Myra Couch

I’ve been a clinical leader, a manager, and an administrator for the past 10 years. In all of these roles I have been responsible for clinical leadership, quality, patient safety, and education in a variety of settings including inpatient, ambulatory care and staff development. I am data driven-I prioritize using data and other forms of feedback to identify gaps and address areas for improvement. I am also an excellent problem solver; my background as a Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) really taught me to hone my evidence- based practice skills and how to research and implement current industry standards into nursing policies and daily practices. As a manager I honed my team building skills which has taught me the importance of active listening and brainstorming for consensus building. I am very process improvement driven-I’ve lead teams and initiatives across facilities and disciplines like the transition of our facility to a smoke free workplace, planned and implemented training for clinical staff as upgrades to the electronic medical record were introduced, and facilitated initiatives to decrease falls, prevent central line infections, and stop catheter associated UTI’s. In a nutshell, I am about problem solving and engaging people. I’m a very positive minded person and I try to see things from the perspective of others to gain understanding. Outside of work I enjoy volunteering in the community, I garden, and I travel.

EMPLOYMENT PROFILE 

Deputy Associate Director of Patient Care Service, November 2021-March 2025

• Ensures a competency process is in place to evaluate individual practice, as well as a review process for annual performance ratings.
• Emphasizes evidence-based practice and innovation.
• Promotes education for professional development.
• Completed action plan in response to all employee survey results to improve staff satisfaction.
• Analyzes and evaluates quantitative and qualitative data to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements including safety, infection control, clinical documentation, and personnel data.
• High Reliability Organization (HRO) approach to develop evidence-based health care solutions that promote a culture of prevention and safety.
• Supports and participates in fiscal management responsibilities as they relate to human resources, equipment, and supplies.

Nurse Manager-Medical Specialty Clinics- Medicine Service Line, February 2015 - 2021

• Appointed by Executive Leadership to chair workgroups, lead interdisciplinary teams, and lead root cause analysis projects.
• Appointed by Service Line VP to represented nursing in project to expand oncology and allergy outpatient care in partnership with Altoona VA ; conducted site visit; coordinated orientation for Altoona staff; assisted with development of Altoona nursing policy and nursing competencies. 
• Lead Oncology Department to initiate virtual cancer care at Erie VAMC. 
• Appointed by the Chief Nurse Executive, to implement RME Champions program including develop and implement competencies and training plan and coordinating monitoring process to ensure policies and practices are in accordance with National Program Office for Sterile Processing directives and guidelines. 
• Member of hiring committees to review resumes, conduct employment interviews, and review references. 

• Evaluated and selected textbooks for nursing curriculum and syllabus development.
• Provided guidance and support, helping students develop their clinical skills and professional identity. 
• Created a positive and supportive learning environment that encourages student participation and critical thinking. 
• Demonstrates a thorough understanding of nursing theory, practice, and current healthcare trends for future clinical nurse leaders. 

Clinical Nurse Leader, VAPHS-Patient Care Services, May 2011-2015 

• Management and coordination of comprehensive patient care for individuals and clinical cohorts. 
• Continually interprets and applies medical center policies as appropriate to the unit during unit-based tracer rounds and throughout my daily bedside assessments. 
• Reviews and shares results of quality assurance programs with staff verbally during units’ meetings and through visual displays. Displays have helped clinical nurses to analyze, become data fluent and respond to data with corrective actions. The creation of graphs with a consistent format and benchmark representation for our nurse sensitive indicators has improved data interpretation and made it much more user friendly. 
• Based on staff feedback and literature review, develops action plan for improvements through the facilitation of our units Behavioral Health Workgroup. Project resulted in decreases Code Blue events, improvement in patient and staff safety, increased staff training and knowledge, and the development of partnerships between multiple disciplines across the VAPHS system. 
• Implement evidence-based practice to decrease Healthcare Associated Infections. The use of quality improvement strategies effectively decreased Catheter Associated Urinary Tract Infections and Central Line Associated Blood Stream Infections. 
• Works with our units Professional Practice Council and the facilities Quality Care Council to plan strategies for continuous improvement. This included the timely delivery of monthly and quarterly reports and graphs to our unit and facility leadership. 
• Ensures staff demonstrate clinical competence and remain up to date on defined unit-based competencies and mandatory review. This includes conducting annual reviews with all chemotherapy administration card holders’ and the development of and administration of unit specific training for all newly hired RN’s and our units specially selected preceptors.
• Apply strategies to ensure consistency of clinical care within populations through design, implementation, and evaluation of plans of care for patient cohorts. 

2014 - Adjunct Nursing Faculty-Community College of Allegheny County 

• Served as lab instructors for NUR-240 Complex Health Concepts Nursing Practice course 
• Create teaching plans and classroom lecture on nursing topics, assign homework and oversee labs. Course focus: caring for adults with complex, acute, and chronic health problems through didactic instruction, simulated laboratory, and clinical experiences. 
• Maintain communication and work cooperatively with lead instructor and clinical instructors. 

Care Coordinator Home Tele-Health, VAPHS-Community Based Care, 2009-2011 

• Case management for patients with chronic illnesses and behavioral health diagnoses.
• Tele-monitoring of patients VS and symptomology via in-home remote message devices. 
• Assess patient’s functional status and clinical, social, and environmental needs. 
• Report patients’ response to treatment to facilitate early intervention. 
• Educate patients on disease management and prevention strategies. 

• Maintained Chemotherapy Certification for safe administration of cytotoxic intravenous medication  
• Participated on wound management team meetings and collected unit data for quality and patient safety reports 
• Organized preceptorships for new employees and identified competencies and/or learning needs during their orientation period 

Staff Nurse, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, 2005-2006 

• Functioned as charge nurse
• Identified performance improvement opportunities r/t skin care/wound management Ø Performed environmental safety rounds 
• Maintained crash carts and cardiac monitors in accordance with emergency preparedness 

August 2011 – December 2013 Doctorate of Nursing Practice Carlow University, Pittsburgh, PA    

2009-2011 Master's of Science in Nursing/Clinical Nurse Leadership Program Spring Hill College, Mobile, AL

2002—2009 American Baptist College 

2004- 2007 Bachelor's of Science in Nursing/ RN — BSN Accelerated Program Waynesburg University, Waynesburg, PA