AVALA CNO JOY MELGAR, MSN, RN NAMED IN BECKER’S HOSPITAL REVIEW 2023 CNO’S TO KNOW LIST

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – September 25, 2023
Media Inquiries: Brooke Russell | 985.801.6212 | info@avala.com

Covington, Louisiana – AVALA proudly announces that AVALA Chief Nursing Officer Joy Melgar, MSN, RN, was named one of 153 CNOs to Know by Becker’s Hospital Review in September. Becker’s article states that these leaders have navigated the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and are currently addressing staffing shortages, managing nursing budgets, and creating professional pathways for the next generation of nurses. The CNOs featured on the list use their clinical expertise and leadership experience to oversee nursing departments, launch novel initiatives, and maintain outstanding patient care outcomes. This list honors CNOs for their commitment to optimizing healthcare. Becker’s Healthcare is thrilled to feature these accomplished leaders, who are crucial to the success of their respective organizations.

Joy Melgar is pivotal in AVALA’s organization, overseeing and guiding all nursing-related functions to ensure the delivery of high-quality patient care. Her responsibilities encompass a wide range of strategic, administrative, and clinical duties where her leadership and strategy help to develop and implement initiatives that align with AVALA’s missions and goals. Joy provides visionary leadership to nursing staff, ensuring a culture of excellence, compassion, and innovation. With her clinical oversight, Joy maintains and improves AVALA’s clinical standards through the collaboration of medical staff, where she develops and implements evidence-based nursing practice, protocols, and quality improvement initiatives that enhance patient outcomes. Joy works to manage and grow her team through recruiting, hiring, training, and retaining nursing staff. With her oversight, AVALA now has a growing preceptor program helping to facilitate professional development.

Joy and her clinical teams have worked to create, develop, and implement the orthopedic and spine program, helping AVALA to achieve a center of excellence designation by our accrediting body DNV, where we received all four certifications for advanced spine, hip & knee replacement, shoulder, and foot and ankle surgery. Joy and her team underwent a rigorous survey assessing its clinical and operations capabilities, achieving our designation/certifications. Due to Joy’s oversight and development of this program, AVALA now exceeds national standards for the delivery of orthopedic and spine care, including inpatient, outpatient, and same-day elective surgery, including therapies related to the care of this procedure. Joy has also worked to establish a companywide engagement council where team members across all departments at AVALA can voice ideas and feedback to assist with raising the organization’s standards for its team members. Through this initiative, excellent opportunities exist, such as tuition and certification reimbursement programs, a deeper dive into quarterly philanthropic work, and the ability to connect team members from various departments to build a more robust culture focused on patient care.

Joy also spends her time networking within the clinical community. She is the Director of Nursing Recognition for the Northshore District Nursing Association, coordinating and implementing nursing recognition across the Northshore region. Joy is the Recruitment & Retention Committee Member for the Louisiana Nurses Association, where she is an active member working to expand the nursing recruitment and retention efforts across Louisiana. Joy has also been chosen to speak at DNV’s national conference on AVALA’s Advanced Orthopedic and Spine Center of Excellence program development.