• Skip to main content
  • Skip to main content
Choose which site to search.
UAMS Health Logo UAMS Health
Nurses
  • UAMS.edu
  • MyChart
  • Giving
  • Emergency Room
  • About Us
    • Hospital Overview
    • Lifestyle
    • News
    • Nursing Philosophy
    • Why I Chose UAMS Nursing
  • Center for Nursing Excellence
    • About Center for Nursing Excellence
      • Contact Us
    • Advanced Practice Providers
    • Communication
      • CNO Corner
      • CNO’s Nursing Address
      • Nursing Annual Report
        • Archived Nursing Annual Report
      • Nursing Excellence Newsletters
      • Nursing Grand Rounds
        • Nursing Grand Rounds 2023
        • Nursing Grand Rounds 2024
        • Nursing Grand Rounds 2025
      • Staff Meeting Content
      • Take 2
    • Nurses Week
      • Nurses Week 2024
        • 2024 Awards of Excellence
        • 2024 Professional Nursing Awards
        • Nurses Week 2024 CNO Store
        • Nurses Week 2024 Employee Discounts
        • Nurses Week 2024 Get Healthy
        • Nurses Week Activities 2024
        • Spirit Week Activities/Opportunity to win DAILY UAMS Swag
      • Nurses Week 2025 CNO Kick-Off Video
      • Other Ways to Win Swag
      • Recipe Downloads
      • Recipe Submission (March 18 to April 9)
    • Practice
      • Culture of Inquiry
        • Evidence-Based Practice
          • UAMS Evidence-Based Practice Model
        • Innovation
          • BioVentures FAQ
        • Quality Improvement
        • Research
      • UAMS Resource Nurse Program and Application
        • Inpatient Resource Nurse Program
        • Resource Nurse Program Application – Ambulatory
        • Resource Nurse Program Application – Inpatient
    • Professional Development
      • Professional Development – Clinical Ladder
      • Professional Development – RN IV/V
        • RN IV/V Workshops
      • Professional Development — National Certification
        • Become a Nationally Certified Nurse
        • FAQs About National Certification
      • Professional Development — RN to BSN
    • Recognition Matters
      • In Remembrance of a Nurse
      • Nomination for DAISY Award
      • Nomination for the BEE Award
      • Professional Nursing Awards
        • Advancement of Nursing Practice Award
        • Excellence in Advanced Practice Award
        • Excellence in Nursing Education Award
        • Outstanding Community Service Award
        • The Betty Casali Transformational Leadership Award Guidelines
        • The Mary Helen Forrest Legacy in Nursing Award
      • The Daisy Nurse Leader Award – Honoring Nurses Internationally In Memory of J. Patrick Barnes
      • UAMS Nurses in the Media
    • UAMS is Proud to be Magnet Designated
      • Magnet Champions
  • Future Nurses
    • College of Nursing
    • Job Shadow
    • New Graduate LPNs
    • New Graduate RN Residents
      • Frequently Asked Questions for New Graduate RN Residents
      • New Graduate RNs Transition to Practice Program
    • Student Jobs – Clinical Care Assistants (CCA)
  • Give to UAMS Nurses
  • Jobs and Sign-On Bonuses
    • Clinical Areas
      • Ambulatory/Outpatient Clinics
      • Inpatient (24/7)
        • Critical Care
        • Emergency Department
        • Float Division
        • Medical
        • Oncology/Transplant
        • Surgical
        • Women and Infants
      • Other Practice Departments
      • Perioperative Care
      • Psychiatric Research Institute (PRI)
    • Employment Information
      • Available Jobs and Sign‑on Bonuses
      • Hotel Lodging Program
      • RN Nurse Refer
      • Salary and Benefits
      • Transfer to PRN
    • Contact Us
      • Directions
      • Inquiry Form
  1. UAMS Health
  2. Nurses
  3. Mary Helen Forrest Legacy Award 2023

Mary Helen Forrest Legacy Award 2023

Tammy Gillham, RN, CCRN, TNCC, CDF
H4 – Trauma/SICU/CVICU
Tammy was nominated by Carol Brizzolara.

Tammy Gillham, RN, CCRN, TNCC, CDF, H4 - Trauma/SICU/CVICU and Mary Helen Forrest

Tammy has been a registered nurse at UAMS for 37 years.  She began her nursing career in the critical care unit, the former SICU, on the 2nd floor in the Central Building.  Early on, she took on leadership roles in the SICU as a charge nurse, code team nurse, and nurse council member. She obtained her national certification, CCRN, in her 3rd year of nursing.  She served as President of the Arkansas Chapter of American Association of Critical-Care Nurses for two terms and hosted all the meetings and events for the city of Little Rock.  She also represented our Council at the National Teaching Institute in New Orleans. She has been chosen as Nurse of the Year at UAMS in the past and has also been chosen as MVP/Nurse of the Month many times over her career, as well.

Tammy has been part of the inception for many roles that continue to exist today.  She was a founding developer of the CDF role, the RRT role, and Record and Code Blue Committees from 1990-2000.  Hospital Administration tasked Tammy with the development of the Bed Liaison position (now ADON/RMO), and she acted in that role, while also serving as a CDF on E4.  She has always done the scheduling for her units, and from 1995-2000 she did the actual payroll. Tammy, along with a colleague, was instrumental in developing 12 hour shifts at UAMS. She has been hands on in the development, building design, and stocking of the ICU units, along with the movement of patients when opening two units: E4 in 1997 and H4 in 2007. She spent many long hours moving the old MICU and SICU to E4, when UAMS went from 11 beds in MICU and 7 beds in the SICU to 30 total ICU beds.  Tammy was also an instrumental part of the development of the Trauma Program at UAMS.

Directly quoting from her nomination – “There is not a shift I work with Tammy during which I don’t learn something new from her. Her perspective, training, expertise, and passion for nursing and UAMS are stellar. I cannot recommend her highly enough. She has had a profound impact on UAMS Nursing and deserves to be recognized for all she has done and continues to do here at UAMS.”

Posted by Jean Prince on May 11, 2023

Filed Under: Awards of Excellence

UAMS Health LogoUAMS HealthUniversity of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
Mailing Address: 4301 West Markham Street, Little Rock, AR 72205
Phone: (501) 686-7000
  • Facebook
  • X
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Disclaimer
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Statement
  • Notice of Privacy Practices
  • Price Transparency

© 2025 University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences