Ruth W. Mustard R.N., MSN, NEA-BC
Associate Director for Nursing, Associate Director for Patient Services
VA Columbia South Carolina health care
Email: ruth.mustard@va.gov
Phone: 803-776-4000, ext. 56661
Ruth Mustard has served as the Nurse Executive in November 1999. Her previous assignments have all been at the Dorn VA.
She started out as a graduate nurse technician in August 1977 and has had positions as staff nurse, Head Nurse, Assistant Chief, Night Supervisor, and Acting Chief Nurse. Her primary clinical background is critical care and she taught Advanced Cardiac Life Support for over 20 years.
Mrs. Mustard’s primary responsibilities as the Associate Director for Patient/Nursing Services include leadership and authority over Nursing and Patient Care Services, which includes acute and long-term inpatient and outpatient nursing staff, Sterile Processing Service, specialty clinics, Voluntary Service, Stakeholder Relations, and the Transitions and Care Management Program.
She is responsible for overall nursing care throughout the Medical Center. She serves on the, VISN 7 Partnership Council, Healthcare Delivery Council, and the Healthcare Quality and Value Council. She graduated from Marymount College of Kansas in Salina, Kan., in 1977 with a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing. She received a Master of Science degree in Nursing Administration from the University of South Carolina College of Nursing in 1996.
She holds memberships in the South Carolina Organization of Nurse Leaders, American Organization of Nurse Executives, Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing, South Carolina Nurses Association, and the American Nurses Association.