Gladys Mouro is a pioneering nursing leader who led the first Magnet designation in the Middle East and established the first shared governance structure validated with the Index of Professional Nursing Governance outside the United States.

Current Roles

Gladys currently serves as deputy CEO at the Lebanese American University Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon. In addition, she works as a consultant for Magnet at King Faisal Specialist Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and as a consultant for nursing at University Medical Center – Rizk Hospital, Beirut, Lebanon. She also advises the CEO on patient services at Clemeanceau Medical Center in Beirut, an affiliate of Johns Hopkins. Beyond these roles, Gladys holds an elected position as board member, director-at-large with Sigma Theta Tau International, nursing’s honor society.

Magnet Leadership at AUBMC

As the former chief nurse executive of the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC) in Lebanon, Gladys spearheaded the journey to excellence for Magnet in the medical center over six years. In June, 2009 AUBMC became the first Magnet facility in the Middle East. Notably, it was also the first hospital outside of the United States to be validated with the Index of Professional Nursing Governance as a shared governance organization. Furthermore, AUBMC became the first hospital to earn American Nurses Credentialing Center accreditation as a provider for continuing nursing education in the Middle East.

Shared Governance Research

Gladys and her colleagues initiated the first shared governance structure in a hospital in Lebanon. Together with her team, she began a study of shared governance using the Hess Index of Professional Nursing Governance to determine the perception of shared governance among nurses in Lebanon and other regional hospitals. This ongoing study will identify the learning needs to create a shared governance environment and help improve patient outcomes.

Gladys believes that AUBMC is a story of persistence and survival against all odds that begins from the inception of the civil war described in Gladys’ book, An American Nurse Amidst all Chaos. Moreover, Gladys insists that shared governance helps improve an environment towards better outcomes in spite of all the obstacles a facility can encounter. Click on the lower left corner of the photo below to hear about shared governance in the Middle East.