Covenant Health Chief Nursing Officer Recognized as a “CNO to Know” for Fourth Consecutive Year

Debbi Honey, RN, Named to “274 Hospital and Health System CNOs to Know” List

January 2026 – Covenant Health’s Chief Nursing Officer, Debbi Honey, RN, has received national recognition from Becker’s Hospital Review on its recently released 2025 list of “274 Hospital and Health System CNOs to Know.” This was Honey’s fourth consecutive year being recognized and was one of four chief nursing officers named from Tennessee.

Becker’s Hospital Review, a publication focusing on hospital business news for healthcare executives, states that chief nursing officers included on the list “lead innovative initiatives that elevate care quality and strengthen clinical excellence across their organizations.” Their clinical expertise and executive leadership skills are also acknowledged.

Becker’s recognized Honey for her accomplishments in improving Covenant Health’s patient safety indicator performance, her development of a system performance improvement program to align work toward “driving to zero” patient harm and her standardization of processes that support both patient care operations. It also notes her expansion of education on safety protocols and reporting, strengthening of bedside handoffs and leader rounding, and launching staff-engagement mechanisms.

Honey has served as senior vice president and chief nursing officer of Covenant Health since 2017. Honey’s responsibilities as chief nursing officer include overseeing the health system’s quality and safety of nursing operations. She has also standardized processes to enhance patient care and operational support activities throughout the health system and plays a key role in growing the health system’s care options.

Honey is also a steward for patient safety throughout the health system. Under her leadership, each hospital continuously improves patient safety metrics and consistently earn high safety grades from The Leapfrog Group. Additionally, she is passionate about training future nursing leaders and works with several prep courses and programs to aid in their development.

In addition to her numerous recognitions as a “Chief Nursing Officer to Know,” Honey has also been named a “Patient Safety Expert to Know” by Becker’s multiple times. She received her bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of Tennessee in Chattanooga and earned a master’s degree in health administration from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. She holds certifications in Executive Nursing Practice (CENP) and as a Professional in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ), and she is a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives.

View the full list of 2025 “Chief Nursing Officers to Know” here.