Michelle Logan-Owens
Chief Operating Officer
McLeod Regional Medical Center of Florence
Florence, SC USA
“Never be afraid to be the hardest working person in the room.”
Videos
By Roadtrip NationMichelle Logan-Owens
Milestones
My road in life has been direct.
Growing up, I always had a love for science and a desire to nurture.
When my grandfather was diagnosed with cancer, I was inspired by how kind the nurses were to my mother as she devoted herself to being his caregiver—I decided then that I wanted to become a nurse.
I went to the local community college for two years to get a solid educational foundation then completed my bachelor’s degree at the University of South Carolina to become a registered nurse.
During college, I started working at a hospital as a nursing assistant to gain some hands-on experience and to make sure this is really what I want to do.
Once I started working as a registered nurse, I put in extra effort to work on teams and volunteer for committees—I began to get noticed by the senior leaders, who urged me to share my ideas.
After just 18 months as a registered nurse, the CEO asked me to join the new quality department—since then, I’ve worked as a quality coach, human resources director, and vice president.
I ultimately became CEO before transferring to my current organization, where I work as the chief operating officer.
Keep following my journey
Education
High School
Bachelor
Pre-Nursing Studies
University of South Carolina Sumter
Pre-Nursing Studies
University of South Carolina Sumter
Career
Chief Operating Officer
I oversee the operations, quality, and physician contracting at a medical center.
Career Roadmap
My work combines:
My work combines:
Medicine
Science
Helping People
Day to Day
In healthcare, you never know what you're going to walk into each day because we try to center all of our activities around the patients. That said, typically my days start off with a morning huddle to get caught up on what happened overnight and what needs to happen that day. After that, I'll attend a few other meetings and answer some emails. Then I go meet our leaders, visit our units, and speak to the medical staff. All in all, my days consist of a number of meetings and a lot of walking!
Advice for Getting Started
Here's the first step for high school students
Nursing is a great path. However, if nursing isn't for you, there are many other entry points into this field. Consider the other things you're passionate about then think about how you can turn that into a healthcare career. For example, if you're interested in surgery, you can become a surgical tech. If you're interested in human resources, look into HR assistant positions at a medical organization. There are also entry points through IT and marketing. Healthcare doesn't just mean clinical!
Recommended Education
My career is related to what I studied. I'd recommend the path I took:
Bachelor
Pre-Nursing Studies
Pre-Nursing Studies
Hurdles
The Noise I Shed
From Peers:
"You were only chosen to do that because they needed to check a box."
