delivering high-quality, patient-centered care. The CNC model not only enhances clinical operations and team collaboration but also serves as a developmental pathway for nurses aspiring to move into other leadership roles.
Nurse engagement and retention
In 2025, we launched a Tactics Assessment Tool to help facilities evaluate their maturity in implementing key nurse retention strategies. Based on their results, we provided targeted resources and guided action plans to strengthen execution. These initiatives equipped nurse leaders with a structured framework to engage frontline teams in retention efforts, enabling real-time feedback loops and agile course correction to drive sustained impact.
Vital Voices for nurses
HCA Healthcare’s biannual Vital Voices survey empowers colleagues to share insights on their work experience. In Spring 2025, nurse engagement increased by five points. To reflect the evolving care environment, the survey now includes psychological safety, reinforcing our commitment to holistic team wellness.
Advisory councils
Nursing specialty advisory councils provide a forum to weigh in on organizational strategies as they are developed and guide how best practices are shared across the enterprise. These councils include representatives from each division and various clinical roles, including direct care nursing staff and nurse leaders.
Walk in Your World initiative councils
Walk in Your World is an immersive shadowing experience that connects HCA Healthcare executives and senior leaders with frontline nurses and care team members. By stepping into the daily work environment of direct care providers, leaders gain firsthand insight into the challenges, successes, and realities of clinical care. This is an opportunity for leaders across the enterprise to recognize your successes and look for ways to support you in your day-to-day activities. In 2025, all stateside divisions were impacted with 568 plus walks at 163 facilities.
Clinical education
We are committed to advancing the clinical expertise of our care teams through skill-building and immersive educational opportunities. Our programs support nurses at every stage — from experienced clinicians to nursing students and those transitioning into practice.
Improving patient outcomes through competency-based learning
In 2025, we met over 2,000 clinical education requests, each designed to strengthen the knowledge and skills that directly impact patient outcomes. These requests reflect our commitment to equipping clinicians with evidence-based tools to deliver confident, competent care in a rapidly evolving healthcare environment.
We support nurses at every stage — from seasoned professionals to students and those transitioning into practice — through immersive learning, simulation, and advanced educational resources. Our partnership with Galen College of Nursing and other academic institutions provides hands-on experiences and academic support for the next generation of nurses.
Mitigating risk through targeted education
In response to learner feedback, 2025 marked the launch of a new education program tailored to support patient safety and reduce clinical risk. This initiative proactively addresses gaps in knowledge and practice, enhancing clinical judgment and promoting safe, consistent care delivery.
Our competency-based approach reduces variability and strengthens decision-making, reinforcing our commitment to risk mitigation through education.
Nurse residency programs
To help newly licensed nurses launch their career to become great nurses, HCA Healthcare proactively invests in programs and resources. The HCA Healthcare Nurse Residency program, a 12-month transition to practice program delivered in two phases, helps new graduate nurses gain confidence and competence as they advance into their role as professional nurses.
Academic partnerships
We are enhancing practice readiness and professional growth through strategic academic partnerships. These collaborations support student acquisition, clinical experience, and pipeline development- ensuring a strong and sustainable future workforce.
Galen College of Nursing
HCA Healthcare’s robust education strategy includes leveraging Galen College of Nursing and our Clinical Education team to support both student learning and the continued growth and skill development of our care teams.
Supported by HCA Healthcare investment, Galen opened four new campuses in 2025. Since joining HCA Healthcare in 2020, Galen has opened 21 campuses and now has a total of 25 campuses.
Driving career advancement through Galen College of Nursing
Over the last 11 years, Savannah Officer’s nursing career has progressed through a combination of hands-on clinical experience and access to continued education opportunities that supported her professional growth. She began her healthcare journey as a Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN) in 2015, building a strong clinical foundation in long-term care. Throughout her five years as an LVN, she developed a deep understanding and respect for the responsibility nurses carry and gained clarity about her long-term goals. “Once I began clinicals, I quickly realized patient care was where I belonged,” she said. That realization set her on a path to become a registered nurse and expand her ability to lead and influence patient outcomes.
That next step came through Galen College of Nursing. Encouraged by leaders who recognized her potential, Savannah enrolled in Galen’s registered nurse (RN) program in San Antonio, Texas, and she describes the education and support she received there as central to her development. “What I have found most valuable in my education at Galen is the quality of the instructors and the culture of support,” she said. “Anytime I wanted to see or experience something new, the instructors were eager to make it happen.”
Galen’s flexible learning environment also played an important role in her success. “Galen’s approach to learning made it possible for me to continue working and supporting my family while in school,” she said. “Many instructors recorded their lectures, which allowed me to go back and review material if I missed something or needed reinforcement.” That flexibility enabled her to balance academic rigor with professional and personal responsibilities. Beyond technical preparation, Savannah credits Galen with shaping her perspective on compassionate care. Through consistent modeling by faculty, she gained a deeper appreciation of the trust patients place in nurses and the importance of meeting that responsibility with skill and empathy. That foundation continues to inform her approach to leadership.
After earning her RN license, Savannah joined St. David’s South Austin Medical Center in 2020, beginning her practice on the neuro unit caring for stroke patients. In 2021, she became part of the team that launched a new medical-surgical trauma unit, and as a member of the foundational team, she contributed to developing workflows and strengthening trauma processes to support safe, coordinated care.
Committed to continued growth, Savannah returned to Galen to complete the RN-to-BSN program, further strengthening her leadership skills. During this period, she served as a preceptor and later as a relief clinical nurse coordinator, before formally stepping into a clinical nurse coordinator role. Each step expanded her operational experience and reinforced her interest in leadership. “Early on, I knew I wanted to move into management because I genuinely enjoy helping people grow and reach their goals,” she said.
