June 3, 2019

Whenever anyone asks about Shamika Jenkins, the first observation made is about her infectious smile and enthusiastic personality.

Customer service isn’t just a specific portion of an employee’s job description, it affects a patient’s entire experience. As a clerical secretary, Jenkins comes in contact with just about every patient that checks in during her early morning shift. In the Pavilion for Women Surgery department the patient’s experience begins with her warm welcomes and persistence.

“Although it can be pretty busy, I love meeting all different kind of people,” Jenkins said. “There are times when some people may be in a bad mood, a wonderful mood, some may be lost, and others are as upbeat and cheery as I am. Regardless, it gives me joy to encounter all moods because no matter what, I’m here to make their day.”

The waiting area can be the most quiet and uneventful time during a patient’s hospital visit. Either following check in, during an appointment, or after surgery as a patient recovers, patients and their families can potentially spend hours sitting in the lobby. Jenkins has transformed her role into not just checking patients in for their appointments, but makes them feel comfortable as well.

“Shamika is always the pretty, smiling face and helpful person in the waiting room,” Nursing Manager of Pavilion for Women Perioperative Services, Aleli Cabali said. “Shamika goes above and beyond to make sure that families in the waiting room are updated while patients are in the operating room.”

Jenkins’ diligence and consistence in making sure all surgery patients are called and scheduled for their appointments helps both patients and her co-workers, and is what allows the department to continuously provide high quality care.

“I remember a time when several people from the department had to go on vacation, and Shamika called patients ahead of time and scheduled their appointment to make it easier on the rest of the team,” Cabali said. “This was a big help to the unit and is why she deserves this award.”

Jenkins says despite the constant verbal recognition that she receives, she was not expecting to get a hospital-wide award.

“To be honest I didn’t see this coming,” she said. “I just come into work, do my job, and always remember to be myself; that is probably what excites me the most about being recognized. When working at Texas Children’s you have to be ready to put your ‘A game’ on every day. We have people come from everywhere so we need to make sure we maintain that great customer service consistently, and I am more than happy to be that example.”

The Houston Business Journal recently named several Texas Children’s physicians 2019 Health Care Heroes, honoring them for going above and beyond in serving the healthcare industry. The physicians were honored at a May 23 ceremony and are listed below:

Outstanding Health Care Practitioner: Dr. Ricardo Flores, hematology/oncology; Dr. Joohi Jimenez-Shahed, neurology; Dr. Julie Kaplow, pediatrics and psychology; and Dr. Michele York, neurology.

Outstanding Physician: Dr. Daniel DeSalvo, pediatrics, diabetes and endocrinology; Dr. Lisa Hollier, obstetrics and gynecology; Dr. Peter Hotez, pediatrics and dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine; Dr. Rayne Rouce, pediatrics and hematology/oncology.

Rising Star: Dr. Hsiao-Tuan Chao, neurology; and Dr. Arindam Sarkar, resident physician in family and community medicine.

The Clinical Research Center/Research Resources Office presented the Clinical Research Award for second Quarter 2019 to Dr. Patricia Baxter, Department of Pediatrics-Hematology/Oncology, Baylor College of Medicine.

The award was established by the Clinical Research Center in collaboration with the Research Resources Office to recognize and honor individual contributions to protecting the best interest of the research subjects and compliance with applicable rules and regulations.

Dr. Baxter’s research in the CRC is focused on evaluating novel therapeutic agents for recurrent pediatric cancers, with a special interest in brain tumors. She is a member of the Cancer and Hematology Centers Neuro-oncology and Developmental Therapeutics Teams and is an active participant in the Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium (PBTC), Collaborative Network for Neuro-Oncology Clinical Trials (CONNECT) and Pacific Pediatric Neuro-Oncology Consortium (PNOC). Dr. Baxter credits the CRC nurses and staff, as well as the research nurses in the Cancer Center for playing a critical role in moving this research forward and their compassionate care of the patients and family.

Theresa Mottes, pediatric nurse practitioner in Renal Services, was recently elected president of the Nephrology Nursing Certification Commission (NNCC), an organization established in 1987 to develop and implement certification examinations for nephrology nursing. The goal of NNCC is to promote the highest standards of nephrology nursing practice through the development, implementation, coordination, and evaluation of all aspects of the certification and re-certification process.

As part of her introduction in April 2019, Theresa was described as a dedicated leader with more than 25 years of pediatric renal replacement therapy experience and a passionate volunteer advocate for nephrology certification. Theresa also is an adjunct instructor with Baylor College of Medicine.

The NNCC is composed of nine Commissioners: eight with current experience and expertise in nephrology nursing and one public member. Officers of the NNCC include the President, President-Elect, Secretary and Treasurer.

Texas Children’s Hospital recently hosted Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher for a tour of Lester and Sue Smith Legacy Tower. It was a first visit for Fletcher, who represents Texas’ Seventh Congressional District, which includes residents of Houston, Bellaire, Bunker Hill Village, Hedwig Village, Hilshire Village, Hunters Creek Village, Jersey Village, Piney Point Village, Southside Place, Spring Valley Village, West University Place, and unincorporated Harris County west to Katy.

