TUPELO, Miss.—Registered nurses Heather Bowen and Stephanie Galloway of North Mississippi Health Services have recently passed the examination to become a Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality.

The Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ) is the only accredited certification in healthcare quality. Certification validates a person’s knowledge of healthcare quality practices and competencies and demonstrates a commitment to advancing healthcare quality.

Bowen, who lives in Guntown, serves as System Director of Organizational Performance and is responsible for overseeing accreditation, patient safety, process improvement, and infection control throughout NMHS. She joined the hospital staff in May 2003 and has worked in numerous roles, including staff nurse, operating room circulating nurse, clinical educator and clinical safety specialist before assuming responsibility for quality and organizational performance.

Bowen holds an associate degree in nursing from Itawamba Community College and a bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of North Alabama. She earned her master’s degree in nursing from UNA in December 2014. In 2011, Bowen won NMMC’s RN Excellence Award and was named to NMMC’s All Star Team. She was named Mississippi Nurses’ Association Nurse of the Year in 2012.

Galloway, who lives in Eupora, serves as Director of Clinical Quality at NMMC-Eupora. She joined the hospital staff in 1995 as a nurse’s assistant while pursuing her associate degree in nursing from Mississippi University for Women. She earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing from Mississippi University for Women in 1999 and a master’s degree in nursing leadership from UNA in 2014.

She worked as a staff nurse in the Emergency Department and acute care before being named acute care supervisor. She assumed her current position in October 2004. She is a Certified Healthcare Safety Professional and Certified Emergency Disaster Professional.

In addition to Bowen and Galloway, NMHS employs two additional CPHQs—Melody Poole, NMHS Chief Quality Officer, and Laura McClung, Director of Population Outcomes and Value Based Programs.