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PCM Kiersten Betker shares her rewarding experience at the recent PCM Summit. Read More
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May 17, 2022
From cookies delivered by a Houston Texans cornerback to self-care sessions and themed t-shirt days, Texas Children’s celebrated National Nurses Week with a variety of activities to honor our more than 3,700 nurses across the system and show how deeply valued they are.
Given how our dedicated nurses go above and beyond every day to ensure our patients and their families have the best experience and best possible outcomes in our care, it is hard to contain Texas Children’s annual celebration of the nursing profession to just May 6-12.
The Nursing Retention Council packed the week with a series of festive events and moments of recognition to express appreciation for our nurses’ hard work and resilience, including partnering with Spiritual Care for a Blessing of the Hands and Employee Well-Being for self-care sessions.
As a surprise, Houston Texans cornerback Terrence Brooks kicked the week off with visits to several units in West Tower, the Heart Center and the Emergency Center at the Medical Center campus, where he thanked our nurses and passed out boxes of cookies.
There were also “Show Your Pride” days where our nurses could wear their favorite t-shirts representing themes like TCH Family Day, Sports Teams Day and Wild West Day, and the council arranged for grab-and-go breakfasts and late-night ice cream treats.
Check out the photo gallery for snapshots from Nurses Week 2022!
Congratulations, scholarship recipients!
During Nurses Week, Texas Children’s recognized the 2022 recipients of several different nursing scholarships. Read on for more on the scholarship winners, and scroll through the gallery to see their photos.
Molly Mae LeBlanc Nursing Scholarship
Named in memory of Molly Mae, a beloved former patient at Texas Children’s, the scholarship provides tuition assistance to patient care assistants (PCAs) and RNs who are pursuing BSN or MSN nursing degrees. The first scholarship was awarded in 2018. Since then, several scholarship recipients have graduated from their degree programs and are now working as nurse practitioners.
Ashlee Knapp is a staff nurse in the Legacy Tower PICU. She started at Texas Children’s in October 2020 and is enrolled in the MSN program at Texas Tech University. She plans to graduate in May 2024.
Schennel Pereira is a PCA at Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands. She started at Texas Children’s just over a year ago and is enrolled in the BSN program at Chamberlain University. She will be graduating in December 2022.
David and Polly Roth Nursing Scholarship
Established by Dr. David Roth and his wife, Polly, the scholarship provides tuition assistance to Texas Children’s employees in certain roles (like PCA, medical assistant) that are pursuing professional nursing/BSN degrees. The first scholarship was awarded in 2017. Several previous scholarship recipients work as RNs at Texas Children’s today.
Tiffany Clark is a surgical tech at The Woodlands campus and has been with Texas Children’s since April 2018. She is enrolled in Chamberlain University’s BSN program and plans to graduate in early 2024.
Jacqueline Gutierrez is a UCA at the Medical Center campus. She began at Texas Children’s in December 2015 and plans to graduate in May 2023 from the BSN program at the University of Texas at Arlington.
Brenda Orellana is a PCA at The Woodlands campus and has worked at Texas Children’s since April 2018. She will be graduating from the Chamberlain University BSN program in May 2024.
Len Slusser Nursing Scholarship
This scholarship provides tuition assistance to Texas Children’s registered nurses who are pursuing an advanced nursing degree (DNP or PhD), or financial assistance to registered nurses to attend a professional nursing conference.
Elise Whalen is a nurse practitioner for the Pulmonary Department at the Medical Center campus and has been with Texas Children’s since 2015. She is enrolled in the DNP program at the UTHealth Houston Cizik School of Nursing and plans to graduate in 2023.
Simone Chov is a staff nurse in the Women’s Services Department at the Medical Center campus. She joined Texas Children’s in 2009 and plans to attend the Association of Women, Health Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN) Texas State Conference this year.
Flo McGee Nursing Scholarship
Recipients of this scholarship – the newest at Texas Children’s – will receive assistance in the form of tuition assistance towards attaining an advanced professional degree (MSN for RNs), or financial assistance towards virtual/in-person attendance at a professional nursing conference.