After being welcomed by President and CEO Mark Wallace, Fletcher visited Texas Children’s award-winning Mission Control. There she learned from Bert Gumeringer, vice president of Facilities Operations and Support Services; Gail Parazynski, vice president of Nursing; and Deb D’Ambrosio, director of Transport Services and Mission Control how the state-of-the-art operations center uses real-time data and cutting-edge technology to simplify and streamline processes, bringing together security, facilities, code response, critical care admissions, hospital-to-hospital transfers, critical clinical alarm monitoring and room management in one central location.

Next, Fletcher visited our therapy gym on the 23rd floor, where she observed a music therapy session for some of our youngest Texas Children’s Heart Center® patients. Chief of Pediatric Cardiology Dr. Daniel Penny and Chief of Congenital Heart Surgery Dr. Christopher Caldarone then led Fletcher through some of the facilities in our best-in-the-nation Heart Center. These included our outpatient cardiac clinic, the Charles E. Mullins Cardiac Catheterization Labs and our cardiovascular operating rooms.

Following her Heart Center tour, Fletcher concluded her time at Texas Children’s with a visit to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) and our neurointensive care unit on the ninth floor of Lester and Sue Smith Legacy Tower. In the PICU, she had an opportunity to meet the parents of 10-month-old Emmy, who recently underwent a liver transplant. She was then guided through the neurointensive care unit by Medical Director of Neurocritical Care Dr. Jennifer Erklauer. This special unit – one of the first of its kind in the country – combines the latest neuro-monitoring techniques with collaborative team-based care for patients with neurologic issues. Fletcher saw firsthand the cutting-edge monitoring technology in our continuous EEG monitoring room, where patient brain wave activity is measured and reviewed in real time, 24/7, and can be used to detect seizure activity or acute changes in the brain that may require additional evaluation or intervention. While in the unit, she met the mother of 11-month-old Kayla, who has a rare seizure disorder.

The parents of both children told Fletcher about the helplessness they’d felt watching their infant children endure such dire health issues. But because of the expertise and care they’d experienced at Texas Children’s, they were filled with confidence that they were in the best possible place to help their children.

May 28, 2019

Maria Cortez shares how her experiences at Professional Day far exceeded her expectations, and why she encourages her colleagues to participate in this year’s conference to further enhance the quality care they deliver to our patients. More

Whether it is ensuring that families are well informed and comfortable, or walking into a room with enthusiasm willing to help her co-workers when necessary, at the crack of dawn in the Surgery Department at The Woodlands campus, patients and employees count on Jennifer Grubbs to make their day.

Grubbs started her journey here at Texas Children’s in 2015, in the Emergency Center at Texas Children’s West Campus, and then moved to The Woodlands just in time for the hospital’s opening as a Post Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU) charge nurse. She later moved into her current role as the Patient and Family Liaison nurse that requires her to be knowledgeable, compassionate, and have the ability to communicate effectively. Grubbs exemplifies these characteristics daily which is why she was nominated by for the Caught You Caring (CYC) award by her leaders.

“She is so straight forward and concise when giving parents information about the surgery process, while also maintaining a profound sense of compassion and courtesy for their child,” Nursing Manager of Perioperative Services, Betty Smith said. “Her passion for her job is palpable and I have no doubt she will continue to provide amazing, well-rounded care to patients and families in day surgery.”

Grubbs’ flexibility to charge in the PACU, work in pre-op, or even work in the PACU as a nurse when needed on top of her duties as Patient and Family Liaison., shows her commitment to the department as well as our patients. She also serves as the chair of her unit’s Patient Experience committee.

“I really enjoy the patient experience role that I have,” Grubbs said. “I love working at Texas Children’s as a whole. There are so many opportunities for growth and the support by management here is immeasurable. Everyone is open to communication, there’s honest feedback, and it feels like a family, especially working in a community setting.”

Smith recalled a time when a PACU patient had a prescription for a medication that their local pharmacy could not fill, and Jennifer took the initiative to call several locations in the area repeatedly until she was able to find a pharmacy that carried the prescription. Something that may seem small to one person ultimately removed an immense amount of stress off of the patient’s parent. This particular occurrence is an example of her willingness to go above and beyond.

“However she can assist patients, she does,” Smith said. “Often as I prepare patients for surgery I hear her clarifying any misconceptions, addressing any fears, and comforting them every step of the way. That amongst many other things is why she is so deserving of this award.”

Grubbs’ sense of urgency that she has gained in the emergency room, combined with her compassion and patience from her PACU experience, allows her to be able to communicate with all family’s that walk in to any surgery situation.

“I am honored to be recognized for what I do every day,” Grubbs said. “It’s what I love to do, just connect with families and try to ease any anxieties they may have, and make a positive impact with every encounter I can have.”