Meet CHCM’s Consultants
For more than 30 years, the consultants at Creative Health Care Management have provided leadership and staff development world-wide to organizations that are involved in transformational change. Our experts have broad clinical and administrative expertise as well as a deep commitment to improving the health care environment. This experience allows them to inspire, direct, and implement care models that help organizations provide safe, compassionate, world-class care for patients and their families
In addition to our full time faculty, CHCM partners with several professionals in a wide range of areas. Find out more about our adjunct faculty.
Margo A. Karsten, PhD, MS, BSN, CEO, President, and Consultant
With over 25 years of experience in health care – specifically in formal executive roles – Margo is currently serving as the CEO of Creative Health Care Management. She has achieved quality and service awards to clinical excellence. Margo’s leadership style is innovative, creative, and engaging. She actively searches for leading edge strategies to improve cultures and improve care delivery systems. One of Margo’s current passions is using innovative approaches to compassionate care for dementia and Alzheimer’s sufferers. Learn more about Margo.
Mary Koloroutis, MSN, RN, Vice President and Consultant
As a co-creator, author, and editor of the Relationship-Based Care series of books and seminars, Mary helps health care organizations create a framework for delivering world-class care with strong underlying values and principles, and then works with them to implement that framework. Her most recent book, See Me as a Person: Creating Therapeutic Relationships with Patients and their Families, co-authored with Michael Trout, helps clinicians in all disciplines to connect authentically with the patients and families in their care no matter how chaotic their care environments may be. Learn more about Mary.
Craig Luzinski, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, FACHE, Vice President and Consultant
Craig is passionate about mentoring leaders at all levels of organizations to develop cultures focused on providing outstanding patient experiences, excellent quality patient outcomes, and an authentic commitment to staff engagement. He knows that the achievement of high levels of patient and business outcomes requires more than well-articulated vision, mission, and value statements, or even detailed strategic plans. The work is challenging, requiring the engagement of front-line employees in all areas of the organizations and the dedication of the organizations’ leaders to actively listen and communicate with employees and stakeholders at all levels on a regular basis. Learn more about Craig.
Jayne Felgen, MPA, RN, President Emeritus and Consultant
Though she claims her enthusiasm for bringing transformational change to health care organizations “borders on obnoxiousness,” Jayne doesn’t deny it when someone accuses her of being CHCM’s Chief Exuberance Officer. Who can blame her? She thrills in seeing organizations change when they embrace Relationship-Based Care. She watches as caregivers realize that they have the power to change their immediate reality: they accept responsibility, plan the change, implement the change, and refine and revise the change so as to always keep progressing in ways that focus on what’s best for patients, families, care providers, and the organizations in which they serve. Learn more about Jayne.
Marie Manthey, FAAN, MNA, FRCN, PhD (hon) President Emeritus and Consultant
Saying Marie has seen it all is either literally true and an understatement. The founder and president emeritus of CHCM, Marie has been a nurse since, she says, “practically age five.” And through that time, she’s been motivated by the same burning passion: focus on the nurse-patient relationship and its potential for healing. She makes it sound simple when she explains just how critical that relationship is: “You have to see what supports that relationship and what interferes with that relationship, then enhance what helps, minimize what hurts.” Learn more about Marie.
Donna Wright, MS, RN, Consultant
A staff development specialist known for her irreverent wit, Donna brings a global perspective to her work—literally. She’s worked on every continent but Antarctica, and she has her eyes set on that, too: “There’s an infirmary there!” she says.
In this country and in the over two dozen others, Donna’s best known for the work she does based on two of her books, The Ultimate Guide to Competency Assessment and Relationship-Based Care (co-authored with several CHCM colleagues). The Ultimate Guide has been translated into Japanese and has become the industry standard for HR departments in establishing and assessing competency, and Donna specializes in setting up systems for organizations to ensure accountability and measure competency. Learn more about Donna.
