ilmington University alumna Dr. Diane Juliano likes to say that her job is “to take care of the people who take care of the patients.” She was promoted to that job — regional chief nursing officer for Jefferson Health East — in January of last year. Her appointment was the culmination of nearly three decades of dedication and achievement in a profession she loves.
“I often say becoming a nurse was the best decision I ever made,” Dr. Juliano says.
It wasn’t her first choice. “When I was younger, I actually wanted to be a lawyer, and ultimately a judge,” she says. But by the time she graduated from Arthur P. Schalick High School in Pittsgrove, New Jersey, in 1993, she had decided on Physical Therapy, and she enrolled in that program at Stockton University.
But after one semester, she says, “I realized that I wanted to switch gears to get out into the healthcare workforce faster, so I decided to transfer to a two-year nursing program (at Cumberland County Community College in Vineland).”
After receiving an associate degree from Cumberland County, she went back to Stockton for two years to get her Nursing bachelor’s. When she graduated, she vowed that she would someday earn a doctorate. But first, of course, she needed a master’s degree, and that brought her to Wilmington University.
At that time — January of 2004 — she had already become clinical director at Cooper University Health Care in Camden. “Some people I worked with at Cooper had gone to Wilmington and really enjoyed their time there,” says Dr. Juliano.
Their recommendation sent her to the University website, where she found that it offered affordable tuition and, more important, a dual major in Nursing and Business Administration. Designed for nurses seeking expanded leadership roles, the program fit her needs perfectly.
The commute from her home was about an hour, and classes were conducted for four hours, two nights a week. Combined with her full-time job, it made for a packed schedule, but Dr. Juliano says it was well worth the effort, and she received her master’s degree in May of 2005.
“I thoroughly enjoyed my time at WilmU,” she says. “My instructors were knowledgeable, supportive, and
geared learning toward both the working professional and the traditional student. When I graduated, I felt I was well prepared to take on professional challenges. I recommended the school to many of my colleagues — and they did, and had the same wonderful experience.”
In 2018, she fulfilled her vow by earning a doctorate in Nursing Administration from La Salle University.
In 2019, after 11 years at Cooper, Dr. Juliano moved to Jefferson Health, in Washington Township, New Jersey, where her career has continued to blossom.
“In my nearly five years with Jefferson,” she says, “I’ve received so many opportunities to improve upon my leadership skills through executive coaching and numerous educational offerings, including the 2022 AONL Nurse Executive Fellowship.”
“I thoroughly enjoyed my time at WilmU . . . I recommended the school to many of my colleagues — and they did, and had the same wonderful experience.” — Dr. Diane Juliano
The fellowship enabled her to participate in the American Organization for Nursing Leadership’s nine-month program, which is designed to develop critical executive competencies to lead, influence and inspire a nursing workforce.
She is also a graduate of the Wharton Executive Education Program and has presented both nationally and locally, including being a keynote speaker. She is Six Sigma trained and has received numerous awards for her academic excellence and leadership. She’s a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives, American Nurses Association, AONL, and ONL-NJ, where she serves on the board.
Despite all of these academic and professional successes, Dr. Juliano’s most important achievement was helping to save her father’s life by becoming his kidney donor four years ago.
She was able to qualify as a donor because of her decision in 2015 to undergo bariatric surgery. She lost more than 70 pounds in the first year after the surgery and was maintaining that weight in 2018, when her 65-year-old father, Charles Macho, was diagnosed with end-stage renal disease. He started dialysis immediately, but needed a kidney transplant in order to live a full and healthy life.
Dr. Juliano immediately stepped forward. “There was no questioning it,” she said in an article published on the Jefferson Health website. “I knew I would do whatever I could to help my father get better.”
The lab work and tests to ensure minimal risk of complications showed that she would be an ideal donor. But there was a complication: her father was not at an acceptable weight for the transplant. So, following in his daughter’s footsteps, he too underwent bariatric surgery. The operation was successful, and he lost the required weight. But by then, COVID-19 restrictions were in place and the kidney transplant was postponed for several months.
Finally, in September of 2020, the operation was performed, and Dr. Juliano’s father was able to go off dialysis. Today, she says: “We both are doing well. My father had a stroke in January 2023 but has since recovered and is resuming his normal activities, including fishing in Key West. And I’m in the best shape of my life.”
Dr. Juliano and her husband, Greg, live in North Wildwood. He and his two brothers make up The Juliano Brothers, a popular band with gigs up and down the Jersey coast. She says she and her husband enjoy “anything to do with the shore,” as well as trips to Key West, where the band also performs.
Even then, though, she makes sure to be available for members of her team. “I pride myself on being an advocate for both patients and the staff I get to lead,” she says. “Being a transparent, accessible, and supportive leader is what I hope resonates with my team.”
—Bob Yearick