Showcasing Excellence in Leadership
During a special ceremony, WVU School of Nursing alumna Dr. Laura J. Wood was inducted into the WVU Academy of Distinguished Alumni.
Wood, who received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 1977, was recognized at the Erickson Alumni Center alongside four other honorees, Linda Arnold, Luke Frazier, Sharon Burmeister Lord and Diana Murphy.
“The fact that I somehow have found my way into this group is surprising to me and very meaningful,” said Wood, also referencing the two nursing alumni who have been inducted before her, Drs. Diana Mason and Bernadette Melynk.
Wood serves as executive vice president of patient care operations, system chief nurse executive, and Sporing Carpenter Chair for Nursing at Boston Children’s Hospital. In this role, she sets strategic direction for the world’s leading pediatric academic health system, overseeing quality, safety, nursing practice and patient care delivery.
“On behalf of the WVU School of Nursing, we are honored to celebrate Dr. Wood’s achievements,” said Dr. Tara Hulsey, Dean and E. Jane Martin Endowed Professor. “Her work in nursing has led her to impact countless lives, and we are so grateful for the School of Nursing’s role in her nursing education and career.”
Wood’s progressive health care leadership contributions span three renowned academic health systems, including Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and the University of Pennsylvania Health System. She also led clinical business development as vice president for clinical solutions within Siemens Healthcare — now Oracle, spanning 1,000-plus U.S. health systems.
Wood credits the WVU School of Nursing with the strong foundation for the trajectory of her nursing career. Upon her graduation, she received both the school’s Faculty and Alumni Leadership awards.
“The very specific curriculum in the School of Nursing at WVU was much more clinically focused than many other programs,” Wood said. “By the time I finished as a senior and started as a new graduate at Johns Hopkins, I was in a much different place than many of the other baccalaureate-prepared nurses new graduates who were my peers. It was almost like I had an extra year of experience.”
She earned a Master of Science degree in maternal-child nursing from the University of Maryland, Baltimore, and a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree from Johns Hopkins University, where she was honored with Distinguished Alumna awards from both the School of Nursing and the University. Wood is a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Executive Nurse Fellow alumna and an elected Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing.
Wood serves as president and board chair of the American Nurses Credentialing Center, overseeing credentialing and ANCC’s Magnet Recognition and Pathway to Excellence programs with an aim to advance healthy and safe work environments in the U.S. and worldwide. Other recent board service includes Boston Children’s Hospital, CRICO Risk Management, the Friends of the National Institute of Nursing Research and Simmons University, among others.
Her best advice to nursing students comes from a beloved blue fish named Dory: “Just keep swimming.”
“That’s one of the mantras I say to myself,” Wood said. “Being a nurse is not easy. The conditions are not always easy. Staffing challenges have always existed and healthcare is demanding. I think you have to have endurance, but the rewards are huge.”
For undergraduate students and beyond, Wood said it is important for all nurses to think of themselves as leaders.
“From the moment they start as a new graduate nurse, they’re a leader. They’re going to be part of a team… and the nursing role is the hub of the team. They’re really the ones who are the integration engine, putting all those pieces together.”
Wood also shares her “three Ps” — presence, positivity and persistence.
“Every day of COVID, I was there, 12-plus hour days. Most other departments, aside from nursing and physicians, they fled. It was a dangerous and challenging time, but our nurses were on the front line, figuring out personal protective equipment and how to take care of your patients. I think leadership presence is the most important thing. I don’t always have the answer, but I can show up.”
Wood and her husband, Lawrence Quartana, live in Belmont, Massachusetts, near their adult son and many extended family members throughout New England, and are devoted, lifelong golden retriever parents and film enthusiasts. Wood also remains lifelong friends with many of her fellow WVU School of Nursing graduates.