2022 Academic Nursing Leadership Conference
Karen Grimley PhD, RN
Chief Nursing Executive, Assistant Dean
UCLA Health
Dr. Grimley has served as the Chief Nursing Executive for UCLA Health and Assistant Dean for the UCLA
School of Nursing since September 2015. In this role she is responsible and accountable for the overall
delivery and management of nursing professional practice, education, professional development,
research, administration and clinical services. Her aim is to reinforce healthy clinical practice
environments that are person-centered, while also providing significant contributions to education and
research. Dr. Grimley is a firm believer of incorporating the use of clinical and operational metrics to
show nurses how their practice and delivery of safe, high quality care directly contributed to the
operational success of the hospital. Previously, Dr. Grimley served as the Chief Nursing Officer at
University of California, Irvine Medical Center. She has extensive experience in all aspects of nursing
practice, inpatient nursing operations, programmatic oversight, and Relationship-Based Care (RBC). In
addition to teaching as a volunteer assistant clinical professor at UC Irvine, Dr. Grimley co-led the Patient
Experience Coordinating Council to improve the patient experience by heightening organizational
awareness and facilitating process improvements aimed at care and service delivery.
