About nursing at Cooley Dickinson Hospital
At Cooley Dickinson Hospital, our Nursing Department is committed to delivering exceptional, compassionate care to every patient we serve. Our nurses work collaboratively across all areas of the hospital—medical‑surgical units, specialty services, the Emergency Department, perioperative care, and outpatient clinics—to ensure safe, effective, and patient‑centered care.
We embrace evidence‑based practice, continuous learning, and a strong shared‑governance model that empowers nurses to shape clinical practice and quality initiatives. Through ongoing education, mentorship, specialty certification, and innovation, our nursing team continually advances the standard of care for our community.
Above all, our nurses are dedicated professionals who provide care with empathy, respect, and a deep commitment to each patient’s dignity and well‑being.
Mission
To provide patient and family centered care to our community through a culture of compassion, safety, advocacy, and nursing innovation.
To cultivate a nursing community that is committed to developing a professional practice through a spirit of inquiry, curiosity, and integrity in the service of extraordinary patient care.
Honors
- Get with the Guidelines: Cooley Dickinson Hospital has received the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines – Stroke Gold Plus quality achievement award for its commitment to ensuring stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines, ultimately leading to more lives saved and reduced disability.
- LGBTQ+ Healthcare Equality Leader: Cooley Dickinson Hospital received an evaluation of 100 and the designation of “LGBTQ+ Healthcare Equality Leader” in the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Healthcare Equality Index (HEI). Cooley Dickinson is the only hospital in western Mass. – and one of 12 in the Commonwealth – to earn the LGBTQ+ Healthcare Equality Leader designation.
- Newsweek/Statista ‘Best Maternity Hospital’: Cooley Dickinson Hospital was named a Best Maternity Hospital 2022 by Newsweek magazine. This award is presented by Newsweek and Statista Inc., the world-leading statistics portal and industry ranking provider. The Newsweek/Statista list names the top 350 leading hospitals for maternity care in the United States, which are divided into two performance categories: five ribbon hospitals (161 institutions) and four ribbon hospitals (189 institutions); Cooley Dickinson earned four ribbons.
- Women’s Choice Awards: Cooley Dickinson Hospital was awarded a 2023 Women’s Choice Awards. The Breast Center was honored for breast imaging. Breast care centers must be designated by the American College of Radiology (ACR) as a Breast Imaging Center of Excellence (BICOE) in order to qualify. The hospital was also ranked within the top 8% of 4,729 facilities examined with 73% of patients reporting they would “definitely recommend the hospital.”
- Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS): Cooley Dickinson Hospital has earned a 4-Star rating from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) CMS publishes ratings for hospitals so that Medicare recipients can assess quality of care and compare hospitals. This rating is achieved by the top fourteen percent of hospitals nationwide. The overall star rating for hospitals summarizes quality and patient safety information on important topics, such as readmissions and deaths after heart attacks or pneumonia. The overall rating, between 1 and 5 stars, summarizes a variety of measures across five areas of quality into a single star rating for each hospital. The overall rating shows how well each hospital performed on an identified set of quality and patient safety measures compared to other hospitals in the U.S. More stars equates to better hospital performance on the available quality measures.
Leadership
Chief Nursing Officer
Chika Anueyiagu, DNP, MSN, FNP, RN, NE-BC, CENP, is the Chief Nursing Officer at Cooley Dickinson Hospital, where she provides executive leadership for nursing and patient care services. She is responsible for advancing clinical excellence, quality and safety, workforce engagement, and operational efficiency across the organization.
Dr. Anueyiagu is a transformational, human-centered leader known for building high-performing teams and creating environments where clinicians can thrive. She brings a breadth of experience leading in both community hospital settings and large academic medical centers, including extensive leadership within Magnet-designated environments. She has a strong track record of driving measurable outcomes through strategic alignment, operational discipline, and a deep commitment to professional nursing practice.
Prior to her current role, Dr. Anueyiagu held progressive executive leadership positions within a large academic health system, where she led complex service lines and enterprise-level initiatives. During this time, she achieved significant improvements in patient experience, including top-decile performance in nurse communication and care transitions, as well as sustained excellence in quality outcomes such as achieving over 1,000 days without CAUTI and CLABSI across multiple units. She also led efforts to improve throughput and patient flow, reducing length of stay and increasing early discharges, while simultaneously decreasing turnover, eliminating contract labor, and strengthening workforce engagement.
