Sandy Cayo, DNP, FNP-BC

Vice President of Clinical Performance and Transformation; New Jersey Hospital Association

Dr. Cayo provides leadership for the Health Research Education Trust of NJ which has initiatives related to perinatal quality, hospital quality improvement, opioid prevention, HIV prevention, and implicit bias training. Sandy’s research interests focus on social determinants of health and improving access and overall health outcomes for African American patients. She serves as a mentor and advisor for various student groups, including Student Nurses for Advocacy & Policy, Black Student Nurses Association, and Nursing Students for Global Health. She has worked with first-generation and minority nursing studies to help improve retention in academic nursing programs and continues to work with disadvantaged populations through education of wellness. Sandy travels once a year to both Ghana and Haiti on medical missions. She currently serves as the director of education for HEAL (Health Education Action League) Haiti. Her project includes the implementation of a pre-licensure nurse residency program to help bridge the current knowledge and practice gap for nurses in St. Marc, Haiti. As a lifelong learner, Sandy is in the process of completing her DNP-PhD program where her research focuses on the impact of discrimination on cardiovascular health in African American women.