The chief nursing informatics officer at NewYork-Presbyterian is Geeta Nastasi, MSA, RN, CDH-E. Prior to this role, she was director of information systems for numerous applications including Patient Safe Solutions, Cerner, Meditech, Allscripts, Athena, eCW, and 3M.

Additionally, Geeta serves as the program director for the IT Fellows Program, which she created in 2018 in collaboration with NewYork-Presbyterian’s human resources department. This two-year program aims to provide historically black universities with minority students with a pathway to becoming future leaders, thinkers, and significant contributors in healthcare IT and administration.

Geeta’s previous positions include nursing management at NewYork-Presbyterian Queens and she was a registered nurse at Northwell Health. She began her career as a registered general nurse with North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust in England. She has a Master of Science in Administration from Central Michigan University and a Bachelor of Science in Health Administration from St. Joseph’s College. She is a Samuel H. and Maria Miller Scholar in the DNP Nurse Executive Track at Case Western Reserve University, Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing.

Geeta has guest lectured at several forums. Most recently, she served as faculty at the Digital Health Leadership Academy for Nurses and Midwives in the United Kingdom with CHIME International, in partnership with the Florence Nightingale Foundation and NHSx. She is ranked #19 among the Top 100 Women Leaders list in 2021 by Women We Admire, and is listed as one of eleven women making history and changing healthcare at NewYork-Presbyterian in 2022.

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital  

Founded 250 years ago, NewYork-Presbyterian is one of the largest, most integrated academic healthcare systems in the country. NewYork-Presbyterian includes 10 hospitals spread around the Greater New York area, approximately 200 general and specialised care clinics and medical groups, and a variety of telemedicine services.

In collaboration with two renowned medical schools, Weill Cornell Medicine and Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, NewYork-Presbyterian is consistently recognized as a leader in medical education, groundbreaking research, and innovative, patient-centered clinical care.NewYork-Presbyterian’s 48,000 employees and affiliated physicians are dedicated to providing the highest quality, most compassionate care to New Yorkers and patients from across the country and around the world.

The institution’s physical and digital footprint has grown significantly over the years—no matter where or how patients enter the healthcare system, they will have access to our world-class providers and facilities and can expect a single standard of exceptional care.

At NewYork-Presbyterian, Geeta is responsible for leveraging new and evolving technologies to promote adoption, quality, safety, and process efficiency for a wide variety of initiatives across the continuum of care for the integrated health system.

Key to Build a Great Team 

Giving team members a voice early on, to talk about how they can become the best team ever, gives them a sense of empowerment. Setting a defined course with common objectives that everyone feels invested in and is held accountable for, unites the team around a shared purpose. Cross-pollination on projects and regular team interaction, such as team meetings and retreats, foster relationships, engagement, collaboration, and redundancy. In order to develop and quickly pivot, Geeta believes in transparency and acknowledging where the teams are lacking both collectively and individually. Highlighting team and individual accomplishments is equally crucial since it sustains employee motivation.

As Geeta sees it, the leader is just one member of the team but has an important role in setting the tone, influencing team culture, and getting buy-in from other stakeholders throughout the institution. She firmly believes in and expects her team to be empathetic and learn to be emotionally intelligent to create a supportive team culture. She believes knowledge builds confidence and quality outcomes. It’s important that team members go for relevant skills training and higher education. She asserts, “Half of my team are either doctorate prepared or in progress, and the rest are masters prepared. How I measure success is when my team members become self-directed, take initiative, and become leaders themselves.“

Notes for Emerging Leaders

The industry offers a variety of career paths, from start-ups to more established businesses, due to the rapid pace of digital change, but ultimately, as with any profession, you get out of it what you put into it. Spend some time with yourself to discover your strengths, play to them, and pinpoint areas that require improvement if you want to be your true self. Geeta believes that building your own brand is the key to boosting and leveraging career success, and this is the foundation for doing so. Additionally, she believes that networking and staying up to date on trends are crucial. She advises, “Develop your network by attending events or connecting on social platforms like Linkedin. Be comfortable with being uncomfortable. Go for that interview, send that email, talk to that VP to become your mentor – every interaction is a stepping stone forward.”

Geeta also strongly recommends mentorship. She finds mentorship shows initiative and can be a powerful tool to learn and grow. She further discusses that eventually, one will find that balance that will come over time with thinking big and setting clear, realistic expectations that align with their personal vision.

For women visionaries, Geeta asserts, “Develop and own your personal brand. Know when to listen, lead and follow. When opportunity knocks, be bold and seize it. Don’t overthink. Find your voice and use it when you have something to say. You are your best advocate. Above all, preserve your integrity and dignity in the face of setbacks.”

The Secret of ‘Her’ Success

Geeta applied to work as a clinical analyst at NewYork-Presbyterian Queens in 2005 to assist with the electronic health record’s transition to the digital age. She made the conscious choice to accept a pay reduction because she could see the powerful potential of digitization. She believed she would be able to help create a system for clinicians to optimize care delivery and patient outcomes, applying her clinical skills in a new way to transform health care delivery.

Geeta tends to keep her attention on the end goal rather than becoming sidetracked by the limitations of getting there. She is forward-thinking and tenaciously motivated. She begins each day with a list of tasks to accomplish her professional obligations, which helps her to be incredibly productive.

Geeta is always learning and hopes she never stops. Geeta states, “Every so often, I reflect on my personal vision and where I want to be in the next five years to help keep me on course. My most important guiding principle is to make people feel good about themselves so they can bring out the best in themselves. I try to intentionally make every interaction a positive one and value respectful communication.”

Envisioning Constant Growth and Development

Geeta is currently in the middle of her doctorate. As a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic, she started a year-long REACH Fellowship in July at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health to help prepare for the future by learning how to “predict, manage, and lead robust responses to complex health emergencies, including emerging infectious diseases and other health crises,” (Responding to Epidemics and Crises in Health (REACH) Fellowship-ICAP at Columbia University).

She is thrilled to contribute to the continuing digital change taking place at NewYork-Presbyterian in order to enhance patient outcomes of the highest calibre and rekindle the joyful practice of clinical care. Geeta had a wonderful time this summer training British nurses and midwives in digital health while also learning about their problems and solutions in the healthcare industry. She wants to keep extending her expertise and influence by teaching and working with others both inside and outside of the US.

Website: www.nyp.org

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