Episode 54 : The Three C’s of Leadership: Courage, Creativity, and Commitment in Nursing with Dr. Lori Wightman
Dr. Lori Wightman
Regional Chief Nursing Officer for Trinity Health’s Ohio Market and Professor of Practice at Washington University in St. Louis
Episode #54. The Three C’s of Leadership: Courage, Creativity, and Commitment in Nursing
Transforming healthcare through collaboration and innovation!
In this episode of the Smart Care Team Spotlight, Dr. Lori Wightman, Regional Chief Nursing Officer for Trinity Health’s Ohio Market and Professor of Practice at Washington University in St. Louis, discusses how nurses and engineers can work together to redesign healthcare systems that truly enhance patient care. She explains why technology must be built on strong, human-centered processes—not layered onto broken ones, and how tools like AI and workflow redesign can reduce caregiver burden. Dr. Wightman also explores the challenges of technology adoption, from financial inequities to the need for nurses to take an active role in shaping innovation. She closes by sharing her “Three C’s” of leadership, Courage, Creativity, and Commitment, as a roadmap for the future of nursing.
Tune in to hear how Dr. Wightman is helping lead the next era of technology-driven, compassionate care!
About Dr. Lori Wightman:
Dr. Lori Wightman is a nationally recognized healthcare executive with over 25 years of progressive leadership experience across diverse care settings, including acute care, behavioral health, ambulatory services, home care, and academic partnerships.
Currently serving as the Regional Chief Nursing Officer for Trinity Health’s Ohio Market, she oversees nursing operations across five hospitals and multiple outpatient facilities, driving excellence in clinical practice, patient experience, and leadership development.
She also teaches healthcare operational excellence as a Professor of Practice at the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis. She is passionate about bringing innovation and technology into healthcare to reduce caregiver burden.
In addition to her past executive roles, Dr. Wightman was the Senior Director of Professional Practice at the American Organization for Nursing Leadership (AONL), where she led national initiatives in credentialing, innovation, and professional competencies.
A certified executive and life coach, Dr. Wightman founded Red Clover Leadership LLC, where she partners with healthcare organizations and leaders to foster growth, resilience, and transformation. Her leadership philosophy is grounded in data-driven decision-making, compassionate coaching, and a deep commitment to advancing the nursing profession.
Dr. Wightman holds a Doctor of Nursing Practice from Rush University and is board-certified as an Advanced Nurse Executive. She is a Fellow of the American Organization for Nursing Leadership and has received multiple honors, including the Colorado Nightingale Luminary Award.
She is an author and speaker, and her career is distinguished by her ability to lead through complexity, inspire innovation, and build high-performing teams that deliver exceptional care.
Things You’ll Learn:
- Collaboration between nurses and engineers creates more effective, patient-centered healthcare innovations.
- Technology should be applied to strengthen sound workflows, not layered onto broken processes.
- Nurses must take an active role in designing, implementing, and evaluating new technologies.
- Technological fluency is now a core leadership competency for nurses and healthcare professionals.
- Artificial intelligence can potentially alleviate caregiver burden, but it requires careful consideration of ethics, the speed of execution, and equitable access.
- Nurse engagement in workflow redesign, ROI evaluation, and vendor collaboration drives lasting and meaningful change.
- Dr. Wightman’s “Three C’s”, Courage, Creativity, and Commitment, guide nursing into the future.
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"I think any innovation that touches a patient or impacts care delivery in any setting, there should be a nurse integrated into that team designing that technology. I think about we are the most trusted health profession for a reason. We understand the patients and the patients' families. So, it's really important that we're key stakeholder in that work."