By LOIS KINDLE
Donielle Robertson RN is the new chief nursing officer at HCA Florida South Shore Hospital in Sun City Center.
She will lead a team of more than 200 nurses and 50 certified nursing assistants.
CEO Cathy Edmisten said Robertson was one of three highly qualified finalists for the position; she will serve on the hospital’s six-member leadership staff.
“What gave her the edge was her extensive nursing experience, including the past three years at a large Level I trauma facility in California and her increasing roles in leadership,” Edmisten said. “She totally exudes enthusiasm and love for nurses and patient care.
That caring, it seems, is in Robertson’s blood.
“I always wanted to be a nurse,” she said. “I grew up in a town of 300, and we didn’t have any emergency medical response,” she said, noting a nurse named Susie became the medical professional everyone turned to in the community.
“My brother had allergies, and we had to go to her house for his shots,” she continued. “Susie asked me if I’d like to learn how to administer them, and I said yes. I was 10 years old at the time.”
The seeds of nursing were planted then and there.
Robertson became a certified nursing assistant in a local nursing home when she was 16. Its nurses mentored her, and two years later she enrolled in nursing school at Presentation College in Aberdeen, S.D., where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. She later earned an MBA in Healthcare Administration at the University of Colorado in Denver.
Robertson started her career with HCA Healthcare as an emergency room nurse at Skyridge Medical Center in Lone Tree, Colo., a suburb of Denver, in 2010. The following year, she moved on to Presbyterian St. Luke’s Medical Center in Denver to become a charge nurse and then advances into positions of increasing levels of responsibility and expertise until 2021.
Immediately before coming to South Shore Hospital, she served three years as asst. associate chief nursing officer at Riverside Community Hospital in Riverside, Calif.
Robertson credited HCA Healthcare for helping her hone her leadership skills over the years through training/development classes and numerous opportunities for advancement.
“HCA pours money back into its people, equipment and hospitals to benefit patient care,” she said.
Robertson was invited to apply to South Shore Hospital’s opening for a CNO by new HCA Healthcare West Florida Division Chief Nursing Executive Amber Boes.
Donielle Robertson RN recently joined HCA Florida South Shore Hospital as its new chief nursing officer.
Robertson found the idea appealing. An avid traveler, she said she wanted to be close to beaches and an international airport.
“It’s important for me to be able to travel to maintain balance between my work life and personal life,” she said, adding she was delighted to find Edmisten, also a travel buff, has the same priority.
Since the new CNO started July 7, she’s been shadowing, learning and connecting with South Shore Hospital caregivers. Her immediate goals include a focus on improving overall quality of patient care and the community’s perception of the hospital.
Robertson can be reached by calling 813-634-0102 or emailing donielle.robertson@hcahealthcare.com/.
