A look at May 2024 Winner for the Advancement of Nursing Practice Award
Melanie Mason, RN, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)
(summary of her nomination) Melanie is the resource nurse for the NICU. Vancomycin and Gentamicin are commonly used antibiotics in the neonatal population and need close adherence to timed dosing to ensure the accuracy of therapeutic drug monitoring and achievement of desired therapeutic level. First dose antibiotics should be given as soon as possible and ideally within one hour of the decision to treat. Early initiation of antibiotics with suspected sepsis reduces mortality and morbidity. In looking at the data for the prior 6 months, Melanie and NICU leaders noted that >185 doses of Gentamicin or Vancomycin were administered outside of the UAMS policy guidelines of within 30 minutes of the scheduled administration time. This averaged to 37.2 retimed doses per month. The goal of the project was to reduce the number of retimed doses of Vancomycin and Gentamcin.
Following staff education about the importance of proper timing of antibiotics, the average number of rescheduled doses fell to 21 per month (net result of a 40% decrease in retiming of Vancomycin and Gentamicin dosing). Melanie’s leadership in auditing, educating, providing coaching, and keeping antibiotics on the forefront of everyone’s mind led to better antibiotic administration practices in the NICU.
The Advancement of Nursing Practice Award recognizes outstanding accomplishment in a field of practice, education, or research and demonstrates the interdependence of these elements and their significance for the improvement of nursing and health care. This nurse also:
- Understands the importance of partnering with patients/families/staff for quality and safety.
- Able to show a change or improvement in nursing by introducing new and creative ideas, devices or methods that have increased efficiency, effectiveness and /or a desirable outcome.
- Be able to show a plan, with coordinated activities, that leads from a concept to a finished product, in one (1) of the following categories:
- Quality / Performance / Process Improvement
- Evidenced-based Practice
- Research
- Issue/Idea Referral/Innovation
Nomination Requirements
- Must be a registered nurse
- The project outcome must have been realized within the past 12 months. Project work could have begun within the previous two (2) years.
Nomination Process
- Complete online application below in its entirety relating to the nurse you are nominating. If you have any supportive information in the area provided in the nomination form, please attach it. NOTE: Nominations will not be accepted after the closing date.
- The nominator may request from the nominee evidence, based on one of the innovation categories; Quality, Research, Evidenced-based Practice and/or Issue Referral. This could include, but not limited to, project charter, abstracts, PDSA, protocol’s, published work, presentations, awards and/or a copy of portfolio content the nominee may already have available. Award committee must be able to validate evidence to support story if needed.
Selection Process
- Nominations, that meet criteria, will be blinded and reviewed by the Awards Committee. The Awards Committee will select winners based only on the information provided in the nomination and supportive information.
- Nominees who meet the criteria, as well as the selected winner, will be celebrated during annual Professional Nursing Awards ceremony.
Click here to view past nomination example.
Come back in January of 2026.