Catherine S. Fernald, DNP, RN, RNC-OB, NEA-BC, FACHE

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Catherine S. Fernald, DNP, RN, RNC-OB, NEA-BC, FACHE

Catherine S. Fernald, DNP, RN, RNC-OB, NEA-BC, FACHE

Acute Care Chief Nursing Officer-Newark Campus

Expertise & Research Interests

  • Nursing Administration
  • Leadership Development
  • Quality Improvement
  • Multi-Disciplinary Team Building
  • Innovation for Workplace Workflows
  • Innovation in Staffing Models
  • Patient Throughput
  • Project Management/Execution

Education

  • Program, Leading in Health Systems: Activating Transformational Change, Harvard University, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
  • Program, Women on Boards: Getting on and Adding Value, Harvard University, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
  • Post Graduate Certificate Program, Managing Healthcare Delivery, Harvard University, Harvard Business School
  • Certificate Program, Healthcare Executive Leadership, University of Pennsylvania, Wharton Business School
  • DNP, Executive Leadership, American Sentinel University
  • MSN, Nursing Administration, University of Phoenix
  • BSN, DeSales University

Catherine S. Fernald, DNP, RN, RNC-OB, NEA-BC, FACHE

Acute Care Chief Nursing Officer-Newark Campus

Catherine S. Fernald is the Acute Care chief nursing officer at ChristianaCare Newark and Middletown campuses. In this role, she drives optimal health, exceptional experience, and organizational vitality within the acute care hospital environment.

Experience

Downloadable Images and Links
Media Appearances

Heeding the Call

2020-09-02 , ChristianaCare News
“We had a community partner — a neighbor — who needed us in the middle of a crisis,” said Catherine Shull Fernald, DNP, RN, RNC-OB, NEA-BC, ChristianaCare’s chief nursing officer in Acute Care. “It was an opportunity to open our hearts to a different perspective on health care.”

When Patients Are Identified Multiple Times for Their Own Safety

2019-09-01 , Relias Media
In clinical areas, asking for information multiple times can annoy patients. “We frequently get asked questions like, ‘Why can’t you retain this information for the future?’ or ‘Don’t your computer systems talk to one another?’” says Catherine Shull Fernald, DNP, RN, RNC-OB, NEA-BC, chief nursing officer for acute care at Christiana Care Health System in Newark, DE.
Selected Papers and Publications

Clinical Nurse Perspectives on Implicit Rationing of Nurisng Professional Standards of Care: A Qualitative Study

American Journal of Nursing
Accepted In publication, date to be determined

Healthcare's Resilience During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Case Study of Nursing Adaptation

Annual Symposium on Reliability and Maintainability (RAMS)
2021

Effective Nurse Leader Rounding Improves the Patient Experience

Nursing Management
2019

Engaging Clinical Nurses in Quality and Performance Improvement Activities

Nursing Administration Quarterly
2010
Event Appearances

Becker's Hospital Review: 13th Annual Meeting

2023-04-01, Invited Panel Presenter: "Telehealth, Remote Care and What Clinical Leaders Still Need to Succeed", Illinois

Delaware Organization for Nursing Leadership (DONL)

2022-09-01, Guest Lecture Presentation: "The Focused Leader: Embracing Vulnerability, Risk Taking, and the Potential to Succeed", Delaware

Delaware Organization for Nursing Leadership (DONL)

2022-03-20, Guest Lecture Presentation: "Image of Nursing" and "The Leader's Courage to be Willing: Building a Context for Hope", Online

Reliability and Maintainability Symposium (RAMS) 2022 Opportunities for Machine Learning in Reliability and Maintainability

2022-01-01, Invited Moderator: "Design Optimization Using R&M Techniques", "Life Data Analysis", and "Fault Tree Analysis", Tucson, Arizona