Karen Keady, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, has been named inaugural Chief Nurse Executive at Mass General Brigham and will leave Vanderbilt Health on Oct. 1 after serving as System Chief Nursing Officer since 2024.
Keady has provided executive leadership for more than 12,000 nursing and clinical support staff members across Vanderbilt Health, helping advance nursing excellence, workforce development, innovation and professional nursing practice throughout the health system.
“Karen has been a strong advocate for nurses at every level, championing leadership development, workforce stability and shared governance. Under her leadership, Vanderbilt Health has continued to build on its tradition of exceptional patient care and nursing excellence,” said Jane Freedman, MD, Deputy CEO and Chief Health System Officer for Vanderbilt Health. “We thank Karen for her contributions to Vanderbilt Health and wish her continued success in the next chapter of her career.”
During her tenure, Keady focused on strengthening alignment across Vanderbilt Health’s hospitals and ambulatory settings, advancing workforce development initiatives and supporting innovation in nursing practice. She also championed the expansion of music therapy services and supported professional governance initiatives and leadership programs designed to help nurses grow and advance throughout their careers.
Keady played a central role in transforming Vanderbilt Health’s advanced practice provider enterprise. She led efforts to elevate APP roles, align compensation with competitive market benchmarks, and establish dedicated executive leadership for the profession, including the recruitment of Vanderbilt Health’s first Vice President and Chief of Advanced Practice.
Keady was an advocate for integrating emerging technologies into nursing practice across Vanderbilt Health. Over the past several years, Vanderbilt’s virtual nursing program grew to care for nearly 800 beds. She also helped advance patient pump integration, which automatically documents bedside patient data into electronic health records for precise, real-time monitoring and treatment, and supported the implementation of DAX Copilot, an ambient listening technology that helps nurses complete documentation more efficiently.
“It has been an honor to serve alongside the nurses and care teams of Vanderbilt Health,” Keady said. “I am grateful for the opportunity to support our nursing staff and learn from such an extraordinary group of professionals. Vanderbilt Health nurses are exceptional caregivers, leaders and colleagues whose commitment to patients and one another defines the very best of this organization, and I will always be thankful for the opportunity to work alongside them.”
A national search will be launched to name Keady’s successor. On an interim basis, Pat Givens, DHA, RN, NEA-BC, will provide executive leadership for nursing across the health system, working closely with the entity chief nursing officers and associate nurse executives. Givens brings more than 30 years of nursing leadership experience, including previously serving as Chief Nursing Officer for Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt from 1990 to 2009 and as Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Executive at Children’s Hospital Colorado. Since returning to Vanderbilt Health in 2024, Givens has supported nursing leadership development through strategic programs and serves as an adjunct instructor at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing.
At Mass General Brigham, Keady will assume the newly created position of Chief Nurse Executive, providing strategic leadership for nursing practice across the system’s hospitals, ambulatory network and community-based care settings.
Prior to joining Vanderbilt Health, Keady held nursing leadership roles at the University of Rochester Medical Center and Johns Hopkins Medicine.
Keady earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Towson State College of Nursing and later earned a Master of Science in Nursing and a Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing from Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing.
