Cathy Ivory, PhD, RN-BC, RNC-OB, NEA-BC, senior director of Nursing Research for Vanderbilt University Medical Center, has been appointed to the National Advisory Council for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
Ivory is one of seven new members to be appointed to the 20-member panel, and her term will last two years. The AHRQ, which is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has a mission “to produce evidence to make health care safer, higher quality, more accessible, equitable, and affordable, and to work within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and with other partners to make sure that the evidence is understood and used.”
Executive Chief Nursing Officer Marilyn Dubree, MSN, RN, NE-BC, congratulated Ivory on her appointment.
“Cathy brings a deep well of experience to this prestigious group of accomplished individuals,” she said. “She has a passion for evidence-based practice and translating it to outstanding care for our patients and families. She was nominated by her peers because they knew she would be the perfect fit for this group.”
Ivory, who is also associate professor of Clinical Nursing at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing and secondary faculty in the Department of Biomedical Informatics, participated in her first quarterly meeting with the advisory council on Nov. 17. The agenda included issues related to health care quality measurement, primary care and research priorities, she said.
“I am delighted that nurses are a part of the National Advisory Council,” Ivory said. “I think that having the nurse’s voice on the council is just really important. Nurses are the health profession that is the closest to patient care. Nursing very much coordinates care for patients, whether they are in a hospital setting or an outpatient setting or in a community setting. The nurse’s ability to give the perspective of the patient from all settings is very important.”
Ivory said she is particularly interested in bringing her perspective on quality measurement to AHRQ. “That is something that we are very interested in in terms of being able to quantify the unique contribution of the nurse-to-patient care and how nurses contribute to quality and patient outcomes,” she said.
Ivory brings decades of progressive nursing leadership to the role. Born in Wisconsin and raised in Florida, her nursing career began in Georgia. She earned her Master of Science in Nursing degree from Georgia College and State University and spent most of her 20-year obstetric nursing career in Atlanta-area hospitals and practices. She maintained dual certifications as an informatics nurse and in inpatient obstetrics. From there, she moved to Mountain States Health Alliance in Johnson City, Tennessee, where she served as clinical specialist and then corporate director for Women’s Services.
Her passion for obstetrics nursing and a lifelong interest in technology led her to VUSN, where she completed her PhD in 2011. She subsequently joined the faculty, then left Nashville in 2017 to become associate chief nurse executive and vice president for Professional Practice and Care Transformation for Indiana University Health in Indianapolis. She returned to Nashville in 2019 to assume her current role as senior director for Nursing Research at VUMC.
“I am excited for Cathy to represent VUMC on the National Advisory Council because she is a committed and passionate colleague for Quality and Patient Safety,” said Jenny Slayton, DNP, RN, senior vice president for Quality, Safety and Risk Prevention. “Her participation in this work will be able to drive improvement nationally as well as at VUMC.”