Shirley Ruch, MEd, RN, C-LNC, Consultant
Among her colleagues, Shirley is consistently described as wise. They gush over her knowledge and more than 45 years of experience, noting that “there’s not too much that’s brand-new to her.” And yet she’ll tell you herself that there are plenty of things she doesn’t know, and she makes a point of never pretending to know what she doesn’t. She combines that humility with the authenticity that comes from having worked—digging in, up-to-her-elbows worked—in a wide variety of health care organizations all over the world. Together those qualities help her make meaningful, lasting connections with everyone at an organization, from the CEO to the medical staff to the managers and front-line staff. “You have to resonate with people if you’re going to help guide them through major events like redesigning roles and processes, remodeling care delivery systems, focusing on collaborative practice, improving teamwork, and driving cultural change,” says Shirley. Learn more about Shirley.
Susan Wessel, MS, MBA, NEA-BC, RN, Consultant
Susan partners with hospitals to improve patient care through the design and implementation of Relationship-Based Care. She develops leadership teams to build trust, collaboration, and personal accountability. She also specializes in creating an engaged workforce and building professional practice environments consistent with Magnet® Recognition criteria. Learn more about Susan.
Susan Edstrom, MS, BSN, RN, Consultant
Susan says of her role at Creative Health Care Management, “It’s a privilege and honor to be part of this life-changing work.” When she facilitates a Re-Igniting the Spirit of Caring program with a group of multidisciplinary health care providers, she observes two important outcomes: personal transformation and a deeper sense of community. People are re-energized around the importance of their work and the impact they have on patients and their families. “I’m reconnected to my purpose by getting other people reconnected with theirs,” she says. Learn more about Susan.
Gen Guanci, MEd, RN-BC, CCRN, Consultant
Gen wears many hats at CHCM, but her roles are all focused on advancing nursing as a profession and nursing professional development. Whether it’s educating on Relationship-Based Care, helping education departments with structure and competency metrics, or guiding organizations as they establish a culture of excellence, including the journey to Magnet® designation, Gen sees the possibilities in all of her clients. She takes them as they are, meets them where they are in their development, and helps them reach their personal, staff and organizational goals. Learn more about Gen.
Janet Weaver, MSN, RN, NE-BC, Consultant
As a clinical nurse, Janet connected with her patients and felt great compassion for them. As her career evolved and she moved into leadership roles, something she’s done for nearly 30 years, Janet brought that same sensitivity to her teams. She’s always been able to recognize potential in other people, and helping them recognize it themselves and develop it is a joy of hers. Learn more about Janet.
Suzanne Cleere, MSN, MSBA, CENP, RN, Consultant
Suzanne Cleere is amazed by the connections between her personal and professional lives. As a bedside nurse she knew the value of connecting with her patients and their families and kept them as the lodestone of her work. “It’s so important to focus on the patient and family, not just the tasks,” she says, “the people are what it’s all about.” As a hospital executive, she recognized the value in drawing connections across the health care system. She strove to keep all departments working together, eliminating silos. This applied to both big and small hospitals; she doesn’t think the size of the organization matters, but creating a team mentality does. Her ability to connect with the staff is vital—even just being familiar with how people work makes a leader more effective. Learn more about Suzanne.
Mary Griffin Strom, MSN, RN, Consultant
Mary Griffin Strom seldom uses the word “patient” without the word “family” following right along behind it. It’s something she’s seen constantly throughout her career, both as a nurse at the point of care and as an administrator. “Almost every patient comes as a unit,” she says. “As caregivers, we are servants to family, not just the patient. The patient defines the family, of course, but family is crucial.” Learn more about Mary.
Traci Hanlon, MN, RN, Consultant
Traci is a registered nurse with clinical experience that spans 20 years in critical care, PACU, telemetry, and med/surg. The past 10 years of her career have been spent in staff development with a focus on preceptor and leadership development. People who have worked with Traci as a facilitator are quick to describe her as inspirational and funny, and on further thought, they often point to her deep foundation of knowledge and the fact that her work is so well grounded in research. Learn more about Traci.
Susan Cline, MSN, MBA, RN, NEA-BC, Consultant
Susan’s experiences as a Magnet® Program Director and front line manager have re-ignited her passion for her profession. Her greatest joy is mentoring individuals, teams, and hospitals to develop their gifts in pursuit of a culture of excellence. Susan’s professional interests include mission and vision development, project management, and transformational leadership through effective communication in addition to the development of structures and processes to support a Magnet®journey. Learn more about Susan.