A calling to help others led Adam Meier to nursing. He leads 600 nurses as St. Francis CNO
Men represent nearly 12% of licensed practical nurses, registered nurses and nurse practitioners, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 2023 data.
Adam Meier represents part of that percentage as the new chief nursing officer at the University of Kansas Health System St. Francis Campus, where he oversees about 600 nurses.
CEO Scott Campbell said Meier has an impressive background and years of dedicated service, and embodies the qualities the hospital seeks in a leader. St. Francis announced Meier's promotion April 1.
"His commitment to patient care and his strategic vision for nursing operations, which promises a bright future for our nursing department, align seamlessly with our mission to provide exceptional health care services to our community,” Campbell said.
CNO at St. Francis has extensive background in nursing
Meier has a nursing degree from William Jewell College and a graduate degree in nursing and health care administration from MidAmerica Nazarene University. In addition to his tenure at The University of Kansas Health System, Adam Meier served as the ICU hospital magnet champion at North Kansas City Hospital.
His most recent role was the director of nursing for ambulatory operations at the health system's main campus.
The Capital-Journal asked Meier questions about the nursing field in recognition of National Nurses Week, which began Monday. Here's what he said.
Getting to know more about Adam Meier
What began your interest in starting a nursing career for yourself?
My dad is a social worker and family therapist by background, and my mom is as well. So, I always had this really strong sense of calling to help the community, to help others ever since I was a kid. So, when I got really into my high school years and into college, I started to look at career paths that I could really make a difference and help people and was drawn to nursing and have just been very fortunate.
I've had wonderful mentors that have, even in nursing school and then after nursing school, that have really helped to develop my love and passion for not only nursing but helping the community and helping those in need.
What all does your new role as chief nursing officer entail?
I am really the voice of nursing and the health care team here at St. Francis. So, my job is to be out there with our frontline staff and identifying how we can support them as leaders. Because really my opinion or my viewpoint is that our job as leaders is to really create the environment for our teams to be successful. And not only our nursing teams, but all of our health care professionals because it is a team effort.
You represent 12% of the males who are working in the nursing field. Tell about that aspect and being able to hold your position.
I think it just speaks to how important it is as leader, as leaders to promote diversity, equity and inclusion within nursing and within health care in general. I think it's really important for us to be looking for individuals that bring a unique perspective to health care and that represent the community and can really elevate our teams through that unique lens.
I like to think that I bring a unique lens to the health care team and a worldview, and I am able to help elevate the team. And I think that that's just helped me as a leader to really promote that diversity, equity and inclusion.
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What are your thoughts on the nursing field evolving over the years from when you began to now?
We really think about nursing in terms of not only the social commitment that we have to helping the community, but also really this idea that nursing is an art and a science. And we think about it that way. We think about the knowledge that nurses bring to the team, the quality of care that they bring, and then the practice and really the ownership of practice that nurses have.
And I think that's the part that's been really, truly amazing for me to watch not only over the past 20 years, 10 years, but just in my time in nursing practice has really been that ownership and how as a profession we empower ourselves to advance the profession of nursing and really elevate patient care.
Why should more men and women consider a career in nursing?
There's a reason why nursing has been voted the most trusted profession, I think, for the last 20 years in different Gallup polls around the country. I think that just speaks to the kind of individual that the profession attracts. And I would encourage people that have that commitment or that calling to helping the community, helping patients around the world really to consider nursing.
I think what sets us apart here at the University of Kansas Health System St. Francis Campus is our commitment to that community and individuals that are interested in nursing aren't going to find that commitment anywhere else but here.
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What's one goal you're focused on achieving right now as you settle into the new role as chief nursing officer?
Right now, my focus is on being present with the staff and really understanding what the staff needs are. How we continue to work to provide the right tools and the right resources for our teams.
What's the biggest thing you've learned while being in the nursing field?
The thing I say that I constantly remind myself and I constantly remind my team is that we always do what's right for the patient. Always. We figure everything else out later, but we always put the patient first.
Keishera Lately is the business reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. She can be reached at klately@cjonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @Lately_KT.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: A calling to help others led Adam Meier to nursing at Topeka hospital