In 2025, she transitioned into management and later accepted a formal manager position. In 2026, she officially became manager of the trauma medical/surgical unit. In this role, she has partnered with her team to advance patient safety initiatives, strengthen trauma foundations, improve staffing stability, enhance engagement and elevate patient experience scores.
Savannah has consistently articulated her goals and benefited from leaders who challenged and encouraged her to move forward. “My progression into my current role at HCA Healthcare has been an easy transition every step of the way, largely because I have always been clear about what I wanted and where I hoped to go,” she said. Now in a leadership role, she prioritizes creating similar growth opportunities for others. “Helping team members grow, develop new skills and get to where they want to be in their careers is incredibly fulfilling,” she said.
As part of her continued professional development, she is exploring the possibility of earning a master’s degree through Galen, which offers graduate programs in nursing education, leadership and advanced practice. She aspires to become a director of nursing and sees continued education as an important step in preparing for that level of responsibility. Her career demonstrates the strength of the connection between Galen College of Nursing and HCA Healthcare. Galen provides a rigorous academic foundation grounded in clinical excellence and compassionate care. HCA Healthcare offers a practice environment where nurses can apply that preparation, access leadership pathways and contribute to measurable improvements in quality and patient experience.
Centers for Clinical Advancement
HCA Healthcare’s Centers for Clinical Advancement support the full continuum of clinical education — from onboarding to ongoing professional development. By integrating academic principles, real-world practice, and cutting-edge technology, we ensure clinicians are equipped to grow, adapt and lead in today’s complex care environments.
Simulation is central to our approach, offering realistic, team-based experiences that mirror high-risk clinical situations. Care teams can collaborate in simulated environments to strengthen communication, coordination and clinical decision-making. In 2025 we opened our 18th Center for Clinical Advancement.
Galen College of Nursing CEO Mark Vogt (right) speaks to students at the ribbon cutting ceremony for Galen’s new San Antonio campus in May 2025.
Each center features:
- Hospital-grade simulation labs with high-fidelity manikins
- Dedicated classroom space for foundational instruction
- Virtual face-to-face interaction for remote and hybrid learning
- Virtual reality technologies that allow learners to engage in lifelike scenarios, visualize anatomy, and interact with dynamic patient conditions in 3D environments
Nursing Excellence
Nursing Research Day
In 2025, we hosted our inaugural Nursing Research Day, a collaborative event with Galen College of Nursing that united nurses, students and faculty to highlight how inquiry and innovation are transforming care delivery. Nursing Research Day brought together more than 700 HCA Healthcare nurses, Galen nursing students and faculty from across the country, showcasing eight research projects that are driving evidence-based care across HCA Healthcare.
Unit of Distinction
Launched in 2015, the Unit of Distinction Awards are an essential component of our strategic nursing plan. Each year, we celebrate exemplary nursing units across our sites of care by recognizing the top 5% of all HCA Healthcare units in specialized areas of care at the Unit of Distinction Awards ceremony. The Unit of Distinction designation is achieved through measurable, exemplary performance in the strategic areas of advocacy and leadership, clinical education, dynamic care teams, and care – first culture to improve patient care.
Dynamic Care Teams
Integration of new technology for nurses
HCA Healthcare invests in technology and cutting-edge digital tools to empower nurses to focus more time on what they do best – delivering exceptional care and staying at the forefront of medical advancements. Our commitment to improving the quality and impact of healthcare for generations to come is demonstrated through the collaboration between Nursing, DT&I and ITG teams. Together, we identify, develop, and roll out digital and AI-enabled technology and process solutions that will create better outcomes and experiences for patients, providers and clinical teams.
By harnessing the power of HCA Healthcare’s extensive data, we aim to provide our clinical teams with actionable insights that inform and enhance patient care, ensuring that every decision is backed by the latest and most comprehensive information available.
With HCA Healthcare’s three dedicated Innovation Hubs — living environments dedicated to testing clinically led technology to best support our patients and communities — the clinician’s voice is elevated by testing, refining, and integrating digital AI solutions to scale across the enterprise.
A cornerstone product of DT&I’s nursing-led Care Team Optimization domain is the Nurse Handoff, an AI generated digital tool designed by nurses for nurses, which leverages large language models (LLM) to automate and enhance the shift report process, transforming the way care teams work each day in a frictionless, high-quality, patient centered care environment.
Through the integration of digital and AI-enabled technology and process solutions, HCA Healthcare is redefining the future of data-driven, clinically led patient care.
Clinical Nurse Coordinator resource tool
HCA Healthcare is using real-time data to support nurses and improve patient care through our CNC Resource Tool — a mobile app designed for Clinical Nurse Coordinators (CNCs). The CNC Resource Tool aggregates key metrics like shift assessments, lunch breaks and medication schedules, allowing nurse leaders to view unit and shift operations at the individual level, proactively assist nurses and manage workflows without compromising patient care.
The CNC Resource Tool is enhancing the nurse experience by enabling leaders to identify burnout and improve retention — especially among new nurses who benefit from timely support.
Initially piloted and scaled across our inpatient adult units in 2024, HCA Healthcare has expanded the tool into the inpatient rehab, behavioral health, pediatrics, and women’s heath units, continuing our focus on building a culture of empowering nurses through data-driven innovation and technology.
With this tool, I call it the one stop shop – it narrows down everything that [nurses] need to make their day efficient
Mary Osungwu,
Manager of Med/Surg at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center