Michelle Olkkola Named Nurse Manager of Postpartum Unit, Center for Women’s & Children’s Health

Michelle Olkkola, MSN, RN, has been appointed nurse manager of the Postpartum Unit in the Center for Women’s & Children’s Health. She joined ChristianaCare as an assistant nurse manager in 2015. Since then, Olkkola has been instrumental in daily operations, including staffing, scheduling, hiring and onboarding new staff, as well as supporting existing staff in the pursuit of exceptional patient care. Olkkola was active in the development and implementation of Cerner Maternity electronic documentation in postpartum, and also in the planning and execution of the new Center for Women’s and Children’s Health building. She currently sits on Nursing Administrative Council and the Workplace Civility Committee.

Prior to her time at ChristianaCare, Michelle was the nurse manager of the Garbose Special Delivery Unit at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where she had 24/7 oversight of an interdisciplinary team in the provision of care to a high-risk patient population with fetal congenital anomalies. Additionally, she served as the unit-based educator for the Mother Baby Unit at Maine Medical Center in Portland, ME, and also had clinical roles in community hospitals offering care in pediatrics, OB triage, labor & delivery and the obstetrical operating room populations. Olkkola has presented nationally and co-authored on topics including human lactation, neonatal palliative care and obstetrical simulation programming.

Olkkola has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and a master’s degree in clinical nursing leadership from the University of New Hampshire. She reports to Lauri Littleton, DNP, RN-BC, NE-BC, vice president of patient care services for Women’s & Children’s Services.