Macon, Ga. (October 19, 2023) – Elizabeth Larkins, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, has been named the new Chief Nursing Officer at Piedmont Macon Medical Center and Piedmont Macon North Hospital.
In her new role, which she began Oct. 16, Larkins will provide nursing oversight and leadership at both hospitals and will be responsible for ensuring the quality of patient care as well as promoting effective communication and collaboration across departments.
“Coming out of COVID, nursing and healthcare in general is different, but it offers us an opportunity to be innovative and creative,” she said. “We can’t pretend to think that the 2019 solutions are going to be the 2025 solutions.”
Part of her job will be to focus on new ways of thinking about nurse staffing while maximizing patient care, she said.
“Nursing has to be about what is of value to the patients in the bed,” she said. “And when you let nurses do the work they got into healthcare to do, they’re happier and want to do a better job.”
Larkins comes to Piedmont Macon with more than 27 years in the healthcare industry. She most recently was the executive director of medical and surgical nursing at Northeast Georgia Health System’s Gainesville campus. While there, she led a team of more than 1,000 employees across two campuses, using innovative approaches for nurse staffing and fostering advanced learning for clinical staff.
In addition to her work in Gainesville, Larkins has worked at several healthcare systems, including Emory Healthcare in Atlanta, Cascade Healthcare in Oregon, Athens Regional Health Services, and SunHealth/Banner Health in Arizona. As recently as 2016, she was an adjunct faculty member at Grand Canyon University teaching nursing students.
Stephen J. Daugherty, CEO of Piedmont Macon, said Larkins brings with her a patient-centered approach to nursing and a knowledge base to help the two Piedmont hospitals in Macon be innovative in the delivery of care to patients.
“Elizabeth’s leadership experience will be incredibly valuable to our nurses at Piedmont Macon Medical and Piedmont Macon North,” Daugherty said. “Not only will she mentor them in seeking ways to improve on the high-quality care they provide, but she also will inspire them to advance their careers in the practice of nursing and be the next generation of leaders in this important healthcare profession.”
Larkins received her bachelor’s degree in nursing from the Medical College of Georgia and her master’s degree in nursing from the University of Phoenix. In 2021, she earned her Doctor of Nursing Practice degree from Augusta University. She is a member of several professional nursing organizations, including the American Organization of Nurse Leaders, the Society for Critical Care Medicine and the American Association of Critical Care Nurses.