Lancaster, Etheredge Named to Nursing Director Posts

Diane Lancaster, PhD, RN, and Mary Lou Etheredge, MS, APRN, BC, recently were named to director posts in the Department of Nursing.

Lancaster, who had been program manager for Nursing Quality, was named director of Quality Measurement and Improvement for Nursing. Etheredge, who was project manager in Patient Care Services for the last two years, was named director of Nursing Practice.

“Diane and Mary Lou each have an intimate understanding of the practice of Nursing, a strong commitment to achieving excellence and maintaining quality, and the leadership skills to advance BWH Nursing locally and nationally,” BWH Chief Nursing Officer and Senior Vice President of Patient Care Services Mairead Hickey, PhD, RN, said.

In her new role, Lancaster will develop and facilitate efforts to implement the quality plan in the Nursing department. She joined BWH five years ago as a nurse researcher in the Center for Excellence in Nursing Practice, where she obtained funding for several research projects including a $250,000 grant from the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Last April, Lancaster assumed the role of program manager for Nursing Quality. She has extensive experience in education, research and quality management in academia, hospitals and managed care environments. Lancaster received her BSN from the University of Pittsburgh, her MSN from the Catholic University of America and her PhD in Nursing from Wayne State University.

“Diane has already made several positive changes, such as the initiation of clinical practice alerts, and I am confident she will continue to refine and improve our nursing practices,” Hickey said.

Etheredge, in her new role, is charged with advancing nursing practice across the hospital. She has leadership experience in acute care and ambulatory settings including nurse manager and director roles in nursing education and clinical operations, and she has contributed to the profession through publications on a variety of nursing topics. For the past two years, she has served as project manager for Patient Care Services at BWH. She has been instrumental in creating and facilitating the department’s nursing practice standards, and she assumed leadership within the Nurse in Charge Forum. Recently, she was awarded a grant to study simulation in teamwork development from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Etheredge, who received a BSN from Salve Regina College and an MS in Adult Psychiatric and Community Mental Health Nursing from Boston University, will continue fostering relationships and continuity among members of the nursing department. “Mary Lou has an incredible ability to build collaborative relationships among caregivers,” Hickey said. “She will be instrumental as we work together to maintain and enhance our healthy work environment for all BWH nurses.”