After Almost 40 Years, Covenant Health’s Regional Chief Nursing Executive Retires
After being with Covenant Health for almost 40 years, Regional Chief Nursing Executive Karen Baggerly has announced her retirement.
Baggerly started her career with Covenant Health back in 1976 at Methodist Hospital as an overnight SICU RN. Eventually, she earned the title of Nurse Manager. Baggerly said:
My career aspirations were never aimed toward administration. I planned to become a CRNA eventually but fell in love with intensive care and its challenges. I also realized the importance of patient and family interactions in nursing, and I needed that. I became a Nurse Manager because I wanted to make a difference for those I worked with on the unit. I vowed never to forget the value of the direct caregiver in making decisions as a leader. Nor did I have aspirations to advance to Nursing Director or CNO until the opportunities presented themselves. Once again, I just hoped I could make a difference for my nursing colleagues and our practice at the bedside.
Baggerly says that family obligations played a large role in to why she chose now to retire. Now, she hopes to travel once COVID-19 subsides.
Covenant Health is expected to announce its new Regional Chief Nursing Executive in the next few weeks.