I distinctly remember the first CNO I had as a young nurse, and the impact she had on my life and my career.

She did not walk down the halls with her arm around me, whispering in my ear what I needed to do here or there. She was tough. I wanted to be good enough to please her because she gave out accolades very sparingly. I wanted her to see me and to value me. Because of that, I worked hard.

An opportunity came up for me to reopen an obstetrical service in a different hospital that had been closed. I would need to hire all the nurses, write all the policies – all that goes with it. I saw it as an exciting challenge, and I resigned.

The CNO called me to her office – and you understand this is West Texas. She said, “Rhonda, I just want to make sure no one has stepped on your tail here because you know you could run that service out of your garage with one hand tied behind your back, right?”