Lori Heseltine
Lori Heseltine is an accomplished nursing leader who most recently served as Director of Nursing for a private behavioral health hospital. In this role, she provided strategic and operational oversight within a complex behavioral health environment, supporting clinical teams, strengthening nursing practice standards, and ensuring high-quality patient care and safety. Her leadership spans both hospital and laboratory operations, reflecting a comprehensive understanding of healthcare systems and a commitment to interdisciplinary collaboration.
Lori’s journey into nursing was shaped early by her father, a gastroenterologist, which exposed her to healthcare from a young age. She gained hands-on experience working in an assisted living facility throughout middle and high school and later became a Certified Nursing Assistant to further explore the field. After becoming a single mother in 2004, she pursued nursing as a stable and flexible career path, earning her Associate Degree in Nursing in 2006. Her first role in behavioral health at a magnet hospital in Maine sparked a lasting passion for the specialty and introduced her to nursing leadership, setting the foundation for her future career growth.
Over the years, Lori has built a diverse background that includes home care, legal nurse consulting, and addiction and recovery services, though she consistently returned to behavioral health—her true professional calling. That leadership experience inspired her to complete her long-standing goal of pursuing a master’s degree in nursing education. Her career has also included unique opportunities, such as supporting a professional baseball team during the COVID-19 pandemic and contributing to legal work with the Innocence Project. Deeply passionate about healthcare, Lori is driven by the opportunity to support patients during their most vulnerable moments and finds fulfillment in helping them achieve positive outcomes.
• Gerontological Nursing
• Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing
• Trainer for Therapeutic Options (Behavioral Health Setting)
• Legal Nurse Consulting
• Mental Health First Aid
• Trauma-Informed Care
• SL2 Leadership Program
• Aspen University - BSN
• Paul R. Cox Award (Maine Medical Center) for research presentation on fall prevention and restraint reduction
• ANA (American Nurses Association)
• Innocence Project
What do you attribute your success to?
I think my success is largely due to the support of friends and family. Going through nursing school is incredibly challenging, and gearing up for a new career is again very challenging. Just having those cheerleaders behind me was what really got me through. When you're facing something as demanding as nursing school or stepping into a new career path, it's the people who believe in you and stand by you that make all the difference. Their encouragement and support gave me the strength to push through the difficult moments and keep moving forward.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
I was told many years ago, especially as a woman, to choose your battles. The subtext of that was to control the controllables. This advice has been invaluable throughout my career because it taught me to focus my energy on what I can actually influence and change, rather than exhausting myself on things beyond my control. As a woman in healthcare leadership, learning to be strategic about where I invest my time and effort has been crucial to maintaining my effectiveness and my peace of mind. It's about knowing what's worth fighting for and what's better left alone.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Always say yes, and always be available. There are a world of opportunities out there, and if you just keep your eyes open, you can choose your own path and find your passion. The opportunities in healthcare, and particularly nursing, are endless. You can do consulting, you can do direct patient care, you can do education, you can do leadership, you can do management. The flexibility can't be beat. I want young folks to know that these opportunities exist, and particularly for women, the glass ceiling was broken a long time ago. Our options are endless. If I can do this, anyone can do this.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I think the biggest opportunities in my field right now are just incredible, especially for young folks just starting college or just getting out of high school. There are a world of opportunities in healthcare, and particularly nursing. You can do consulting, you can do direct patient care, you can do education, you can do leadership, you can do management. It's just endless, and the flexibility can't be beat. However, I think some of the biggest limitations right now, to put it in a nutshell, are just a shortage of both nurses and nurse educators. This shortage creates real challenges for the field and limits our ability to train the next generation of healthcare professionals.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Honesty, integrity, and dependability are the values most important to me in both my work and personal life. These three principles guide everything I do and how I show up for others. Honesty ensures clear communication and builds trust in all my relationships. Integrity means my actions align with my words and values, regardless of who's watching. And dependability means that people can count on me to follow through on my commitments consistently. These values form the foundation of who I am as a professional and as a person.
Locations
Private Company
Brunswick, GA 31525