25 Over Fifty-Five 2019 Award Winner
MARIA DUCHARME | Senior vice president and chief nursing officer, The Miriam Hospital
MARIA DUCHARME SAYS The Miriam Hospital has grown a lot over the last 32 years, and she’s grown with it.
When Ducharme, vice president for patient care services and chief nursing officer, started at The Miriam in 1987, the hospital was considered a moderate-sized community institution, she recalled. Since then, Miriam has become part of Lifespan Corp., Rhode Island’s largest health care system, and the hospital has developed a reputation for delivering top-notch care.
“When I started my career I had no thought of being a [chief nursing officer], but I availed myself to be open to opportunities,” Ducharme said. She received a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Rhode Island College in 1987 and a master’s in nursing from the University of Rhode Island in 1996. She became chief nursing officer at Miriam in 2010. She earned a doctorate in nursing practice from the Massachusetts General Hospital Institute of Health Professions in 2015.
The Miriam Hospital, with 750 nurses, has received prestigious Magnet designations for nursing excellence five times spanning 20 years, an achievement matched by only four other hospitals in the country, according to Miriam. “There’s been such phenomenal support here for nursing practice from the executive team, and from the community,” Ducharme said. “That’s not found in every organization.”
Ducharme said hospitalized patients these days tend to face more complex medical issues than they did years ago. She said it’s important to create teams of doctors, nurses and other hospital personnel, with the goal of achieving the best results for patients.
At the same time, nurses have far more data at their disposal to measure quality of care. But Ducharme said the human touch is still a key element in nursing practice. “Nurses are so adept at how they make a difference. … We’re the ones who are there 24/7, doing the assessments, doing the listening.”
