Jennifer Barut, MSN, R.N., has been named chief nursing officer for Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital (VPH) and Vanderbilt Behavioral Health (VBH).
Barut served as interim chief nursing officer after Avni Cirpili, DNP, RN, departed in January 2016.
She started as a night-shift nurse at VPH in 2001 and has held several roles, including director of Nursing Education and Professional Development for VBH.
In addition to her duties, Barut is a Ph.D. candidate at the Vanderbilt University School of Nursing.
“After more than a year serving faithfully in the interim CNO role, Jennifer has earned tremendous respect and admiration across VUMC and demonstrated not only her leadership and teaching excellence but more importantly an unwavering commitment and servant’s heart for our team and a courageous vision for what is possible,” said Jameson Norton, MBA, chief executive officer of VPH and executive director of VBH. “After a nationwide search, we are excited to welcome Jennifer into this important role to help lead our team in shaping the future of behavioral health and health care at VBH.”
Marilyn Dubree, MSN, R.N., Executive Chief Nursing Officer, said, “Jennifer has proven herself to be a valuable leader during her time in the interim position. I am pleased that she will continue her partnership with our other chief nursing officers to continually improve the practice of nursing at Vanderbilt.”
Barut said she’s excited about the direction that VBH is heading.
“There are many opportunities to partner with the other chief nursing officers to improve the care of patients who have behavioral health needs wherever they exist in our system, within the broader VUMC.”
This includes expanding behavioral health services within the Vanderbilt Health Affiliated Network (VHAN), Barut said.
One of Barut’s immediate priorities is preparing for a site visit from the American Nurses Credentialing Center from April 24 to 28, as VUMC seeks its third Magnet designation.
“We do great work,” she said. “We provide excellent patient care. We care about our patients and families and we have excellent patient outcomes. Being able to really showcase that for them, to have an opportunity to do that for a third time, is a big honor.”
Other major initiatives include making the transition to Epic clinical systems in November while continuing to provide excellent patient- and family-centered care.
“One of the things that I want to focus on is making sure that we are recruiting and retaining the best talent,” she said.