Team,
I’m looking forward to seeing many of you live or by Zoom at our Nursing Town Hall on Monday, March 16. We’ll begin with light refreshments and poster presentations at 9:30, and the program will begin at 10.
Among the topics I plan to cover are our Nursing strategic plan and updates on our Nursing workforce, quality outcomes, areas of focus and primary initiatives for the year. Following my remarks, Magnet Program Director Tiambe Kuykendall, MSN, RN, will provide an update on our Magnet redesignation. We have started our 24-month documentation period, and our writing team and leaders spent time last week preparing for the work ahead. Director of Inpatient Nursing Christina Davis, MNSc, RN, NE-BC, and Senior Director of Nursing Programs and Center for Nursing Excellence Rebekah Thacker, MNSc, RNC-NIC, will then recognize our Resource RNs and all the hard work this team has done in the past year.
I am super excited about unveiling our nursing mantra for 2026 at the Town Hall. About 60 nurses gave input on this, and I think they picked a great one for the year ahead. In looking back over the past month, there are several events I’d like to highlight. First, I presented a Nursing update to our Hospital Medical Board and shared the great strides we’ve made in quality improvement and stabilizing our workforce. We are very fortunate that our physician leaders are such strong advocates of nurses and some of our loudest cheerleaders. I’m grateful for their support.
I also had an opportunity to present to other nursing leaders from around the country at a Marcus Evans CNO Summit. As I talked with conference participants, what I continued to find is we are all experiencing the same challenges. Time after time, I was reminded of how well we are doing here at UAMS and how far ahead we are in so many of our efforts and practices. I was very proud to share the great work you are doing and the wonderful things that are happening here.
Visiting with and celebrating our ambulatory nurses with a specialty soda cart on Valetine’s Day was a great way to spread a little love and happiness. Everyone seemed to really enjoy the “Dirty Sodas,” and seeing the creativity in drink requests was a lot of fun.
On Feb. 13 we celebrated Susan Erickson on her retirement with a “Big and Fabulous” send-off to match her personality and her impact on UAMS Nursing. There will never be a more powerful advocate for our Nursing team than Susan. We will certainly miss her enthusiasm.
I also had the honor of welcoming to UAMS 40 members of our new grad RN cohort, who joined UAMS in late January. Listening to them talk about “why they chose UAMS” during their Transition to Practice session is always a nice, feel-good time — their energy is truly motivating.
One other experience I’d like to share is how moved I’ve been by the TV show “The Pitt” with Noah Wyle, who describes the series as “a love letter to front-line healthcare workers.” His mom has been a nurse for more than 40 years and has talked about the vital role nurses play as advocates for their patients and the importance of addressing safety in the health care workplace. This June 2025 report from CBS News shares more about their relationship and the series.
Next week will mark the 6-year anniversary of our first COVID patient at UAMS. In the CBS interview, Wyle talks about the need to address the impact of COVID on the mental and physical well-being of health care workers. I don’t think many people truly understand the lasting impact of COVID. Watching this show makes me proud to be a nurse and grateful for the privilege of leading such an outstanding UAMS team.
I’ll share more about nursing here at UAMS during the Town Hall on the 16th. I hope you’ll take time to attend in person or virtually. In the meantime, please be safe in this weekend’s rainy weather.
Tammy Jones, PHD, RN, NE-BC
Chief Nursing Officer
Associate Vice Chancellor for Patient Care Services & Clinical Operations
Perioperative, Interventional & Imaging Services Division