In February, Rosemary Reiner joined Florida Hospital Waterman as vice president and chief nursing officer.

 

Reiner moved to the Orlando area after spending a lifetime in Cleveland, Ohio, where she had worked for 19 years at Southwest General Hospital, most recently serving as chief nursing officer and chief operating officer. She was so highly revered at Southwest that she was asked to fill in as interim CEO.

 

"I probably wouldn't have moved out of state if the kids were still at home," admitted Reiner, the mother of four grown children. "We'd once thought about selling our house and moving into one that was more modern, but the kids put up a fuss. They liked their friends and neighbors and didn't care that our house needed this and that. But now only one is in Cleveland. The other three aren't even in Ohio."

 

Moving south was her husband's idea. A CPA by training, Jim Reiner installs computer applications for financial systems. When an opportunity presented itself in Central Florida, the couple discussed options.

 

"Jim's not a winter person, so I knew he was ready to go," said Reiner. "He asked me what I thought and I said 'sure, let's go for it.' I'd been at the same place for 19 years, so it was a big decision, but changes and opportunities can be fun."

 

Despite having some unpacked boxes at home, Reiner hit the ground running at Waterman.

 

"We have an opportunity to put in some new nursing leadership positions, and my first challenge is to put together the new nursing leadership team," said Reiner. "We're involved in some new programs and are luckily in an area with sustained population growth , giving us an increase in volume, so we're putting in a very good staff education process for all nurses at the bedside."

 

Because a large segment of the patient population's cardiovascular condition is at risk, Waterman is concentrating on the cardiology program.

 

"The first week I came here, we started doing interventional cardiology," she said. "Our goal is to start our open-heart surgery program in February 2010. This will be the fourth open-heart program I've been involved with helping get established. We've already started the journey … it's a lot of work, but very rewarding."

 

About the nursing profession in general, Reiner is often asked if she still likes being a nurse.

 

"I always tell people that nursing has been a wonderful profession for me," she said. "Now, there are so many more opportunities other than working at the bedside in a hospital. For those trying to blend marriage, family and career, nursing gives you lots of flexibility. Also, there are very few professions where you as an individual can make a difference in someone's life when they're in a very vulnerable position. It's rewarding to help someone get through a very difficult time."

 

Her thoughts on the movement of some nurse organizations to unionize? "In general, I do think it's the role of an executive team in an organization to provide an environment and culture that people want to work in, and also want to communicate to you on a daily basis the challenges and obstacles that need to be overcome to be successful," she said. "If people feel they can do that, they're generally pretty happy with their work environment."

 

Settling into life in Central Florida, Reiner has acclimated to the weather fairly quickly, and embraces her new work family at Waterman.