The CNO-CFO Dyad: A Strategic Driver of Organizational Performance.

The American Organization for Nursing Leadership (AONL) convened a dialogue among a group of chief nursing officer (CNO)-chief financial officer (CFO) dyads, with support from the Healthcare Financial Management Association. An AONL subcommittee used the dialogue results to develop guiding principles to assist leaders in creating and strengthening CNO-CFO partnerships. This work suggests that leaders can approach the CNO-CFO relationship as strategic rather than transactional. As nurse executives strengthen leadership competencies, they can build trust, engage finance partners early, create shared measures of success, and align nursing priorities with enterprise value.