Quiet Leadership

As director of perioperative services at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Dr. Luigi Estrera (DNP ’24) likens the teams he directs to film or television production crews. Their extensive efforts behind the scenes are essential to the success of the “stars” of surgery — the surgical team and the patient. Estrera oversees all phases of the surgical continuum, including the preoperative clinical area, OR, and post-anesthesia care unit, as well as support services such as materials management, sterile processing, administration, and scheduling. 

“From a procedure as simple as repairing a broken finger to one as complex as transplanting an organ, anytime you make a patient’s life better surgically, it’s just so satisfying,” he says. “And that feeling is magnified when it comes to children because they’re such a vulnerable population.” 

Estrera originally planned to follow several family members into a career in the military. He joined the U.S. Navy and served as a mechanic with the Construction Battalion, also known as the SeaBees. However, his family also includes healthcare professionals, and he decided to get his nursing degree. 

After earning his RN, Estrera became a pharmaceutical sales representative for a product used by urologists. The exposure to urologic surgery helped steer him back into the clinical arena. He switched to working as an orthopedic surgical nurse, which resonated with the mechanics he’d practiced in the Navy. 

“We handled a lot of screws and did a lot of drilling to reduce and fix fractures and broken bones,” Estrera says. “I really enjoyed the environment because how often do you get to play with tools and save a person’s limb?” 

Estrera loved the work but wanted to have a bigger impact, so he went on to earn a Master of Business Administration from UC Irvine and a Master of Health Administration from USC. During that time, he held positions at Mount Sinai Health System in New York City and the VA Hospital in Los Angeles. 

Estrera assumed his position at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles in 2022, the same year he enrolled in the Doctor of Nursing Practice program at the UCLA School of Nursing. As part of his training, Estrera had the opportunity to shadow Dr. K. David Bailey, chief nursing officer at UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center. 

“For two years, I observed how he ran his team, how he made decisions, and how he interacted with other professions throughout the hospital,” he says. “It gave me a different lens. I’m so grateful that the university and the hospital allowed me to have this experience.” 

Estrera also appreciated collaborating with and observing Dr. Karen Grimley, UCLA Health chief nursing executive. 

Now Estrera wants to become a mentor like the ones who guided him. 

“One of the reasons I did my doctorate in nursing is I want to give back to the profession, specifically to future nurse leaders,” he says. “I have a responsibility to pass on what I’ve learned to the next generation.”