Who we place
Why boards and PE partners choose us
- We reach the leaders who aren't looking. The best executive for your seat is running someone else's right now. We bring them to you, confidentially.
- A senior specialist runs your search. Your seat is handled by a senior consultant who focuses on exactly this specialty, under our US healthcare Sector Head. Not a junior associate and a database.
- Healthcare is all we do. We know the difference between a clinician with a title and a leader who can run a P&L and a medical staff.
- Retained means all-in. We commit the full team to one search and stay until the right person signs. Most of ours close in 30 to 90 days.
- A global bench behind a local search. ISG runs in 50-plus countries with 1,200-plus partners, so no leader is out of reach.
What a chief nursing officer search really demands
- Enterprise nursing leadership across multiple sites
- Nurse recruitment and retention that actually moves the numbers
- Magnet and nursing-excellence experience
- Quality, patient safety, and regulatory leadership
- Financial stewardship and labor productivity
- A true CEO partnership and board-level communication
Representative engagements
Representative, anonymized examples. Details and locations changed to protect client and candidate confidentiality.
- A health system was losing nurses faster than it could hire them. We placed a system Chief Nursing Officer who rebuilt retention and steadied clinical operations across the network.
- A multi-site system needed nursing leadership focused squarely on quality and workforce. We recruited and placed it.
Frequently asked questions
What do health systems look for in a CNO today?
Beyond clinical excellence, systems now expect the CNO to own nurse retention, workforce strategy, and operational performance, not only quality and safety.
How do you help with nurse retention at the leadership level?
We recruit nurse executives with a demonstrated record of building cultures that keep clinicians, which is now central to the role.
How do you reach passive nurse executives?
We reach sitting CNOs confidentially, through the leaders and peers who rate them, rather than through open postings.
Meet your search partner
Lee Fossey leads the US Healthcare Executive Search practice for ISG Americas, with a team of senior consultants each focused on a specialty, so your search is run by someone who lives in that corner of the market. Across nearly three decades in search, the practice has helped hospitals, health systems, and private-equity-backed platforms place the leaders who change their trajectory, and on the global ISG platform that reach extends to more than 50 countries. Lee would rather have one honest conversation about your search than send you a proposal.
Book a confidential call with Lee →Have a seat open?
Every week a leadership seat sits empty, it costs you momentum, money, and the board's confidence. One confidential call, and you will know quickly whether we are the firm for your search.
Book a confidential call