Mercy’s top nurse has reached another high point in her leadership career.
Linda Knodel, Mercy senior vice president and chief nursing officer, will be honored with the Gold Medal Award from the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE).
The Gold Medal Award is ACHE’s highest honor bestowed on outstanding leaders; it identifies ACHE Fellows who “best exemplify leadership at the organizational, local, state/provincial and national levels who go beyond the confines of their own organization to continually contribute to the improvement of health care services and community health.”
Knodel is being honored for more than 30 years of experience in nursing and health care leadership, plus more than 15 years at the bedside as a nurse. She has contributed to numerous publications and books and is the author of the book Nurse to Nurse: Nursing Management. Knodel is an active member of the nursing community, having served as president for the American Organization of Nurse Executives and ACHE Governor. She is currently a member of ACHE’s Counselors Committee.
“I couldn’t be prouder of the fact that Linda is this year’s recipient,” said Di Smalley, Mercy’s regional president for the state of Oklahoma. Smalley previously served as chair of the ACHE. “This is a testament to Linda’s significant stature as a nurse executive, as well as a health care executive to the 44,000 members of the College from all 50 states and multiple foreign countries. Linda joins many icons in the health care executive field who have received this award in the past.”
As part of her work with the American Organization of Nurse Executives, Linda was a nurse executive faculty with the Croatian Nurses Association. In 2013, she was a presenter at their biannual international nursing conference in Zagreb, Croatia, where she spoke about metrics for nursing finance and care quality. Linda is also a leader for Costa Rica People to People delegation of nurse executives. In this role, Linda led this group of nurse executives on trip to Costa Rica to meet with their counterparts to discuss changes and challenges in health care in both countries
Knodel will formally receive the award on March 14 during the ACHE Congress on Healthcare Leadership.
