Mrs. Ruth Mustard, RN, MSN, NEA-BC has served as the Associate Director for Patient Care and Nursing Services (Chief Nursing Officer) at the Wm. Jennings Bryan Dorn VA Medical Center in Columbia SC for the past twelve years. She started out as a graduate nurse technician in August, 1977 and has had positions as staff nurse, Head Nurse, Assistant Chief, Night Supervisor, and Acting Chief Nurse. Her primary clinical background is critical care and she has taught Advanced Cardiac Life Support for over 20 years.

Mrs. Mustard was born in Abilene, Kansas and grew up on a farm near Chapman, Kansas. She still has strong ties to Kansas and owns and operates a farm there. She graduated from Marymount College of Kansas in Salina, KS in 1977 with a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing. She received a Master of Science degree in Nursing Administration from the University Of South Carolina College Of Nursing in 1996. She holds professional memberships in the South Carolina Organization of Nurse Leaders, American Organization of Nurse Executives, Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing, South Carolina Nurses Association, and the American Nurses Association. She was an Amy V. Cockcroft Leadership Fellow in 1998 at the University Of South Carolina College Of Nursing. Ms. Mustard currently serves on the board of the SC Organization on Nurse Leaders. She has served on numerous state-wide committees and councils, including terms as president of Alpha Xi Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau and Mid-State Chapter of the American association of Critical Care Nurses. She has also served as committee chair of the Palmetto Gold Nursing Award and Scholarship Program. Mrs. Mustard was selected as the Clinical Federal Woman of the Year at Dorn in 1999 and 2009. She received the Secretary’s Award for Excellence in Nursing in 1997 and the South Carolina Palmetto Gold Award winner in 2005. She is married to a retired South Carolina Air Guardsman and has one daughter and two sons.