Thomas Torres is a staff nurse at Texas Children’s Specialty Care Sugar Land. He plans to graduate from the University of Texas at Arlington with his MSN in 2024.
Erika Guillen is a staff nurse at the NICU at the Medical Center campus. She joined Texas Children’s in 2009. She is enrolled in the MSN program at Houston Baptist University and plans to graduate at the end of this year.
Amy Cole is an education coordinator at Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus and has been with Texas Children’s since 2019. She plans to attend the ANCC Magnet Conference later this year.
Brenda Morales is a staff nurse at the NICU at the Medical Center campus and has been part of the Texas Children’s family since 2016. She is excited to attend the National Association of Neonatal Nurses Conference later this year.
Additional awards and recognitions
Texas Children’s also recognized during Nurses Week the recipients of the Nursing Excellence Awards and our Houston Chronicle Salute to Nurses honorees, four of whom were honored as Greater Houston’s Top 15 Nurses of the Year.
For a complete list of these award recipients, click here to read the first story on Nurses Week.
May 4, 2022
It’s time to celebrate our more than 3,700 nurses across the Texas Children’s system and honor their countless contributions to our patients, their families and the nursing profession.
National Nurses Week 2022 kicks off May 6 with the evergreen theme, “Nurses Make a Difference” – selected by the American Nurses Association Enterprise to elevate the profession for the entire month, and to recognize nurses for their steadfast commitment to meeting the needs of patients.
Texas Children’s Nursing Retention Council is proud of the plans they’ve developed for the week to ensure our nurses know how much they are deeply valued, and appreciated for their hard work, dedication and sacrifice especially during these challenging times.
“We are excited about the opportunity to celebrate our nurses during National Nurses Week,” said Rhonda Wolfe, director of Acute Care Nursing at the Medical Center campus. “There are several events scheduled across the system, ensuring alignment with social distancing guidelines, to recognize the hard work of our nurses over the past year.”
The council also partnered with Texas Children’s Employee Well-Being team and chaplains to create in-person support opportunities for our nurses, such as the Blessing of the Hands. To see the full schedule of Nurses Week events, click here.
2022 Nursing Excellence Awards
A highlight of Nurses Week at Texas Children’s each year is the Nursing Excellence Awards, which honor our nurses for their commitment to improving nursing care and patient outcomes. With safety in mind amid the ongoing pandemic, honorees will be celebrated this year in small sessions hosted by Chief Nursing Officer Jackie Ward, rather than a large, in-person event.
Read on for more information about each Nursing Excellence Award recipient, including excerpts and comments from their award nominations. For a gallery featuring a photo of each honoree, view below.
Staff Nurse of the Year: April Poncik (Staff Nurse, West Campus PICU)
“Anyone who has met April knows her to be a firecracker nurse. You need an advocate for patient care? You need a mentor for your nursing practice? You need a cheerleader to boost your motivation? Just call April! She does not believe in individual success. She instead drives others to be great alongside her, knowing we are all better together and better together means better outcomes for the patients and their families. When she speaks, others listen and I believe this is because her commanding presence is not intimidating, but inspiring!”
Nurse Resident of the Year: Anastacia Pappas (Staff Nurse 1st Year, Heme/Onc)
“We easily remember the first time we met her. She had the biggest smile on her face. Throughout the past 7 months, her positive spirit has not faltered. Whenever she has some downtime with her own assignment, you can always find her rounding the unit, looking to help her co-workers. She continues to seek opportunities for hands-on practice to gain skills and improve her knowledge base. Even today, as we write this, we can hear her in the hall taking initiative, educating a newly diagnosed leukemia patient. Tasks some newer nurse might shy away from, she runs towards. If you still have doubt if she deserves this recognition, come round on 9WT and talk to any family member or patient. Everyone wants her as their bedside nurse!”