A nationally engaged leader, Dr. Anueyiagu contributes to advancing the profession through service, scholarship, and mentorship. She has served on the nominations committee for the American Organization of Nurse Leaders and as a content expert for the ANCC Nurse Executive Board Certification. She also serves in governance and advisory roles, including participation on a college foundation board and nursing advisory boards, reflecting her commitment to developing future healthcare leaders and strengthening academic-practice partnerships.
Dr. Anueyiagu earned her Doctor of Nursing Practice in Executive Leadership from Fairfield University, her Master of Science in Nursing as a Family Nurse Practitioner from the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center, and her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from SUNY Downstate. She holds board certification as a Nurse Executive and is certified in Executive Nursing Practice.
Director of Nursing, Telemetry
Alexander Bohen, MA, BSN, RN, CCRN, is the Director of Nursing for the Telemetry Unit at Cooley Dickinson Hospital, where he provides strategic and operational leadership for a high-acuity medical-surgical cardiac population. In this role, he is responsible for advancing clinical quality, patient safety, and the professional practice environment while fostering a culture that supports both patient-centered care and staff engagement.
Prior to his current role, Alexander held nursing leadership positions at Yale New Haven Hospital, including Nurse Manager of the Surgical Intensive Care Unit. In these roles, he led interdisciplinary teams in the care of critically ill patients and played a key role in organizational workforce strategy, helping to establish and chair the Yale New Haven Hospital Staffing Committee. His work contributed to advancing staffing models, promoting frontline engagement, and supporting safe, effective care delivery in a complex academic medical center.
Alexander brings a unique interdisciplinary perspective to nursing leadership. He earned a Master of Arts in Rhetoric and Composition and began his career in media and storytelling, contributing to documentary work with ESPN. This background informs his leadership approach, particularly in communication, narrative development, and engaging frontline staff in meaningful, sustainable change.
He earned his Bachelor of Science in Nursing and holds Critical Care Registered Nurse (CCRN) certification, grounding his leadership in a deep understanding of high-acuity patient care and the complexities of critical care practice. This clinical foundation continues to inform his approach to decision-making, quality improvement, and the development of frontline nursing teams.
Alexander’s professional interests include workforce engagement, leadership development, and the optimization of care delivery models in acute care settings. He has contributed to initiatives aimed at improving the staff experience and strengthening team culture, and has presented on the impact of work environment factors on retention and turnover at professional conferences, including the American Organization for Nursing Leadership Professional Governance Conference.
Director of Perioperative Services & Cardiovascular Interventional Radiology
Elizabeth Fortier is an experienced nursing leader with over a decade of progressive leadership in perioperative and procedural services. She currently serves as Director of Perioperative Services and Cardiovascular Interventional Radiology at Cooley Dickinson Hospital, where she provides strategic and operational oversight for multiple high-acuity clinical areas.
In her role, Elizabeth is responsible for ensuring the delivery of safe, efficient, and high-quality patient care while optimizing departmental performance and patient throughput. She is known for fostering strong interdisciplinary collaboration, leading performance improvement initiatives, and building high-performing teams. Her leadership has contributed to enhanced operational efficiency, improved patient outcomes, and a culture of accountability and clinical excellence.
Prior to her current role, Elizabeth held multiple leadership positions across regional healthcare systems, where she led complex operational initiatives, improved scheduling and procedural efficiency, and guided teams through periods of significant change, including the COVID-19 pandemic.
Elizabeth holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Health Administration & Leadership and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) from the College of Our Lady of the Elms. She also earned an Associate of Science in Nursing and an Associate of Arts from Greenfield Community College. Her combined clinical and business expertise supports her commitment to advancing patient care quality, operational excellence, and staff engagement.
Awards and recognition
Commitment to quality and safety
Our Mass General Brigham goal is to lead the nation in providing the highest quality care For Every Patient. In alignment with this system goal, Cooley Dickinson Hospital nurses are contributing to delivering the highest quality care by engaging in strategies that improve the patient’s experience, and nursing quality outcomes, while also reducing mortality and hospital acquired infections. Using a High Reliability framework, nursing strategies are transforming care that is equitable, team-oriented, data driven, and rigorously focused on mitigating risk and continually improving care delivery.
ICU staffing ratios
Starting with the first quarter of 2016, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) now requires all Massachusetts ICUs to report quarterly Registered Nurse-to-Patient ratios on their websites.
Nursing education and professional development
The Cooley Dickinson Hospital Nurse Residency Program is designed to support and guide newly licensed registered nurses as they transition into professional practice. Our year‑long program provides a structured blend of classroom learning, clinical mentorship, and hands‑on experience to help new nurses build confidence, strengthen clinical skills, and develop sound clinical judgment.
