Ruth Plotkin Shumaker is an Executive Leadership and Perioperative Management Consultant. Her experience includes domestic and international consultation. She is a past national A0RN President and recipient of the Award for Excellence in Perioperative Nursing. Shumaker has intimate knowledge of hospital operations, perioperative, perianesthesia, ambulatory surgery, endoscopy & sterile processing. She has provided hospitals and health systems with comprehensive perioperative program assessments, and recommendations that resulted in improved operational efficiency and increased revenue.

At the time of submission, she was senior level Executive Director of Perioperative Services, at Regional One Health, the only Level 1 trauma center in the Mid-South and burn center in a 4-state region. She led four different surgery areas, the outpatient surgery center, post aesthesia care units, pre-admission testing, centralized scheduling, and sterile processing and distribution.

During the first weeks of planning care for perioperative patients during the onset of COVID-19. She faced daily challenges, including changing practice protocols; dwindling financial revenue, equipment, and human resources; and worsening patient conditions. She managed each of these challenges and never wavered in her leadership.  She provided calmness during an unpreceded time in nursing. Shumaker gained the respect and admiration of physicians and employees at all levels throughout her hospital and received the hospital nursing excellence award in 2021.