colleen a. lacroix, rn, msn
With over 20 years of critical care nursing and administrative leadership experience, Colleen LaCroix loves to share her experiences to inspire and motivate audiences from bedside to C-Suite. Her knowledge across multiple critical care areas, serving as a clinical instructor for a local nursing school, administratively supporting the goals of the private practice and hospital environment, awareness of the changing healthcare economic environment, and importance of strategic planning for the future, she is able to speak and discuss a wide range of topics from Service Excellence to Nurse Engagement and Quality Improvement.
Speaking Topics
nurse engagement
quality improvement
Colleen LaCroix proudly serves as the Director of Quality and Clinical Integration for a large Cardiovascular practice in the Southeast. Her journey with this practice began in 2004, serving as the Director of Nursing. She was asked by the CEO to start and direct the Quality and Compliance Department in 2010. As the Quality and Compliance Director, her primary focal points include monitoring and improving patient experience, ensuring clinical quality, improving clinical outcomes, leading provider and staff education, monitoring documentation compliance, successful attestation and exceptional performance in past Meaningful Use programs and now, MIPS (Merit Based Incentive Payment System), as well as the development of strategic planning related to process improvement strategies clinic wide. She also composes and leads all new provider and staff Quality Orientation for the entire practice.
Separately from her full-time administrative role, Colleen works part time at a local Emergency Room, as a bedside nurse. She satisfies her passion for direct patient care while maintaining her critical care skill set. Colleen uses this opportunity as a bedside nurse to personally experience and observe the overall impact of the reality of time constraints, and the struggle frontline staff experience balancing excellence in medical care, documentation requirements, all while ensuring the highest attention to patient experience.
Colleen has been invited to the national speaking stage for companies such as Press Ganey, as well as organizations such as the American College of Cardiology (ACC). Sharing her past and recent personal “real world” experiences with her audience, Colleen is able to connect easily with her audience in a casual, professional, and conversational manner. Her strongest connection comes with her front line patient care experiences in the ER and her administrative experiences combined. She feels it is important for the leaders of our healthcare systems to be connected, intimately, to the areas they manage, and for the bedside care givers to also feel connected to the C-Suite. From Bedside to C-Suite, Colleen is able to address, engage, and inspire all levels of employees to improve frontline patient care and outcomes.
In her spare time, she enjoys traveling, spending time with her family, and being outdoors. Colleen fulfills her artistic side with her love of photography, tile work, wood working, painting/staining, and other arts and crafts.
KEYNOTE TOPICS
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Pulling from her vast clinical nursing experience, as well as being a past restaurant owner, Colleen is able to engage and educate staff on how to ensure a five-star experience. The public has had access to proclaim their love or hate for companies, restaurants, nail salons, and services online for years. Now, in the realm of healthcare, our patients have multiple ways to share their experiences in the ER, doctors office, or nursing unit. From social media, Healthgrades, and Press Ganey, our patients are becoming much more vocal about the care they are receiving, and rightfully so! From the frontline to the C-Suite, Colleen actively works in both areas, and understands intimately the challenges from each end. Her “back to basics” approach allows learners to leave engaged, inspired to make a difference, and leads them in a direction to see an improvement in their patient experience data.
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“We are all on the same boat, why are we rowing in different directions?“ What is important to the C-Suite? What is important to the front line? Both areas use different terms, but we are all here for one reason. The Patient (aka the customer). Corporate lingo does not translate easily, nor emotionally engage the front-line nursing staff. Currently working in both areas, bedside ER nurse on the weekend, and full-time administrator Monday-Friday, Colleen is able to help bridge the gap between these two areas. She will share real-world experiences that will resonate with staff of both areas, and will help identify ways your organizations can improve the communications, increase efficiencies, lower costs, and improve employee satisfaction.
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Nursing is career of caring. Being smart is important, knowing the disease processes is crucial. Being able to comfort someone in a time of need is a gift. As a prior nursing school clinical instructor, Colleen is able to help guide young nurses, ensuring the importance of compassion, empathy, and personal care is given as much attention as their clinical knowledge. With all of the time constraints, electronic medical records documentation requirements, protocols to remember and meds to give, we still need to find time to hold the hand, provide a warm blanket, or just listen. The patients will remember HOW you made them feel, not how smart you are.
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With over 16 years of electronic health record experience, 6 years of successful Meaningful Use attestations, and 3 years of being an “Exceptional Performer” in MIPS, Colleen is able to help you develop a strategic plan for success, and increase your outpatient practice’s revenue potential. Colleen sits on the International Steering Committee for the nation’s largest cardiology outpatient registry, and has been instrumental with ensuring data mapping is correct to accurately report front line patient care. Bridging the gap between the data masters and the front line staff, Colleen is able to discuss the journey over the last 5 years with the registry team and how she was able to prioritize, successfully educate providers and front line staff regarding documentation strategies, and ensure accurate data capture.
Book colleen LaCroix
Fee Range: $5,000.00