Residents work alongside experienced nurse preceptors, mentors and interdisciplinary teams, gaining exposure to a variety of patient care situations while receiving individualized support. The curriculum includes evidence‑based coursework, skills development, reflective practice, and opportunities to participate in quality and safety initiatives that shape patient care throughout the hospital.
Our goal is to foster a strong foundation for lifelong learning, professional growth, and career advancement. Graduates of the Nurse Residency Program emerge as engaged, confident clinicians who are prepared to deliver exceptional, compassionate care to the patients and communities we serve.
The Cooley Dickinson Education Center is the organization’s hub for clinical learning, professional development, and workforce readiness. Our mission is to empower nurses and interprofessional team members with the knowledge, skills, and support they need to deliver safe, high‑quality, evidence‑based care.
The Education Center provides comprehensive training programs, hands‑on learning experiences, and real-time clinical support to strengthen practice across the continuum of care.
We create structured, supportive onboarding pathways for nurses and clinical staff. Our programs help new team members gain confidence through:
- Guided clinical orientation
- Skill development and hands-on practice
- Competency assessments aligned with regulatory and organizational standards
- Preceptor support and mentorship
We offer learning opportunities that keep staff current and engaged, including:
- Evidence-based clinical updates
- Annual required education and competency validations
- CEU-eligible workshops and specialty courses
- Certification support and advancement pathways
Our goal is to foster lifelong learning and support career progression at every level.
The Cooley Dickinson Simulation Center is a learning environment designed to strengthen clinical skills, critical thinking, communication, and teamwork—without risk to patients.
Key features:
- Simulation mannequin
- Realistic clinical environments that replicate hospital workflows
- Interprofessional team simulations
- Code response and rapid response scenario training
- Facilitated debriefing to reinforce learning and improve practice
Simulation allows clinicians to rehearse rare events, refine technical skills, and strengthen teamwork in a safe and supportive setting.
Unit-based educators are clinical experts embedded directly within hospital units to support day-to-day practice. They serve as trusted resources for clinical support, real‑time education, and competency development.
- Provide at-the-elbow teaching and guidance
- Support onboarding and preceptor development
- Facilitate unit-based competencies and skills validation
- Assist with policy and practice changes
- Collaborate on safety, quality, and practice improvement
- Ensure staff readiness based on unit needs and patient populations
- Help ensure consistent, evidence‑based practice across the organization by bringing education directly to the clinical environment.
Together, the Education Center, Simulation Center, and Unit-Based Educators form a cohesive, multi-layered support system that advances clinical excellence at Cooley Dickinson. This integrated model helps:
- Improve patient safety and outcomes
- Strengthen staff confidence and competence
- Enhance interprofessional communication and teamwork
- Support consistent, evidence-based practice
- Tuition reduction
- College courses (undergrad or graduate)
- Job‑related degrees
- Nursing programs (ASN, BSN, MSN, DNP)
- Leadership, management, and business courses
- Some certificate programs at accredited institutions
Certification Support
At Cooley Dickinson, we are committed to advancing excellence in nursing practice and ensuring our patients receive the highest standard of care. Professional certification is a key component of that commitment. We proudly support our nurses in pursuing and maintaining specialty certifications that reflect expert knowledge, clinical proficiency, and dedication to lifelong learning.
To help our nurses achieve these milestones, Cooley Dickinson provides a range of resources, including:
- Financial support, such as reimbursement for certification exam fees and preparatory courses.
- Recognition programs that honor certified nurses and celebrate their achievements.
- Protected learning time, when possible, to support exam preparation and continuing education.
Nursing certification benefits both our caregivers and the patients and communities we serve. Research consistently demonstrates that certified nurses contribute to:
- Improved patient outcomes and enhanced safety.
- Higher levels of clinical expertise and evidence‑based practice.
- Greater professional confidence and job satisfaction.
- Stronger interdisciplinary collaboration and leadership at the point of care.
Nurses who pursue certification exemplify the Cooley Dickinson mission of delivering exceptional, compassionate, and patient‑centered care. Their commitment to advancing their practice strengthens our organization and elevates the quality of care across every unit and specialty.
Cooley Dickinson is proud to champion professional nursing certification—and the remarkable nurses who achieve it.
Most clinical roles—including nursing—are eligible for reimbursement of job‑related certification fees, such as:
- BLS / ACLS / PALS
- CCRN
- CPHQ
- CMSRN
- CNOR
- WOCN
- Any certification directly tied to your job description
Cooley Dickinson is a designated AHA Training Center that offers initial certification and recertification of BLS, ACLS, and PALS at no cost to the employed participant.
S.T.A.B.L.E and NRP is offered for childbirth nurses.