Tampa General Hospital’s Wendi Goodson-Celerin Recognized as a Hospital and Health System Chief Nursing Officer to Know

Goodson-Celerin, executive vice president and chief nursing executive, is recognized for excellence in nursing leadership and innovation.

Tampa, FL (Dec. 9, 2024) – Wendi Goodson-Celerin, DNP, APRN, NE-BC, executive vice president and chief nursing executive at Tampa General Hospital (TGH), has been honored by Becker’s Hospital Review as a Hospital and Health System Chief Nursing Officer to Know for 2024, marking her second consecutive year recognized on this prestigious list. Her inclusion on this year’s list reflects her demonstrated track record of spearheading innovative initiatives to ensure high standards of patient care.

“Wendi has championed a solutions-oriented, authentically driven leadership philosophy at Tampa General,” said John Couris, president and CEO of Tampa General. "Her compassionate approach and unwavering dedication to supporting and empowering our nursing team so they can deliver exceptional patient care has strengthened our entire system.  We are incredibly proud to celebrate Wendi and her team's achievements.”

Goodson-Celerin oversees all nursing services at Tampa General, focusing on cross-functional collaboration and ensuring teams have the resources for safe and efficient patient care. During her more than 35 years at Tampa General, she has developed numerous systemwide best practices, including the continuation of the Patient Experience Bundle (Purposeful Hourly Rounding, Bedside Shift Report and Nurse Leader Rounding). Additionally, Goodson-Celerin founded and built the clinical education department at Tampa General from the ground up, which has continued to serve as the academic health system’s best practice for onboarding all new hires.

Goodson-Celerin oversees compliance with accrediting bodies and regulatory groups systemwide, including the implementation of strategies to achieve or exceed quality and patient safety goals. She spearheads the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) Magnet Recognition Program, a prestigious designation Tampa General recently earned for the fifth consecutive time in August. With its redesignation, Tampa General became one of the less than 2% of hospitals nationwide to achieve Magnet designation five consecutive times.

Additionally, Goodson-Celerin has played an integral role in Tampa General’s journey to becoming fully accredited as a Collaborative High Reliability Organization®, which recognizes adherence to international safety and risk management best practice standards. With an emphasis on strengthening a collaborative just culture, Goodson-Celerin has led the nursing team’s engagement in this process, resulting in an increase in transparent reporting of “great catches,” ensuring risks are addressed and corrected before potentially impacting patients.

In efforts to meet the unique needs of Tampa General’s team, she has worked to strengthen the academic health system’s core nursing team to reduce reliance on agency staffing support. With this push, she has helped drive vacancy rates for nursing departments well under the national benchmarks. Additionally, Goodson-Celerin has led established initiatives focused on building nursing resiliency and well-being, as well as building new initiatives to bolster nursing education and training.

"It's an honor to be recognized alongside an impressive cohort of nursing executives from across the country, all of whom are meaningfully advancing the nursing profession and transforming the future of the health care industry as a whole," Goodson-Celerin said. "I am incredibly proud of all our team has achieved over the last year, with a major highlight being our Magnet redesignation. This recognition is a celebration of the collaboration and dedication of our team members that made it all possible."

This recognition follows Goodson-Celerin's inclusion by Becker’s on its 2024 list of “231+ Black Healthcare Leaders to Know,” which spotlights Black health care leaders who are helping to shape the health care industry. She also recently served as panelist at the media outlet’s 12^th Annual CEO + CFO Roundtable, where she discussed innovative approaches to freshening the nursing talent pipeline.

The Becker's Hospital Review list of Hospital and Health System Chief Nursing Officers to Know list recognizes exemplary chief nursing officers at hospitals and health systems across the U.S. annually. Goodson-Celerin and the full list of 2024 honorees are profiled here.