Sandro Vagnini, vice president of patient care services, keeps Rogers nurses at the heart of what he does
07/25/24 12:30:pm
As a decades-long psychiatric nurse himself, Sandro Vagnini, MBA, MSN, PMH-BC, says advocating for nurses and the entire frontline staff is critical for patient care and a priority for the organization.
“One of my goals is to make documentation more efficient, so our 312 nurses have more time with our patients,” he explains.
Since joining Rogers in January, he’s been collaborating with Dr. Pat O’Malley, DO, medical director of primary care, and Brenda Bundy, executive director of nursing, to oversee nursing services in addition to pharmacy.
“I really enjoy working with the leadership team,” he says. “We have the same mentality for what we’re trying to do, which is to better support our patient care team members and keep them safe.”
To that end, Sandro helped implement a new assessment at Rogers that helps measure potential patient aggressiveness.
“We recently collaborated with physician leadership to roll out the Broset Violence Checklist and paired that with new corresponding medication order sets,” he explains. “With this assessment, RNs are able to assess the violence risk of each patient and collaborate with the attending psychiatrist so that they can order as-needed medications for patients in a proactive manner.”
Sandro says a typical day for him starts by meeting with his leaders to get caught up on what’s going on and listen to any concerns. Additionally, he meets with the nursing education team for a daily check-in. He enjoys being a leader and says the warm welcome he received during his interviews sealed the deal.
“Everyone who interviewed me was so nice, and I got the feeling that they were all very genuine,” he says. “Although I wasn’t planning on moving, I thought it was worth it to join Rogers.”
Sandro built a career in behavioral healthcare leadership, most recently serving as director of Behavioral Health at Henry Ford Health in Michigan. Before that, Sandro spent five years in Colorado, where he worked at The Medical Center of Aurora, rising through the ranks from clinical nurse coordinator to administrative director of clinical operations/nursing.
He says he knew during clinicals in college that psychiatric nursing was his calling.
“I love talking with people,” he says, “I enjoyed establishing a rapport with my patients. I always approached nursing with the standpoint that I’m not better than the person who is in my care. Helping people felt natural to me, and I felt confirmation during my first ‘real’ job. I loved everything about psychiatric nursing right from the start, and I knew it was meant for me.”
Getting to know Sandro
Sandro says a fun fact about him is he’s a dual citizen of the United States and San Marino, a small country surrounded by Italy.
Originally from the Detroit area, Sandro says he’ll be spending summer getting settled with his wife, Katie, their energetic two-year-old Leo, and their “dynamic duo” mini golden doodles, Teddy and Charley. Katie recently finished her post-doctoral in Michigan.