Nurse Preceptor of the Year: Crystal Dunaway (Staff Nurse, IRU)
“This nurse exemplifies Preceptor of the Year in her work as a PALS Lead Instructor. She has demonstrated expertise in coaching and giving feedback and truly lives the value of amplifying unity with her dedication to team training and team communication in PALS. At the beginning of each class, learners of all disciplines can be anxious with expectations and their performance, but she always takes time to assess learner anxiety and preparedness – this sets the stage for a successful class.”
Nurse Leader of the Year: Judith Holloway (Assistant Clinical Director, Cancer Center)
“While her stellar reputation has always preceded her, and her many years of tireless dedication to TCH also speak for themselves – it has been truly remarkable to see the patience, grace, and fortitude with which she manages her many duties in a consistently high-stress role. She is on the floor ALL the time. I have never had a nursing leader that was so accessible to staff. And she knows cancer – like knows it all. I am not alone – the nurses on 7 and 9 all appreciate her.”
Advanced Degree Nurse of the Year: Karen Gibbs (Clinical Specialist, Acute Care)
“She frequently shares her expertise with research and evidence review to drive improvements, both within Acute Care and beyond. Her leadership and mentorship reach far and positively impact numerous teams and clinicians. She actively participates in groups and committees aimed at enhancing outcomes and is passionate to patient care. I am so impressed with this individual who already serves as a role model for so many nurses. She reflects the core values of what nursing is all about in all aspects of her advanced practice role.”
Advanced Practice Nurse of the Year: Jamie Gilley (Nurse Practitioner, Neonatology)
“Leaders may often lead from the rear of the crowd. She is that kind of leader. Her involvement in introducing new respiratory modalities whether it be the use of the jet ventilator or the initiative of reducing the time needed for access in CDH patients was amazing. This last initiative required an intensive review of the literature on the topic and then proposing a solution and designing a monitoring dataset for the protocol demonstrates great insight into the needs of the patient as well as the need to ensure safety. She participated in all of the literature review and meetings that helped us develop the CDH guidelines that we have been following for the last three years.”
Friend of Nursing: Supply Chain Department
“There is no team that has worked harder, collectively, on behalf of direct care providers. Since the COVID pandemic hit, their work has been 24/7/365. They have provided full transparency with the situations that exist with product shortages. They have managed to stay on top of the never-ending back orders, and many times have come up with multiple items to substitute. The partnership between supply chain and nursing has definitely been moved to a different level as a result of the recent years. We appreciate and love our supply chain friends, and at minimum can acknowledge their efforts with this award!”
Houston Chronicle Salute to Nurses
Out of thousands of nominations submitted, Texas Children’s is proud to have four nurses included among the Houston Chronicle Salute to Nurses Award Top 15 Nurses of the Year in the greater Houston area. Congratulations to these outstanding honorees:
Barb Elias (Cardiovascular Surgery)
Brittany Blackston (Emergency Room)
Debbie Harrison (Cancer Center)
Jacqueline Kuna (Cancer Center)
Congratulations are also due to the 15 additional Texas Children’s nurses who earned recognition among the Top 150 Nurses of the Year in Greater Houston:
April Poncik (PICU, West Campus)
Gemma Elegores (Simulation Center)
Heather Collins (Nursing Operations, West Campus)
Jessica Raymond (Float Pool)
Joshua Hearne (Float Pool)
Kathleen Magee (Cancer Center)
Kristine Rodriguez (Emergency Room)
Lauren Ivanhoe (Nursing Operations, West Campus)
Maria Cruz (WOO Cancer Center, The Woodlands)
Michael Pickett (Anesthesiology)
Molly Mathew (Mother/Baby)
Nicole Harris (NICU II)
Sandy Gurganious (Clinical Support Operations)
Shelly Conwell (PICU)
Sondra Morris (Nursing Operations, West Campus)
Vanessa Kastner (Neonatology)
Here’s to a happy Nurses Week!
As we approach Nurses Week, CNO Jackie Ward shares a special message with our nurses. Read More
