Judith S. Dahle, RN, MS, MSG
Senior Clinical Director – Perioperative Services
During her 43 years of nursing experience, thirty-four in surgical services, Judy has had primary responsibilities in management and education with emphasis on program development, systems design, quality improvement, team development and financial management. She is a nationally known figure in the “Surgery Community” and is the Education Coordinator and Director of OR Benchmarks for OR Manager, Inc. In addition, she is past president of the OR Nursing Council of California.
Judy has a decade of surgery consulting experience focusing in the area of surgical services efficiencies, design, cost-optimization, and benchmarking. In her numerous on-site assessments she has identified opportunities for operational improvement, quality improvement, systems planning and has successfully implemented valued change for clients. In addition she has consulted with hospitals to design and develop ambulatory surgery centers.
During the past five years she has spent extensive time in the field of gerontology. Judy has developed a care management program, performed a community needs assessment to develop an outreach program for the Home Delivered Meals programs in south Orange County, California, and works with physician groups of geriatricians to consult with families to assess needs and recommend appropriate resources for the older adult. Combined with her vast knowledge of surgical services, Judy’s background in education brings added value to her clients in developing programs of excellence for the geriatric population.
During her professional career Mrs. Dahle has achieved significant successes as follows:
- Developed, instructed and managed several perioperative nursing courses to train new operating room nurses and technicians as well as consulting with a private school to develop a successful operating room technician program.
- Responsible for managing a staff of 250 employees, strategic planning, cost containment, and continuous quality improvement.
- Experienced in many aspects of healthcare regulatory agencies, OSHA, State Board of Health, Joint Commission Accreditation Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), state and local building codes, Worker’s Compensation, and all nursing regulatory guidelines.
- Established Elder Support Services, a care management and fiduciary service, focusing on older adults without family or the family is not available to coordinate care solutions.
- Develops and coordinates the education programs for two national conferences presented by OR Manager, Inc.
- Leadership and extensive involvement in multiple clinical pathway development and multidisciplinary teams.
- Six-year participation in the six member Accreditation Task Force for hospital wide JCAHO preparation resulting in Commendation for the hospital and no recommendations for any surgery services departments.
- Directed the successful redesign of a national benchmarking program.
- Coordinated the construction of four operating room suites within the past fifteen years, and completed a three-year project to refurbish the entire department while continuing to provide complete services to the community.
- Successfully managed a 25 million dollar operational budget, with repeated savings of $200,000 annually.
- Developed the role of a business manager for surgical services to include supply acquisition, negotiation, and contracting.
- Designed and developed a product standardization program which saved $80,000 in the purchase of surgical supplies and equipment the first year of implementation.
- Uses financial management experience within the surgical service consulting roles.
- Led the surgical services department in a new organizational structure that provided decision making closer to the point of service and provided a more cost effective surgical program.
- Developed and supported a Registered Nurse First Assistant Program in the hospital. Successfully piloted a program for financial reimbursement to offset the cost of the service.
- Guided the successful establishment of an independent Registered Nurse First Assistant business in the community as a nurse consultant.
- Facilitated a group of surgeons and developed their business plan to establish a successful spine program in Orange County as the nurse consultant.
- Provided assessments and implementation of process improvements/department reorganization for multiple hospitals as the nurse consultant.
- Guided administrative staff for the design, development, architect selection, and management of new ambulatory surgery centers.
Mrs. Dahle’s professional association memberships include:
- Association of Operating Room Nurses (AORN)
- Operating Room Nurses Council of California / Past chair (ORNCC)
- California Institute for Nursing and Health Care (CINHC)
- Orange County OR Directors Network / Past chair
- Continuity of Care Orange County / Board President
- American Society on Aging (ASA)
- Gerontology Society of America (GSA)
- National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers (GCM)
- Association of California Nurse leaders (ACNL)
- American Nurses Association / CA (ANA/C)