Team,
It’s been so fun to be part of the excitement and enthusiasm around UAMS as we celebrate Nurses Week. I’m looking forward to continuing the celebration later today with the Lab Open House, tomorrow with our weekend shift, and at Monday Metrics.
I had the honor of representing UAMS Health at a Nurses Week surprise Tuesday morning, thanks to Nursing Rock Committee member and Assistant Director for Student Enrollment in the UAMS College of Nursing Ava Coleman, who arranged for a proclamation from Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott and a citation from State Rep. Mark Perry at the State Capitol. Dean Sarah Rhoads from the College of Nursing joined us to accept these on behalf of the more than 2,500 nurses who work at UAMS.
Later that morning, we had a fabulous kick-off event, thanks to the Nurses Rock Committee and their new leader, Nurse Recruiter Alyssa Robinson. They announced a new nursing award – the Susan Erickson Nurses Rock Committee Award. Watch for details about award criteria and how to nominate someone who shares Susan’s legendary enthusiasm for UAMS Nursing.
Thank you to Chaplain Susan McDougal for once again offering a blessing of the hands, this year using the poem May the Light of Your Soul Guide You by John O’Donohue.
You may remember an email I sent a couple of weeks ago with a link to a survey asking you to take a look at a list of statements and pick the ones you truly identify with — the ones you’re ready to be 100% “all in” to fully embody
We had hoped to have five, but the response from the 375 nurses who completed the survey to each of these 12 statements was so overwhelmingly strong that we kept adding to the list and ended up with an even dozen. How lucky am I that I work with a team who wants to have more standards of excellence.
We unveiled the nursing core values and 12 statements at the kick-off, and I asked everyone there to formally attest to being “all-in” with an online commitment. I’d really appreciate it if you too will commit to living out these values for your patients, your teammates and yourself. Click here to commit to being “all in.”
In addition to asking each of you to make this commitment, I will be sharing it with our new nurses during orientation beginning later this month. I think it’s important that they know right from the start what our expectations are.
The celebrations kept going. On Wednesday, I had the honor of presenting this year’s Nursing Recognition Awards, including the Advancement of Nursing Practice Award to Ashley Talley, RN, from the UAMS Health Family Medical Center in Helena. Click here to see this year’s nominees.
Sarah Sixbey, an RN in Maternal and Mobile Health, received the Excellence in Nursing Education Award. Click here to see the nominees for this award.
Morgan Newsom, an RN nurse educator the College of Medicine’s Arkansas Center for Women & Infants’ Health, received the Outstanding Community Service Award. Click here to see the nominees for this award.
The Excellence in Advanced Practice Award was presented to Paulette Sheagren, an APRN at the Psychiatric Research Institute. Click here to see the nominees for this award.
Lavonia Walker, RN, assistant nursing director for perioperative care, was honored with this year’s Betty Casali Transformational Leadership Award. Click here to learn more about this award and this year’s nominees.
Congratulations to these five outstanding UAMS nurses and the other 18 nurses nominated for these awards. The ceremony also included a special remembrance of UAMS nurses who passed away during the past year. Click here to read more about these beloved former colleagues.
The sixth nursing award, the Mary Helen Forrest Legacy in Nursing Award, will be presented at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, May 12, in the Spine Institute’s 12th floor auditorium. The Helen May Compassionate Care Award and the Team Impact Award will also be presented during the UAMS Medical Center Auxiliary-sponsored Awards of Excellence.
I hope you feel celebrated all year long, not just during Nurses Week. Please know how proud I am and what an honor it is to be part of such an amazing team.
Happy Nurses Week!
Tammy
Tammy Jones, PHD, RN, NE-BC
Chief Nursing Officer
Associate Vice Chancellor for Patient Care Services & Clinical Operations
Perioperative, Interventional & Imaging Services Division