Dr. Carmen Ferrer-Arnedo has over 30 years of experience in healthcare leadership and management and was the first nurse in history to become the Director of a Madrid Public Health hospital (the Guadarrama hospital). She possesses an innovative leadership approach that has ensured the realization of her vision of sustainable healthcare systems and greater visibility and awareness surrounding the nursing profession. For Dr. Ferrer-Arnedo, empowering caregivers and patients has always been a priority, as has the development of the idea that a nurse is a trainer in self-care and processes related to the continuity of care.
She strongly believes that nurses must be given all opportunities to actively participate in leadership, and therefore created the first hospital-based “School of Cares” in Spain to prevent fatigue in those that take care of others but are not health professionals.
Due to Dr. Ferrer-Arnedo’s efforts and mediation, Madrid approved the Free Election of Nurses law in 2010, recognizing a patient’s right to choose their community nurse. In addition to her directorship at Guadarrama hospital, Dr. Arnedo has served as the healthcare service manager of a community district, in addition to the scientific coordinator of Spain’s Chronicity Strategy. Her lasting contributions can also be found in over twenty interventions per year in scientific meetings, master interventions, training, and meetings with patients and citizens. Internationally, Dr. Ferrer-Arnedo has provided leadership training to nurses in countries such as Bolivia, Honduras, and Egypt through international cooperation projects. In 2020, she was one of 24 health experts called by the Spanish Parliament to lead recovery efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Ferrer-Arnedo currently spreads her ideas on social networks, where she has several thousand followers, highlighting concepts such as: “the role of the nurse as a self-care trainer” and “the creation of complex care units led by nurses.