As the Associate Executive Director and Chief Nursing Officer, Theresa Dillman, DNP, MSN, MHA, RN, NE-BC sets the strategic vision and operational infrastructure for Nursing, Pharmacy, Respiratory Therapy, Information Technology, Patient Experience, Volunteers and Chaplaincy for Glen Cove Hospital.
Through an interdisciplinary approach, Glen Cove Hospital has been named the Geriatric Center of Excellence for Northwell Health, putting Glen Cove Hospital among the first health systems in the country to implement age-friendly care.
Glen Cove Hospital earned the top designation as an Age-Friendly Center of Excellence by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement.
Glen Cove Hospital’s Emergency Department was awarded the Level 1 Geriatric Friendly Designation, being only second in the New York State and 19th in the country to receive this award.
Glen Cove Hospital is a newly designated Magnet hospital and has also achieved a prestigious four-star rating from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Glen Cove Hospital’s Acute Rehabilitation Program was ranked 47th in the Top 50 U.S. News & World Report and rated in Newsweek as seventh in New York State.
She creates and attains a shared vision and successfully manages change to implement the organization’s strategic plan to achieve top outcomes.
Theresa joined Northwell as an emergency department nurse, sexual assault nurse examiner and has grown over the years in multiple roles including, Assistant Manager of the North Shore University Hospital Emergency Department, administrator for hospital operations, PACU Manager, Director of Perioperative Services, Director of Cardiac Services, and Magnet Director.
Under Theresa’s purview, Lenox Hill, MEETH and LHGV achieved Magnet Designation with multiple exemplars. Prior to her role as AED/CNO, she oversaw the strategy and execution for Magnet, Education, Research, and Wound and Ostomy teams.
She received her nursing degree from Queensborough College. In 2009, she went on to obtain her BSN, MSN, and MHA. She finished her Doctorate in 2023 and has obtained her Nurse Executive certification.
In 2020, Theresa received the American Organization of Nurse Leader (AONL) Young Voice Leaders award and is currently on the task force for AONL.
Through Johnson and Johnson, Theresa completed the CNO Academy and Cornel/HANYS leadership academy.
In 2022, she received the Northwell Women who Inspire Mentor award. In 2023, Theresa won the Power Business in Leadership of Long Island Award.
Theresa volunteers with the American Nursing Credentialing Center to assist with test-developing activities for the Nurse Executive Program and sits on the AONL committee strategy and recruitment.
Theresa has a passion for releasing nursing leadership growth and creating an atmosphere of support and transparency, seeking to learn and partner with others to develop high-performance teams.
The word “success” is a difficult word to define because it is very personalized.
Success for me may mean something very different than success for someone else. The foundation of anyone’s success includes achieving specific organizational goals, driving performance and growth, and exemplifying effective leadership.
I will start by saying that a role or a degree does not make you successful, it is what you do with it that does.
Although everyone may have a different definition of success, here are some foundational structures that I do believe has enabled me to be “successful” in my professional journey.
Education is the foundation; having a purpose and passion that will lead you; leadership effectiveness and meeting organizational goals; strategic vision and execution; you must be willing to take risks; creating the right culture as a leader to impact on organizational performance; stakeholder satisfaction and mentoring and developing others.
From day one, build a succession plan, embrace the challenge and be willing to make mistakes. Lastly and most important lead with respect and integrity.
