Team,
I’m looking forward to celebrating Nurses Week with you all! Susan Erickson and our entire Nurses Rock Committee have once again done a fabulous job planning a week full of activities.
- Festivities will begin at 10 a.m. Monday morning with the CNO Kick-off and the Blessing of the Hands in the Hospital Lobby Gallery. If you can’t attend in person, I hope you’ll join us via Zoom or on the UAMS Nurses Facebook page.
- At 10:30 Monday morning, please join me for the “UAMS Nurses AR Magnetized” photo at the hospital fountain. Wear your teal-colored Magnet t-shirt to be included in the photo.
- Tuesday morning, look for me and other nursing leaders welcoming nurses to work. I’ll be at Parking 2 or the Lobby Café between 6 and 7:15 a.m.
- At 11a.m. Tuesday we’ll host the Pulaski County Chapter of the Arkansas Nursing Honor Guard Tribute. Please join me for this special ceremony.
- On Wednesday, I hope you’ll participate in Nursing Grand Rounds at noon in the library and then watch the Annual Professional Nursing Awards at 2:30 p.m. Zoomvia Zoom or on UAMS Nurses Facebook live. We have 35 outstanding nominees for this year’s nursing awards.
- I’ll be back at Parking 2 and the Lobby Café to greet weekend staff between 6 and 7:15 a.m. on Saturday.
- On Monday, May 12, we’ll recognize units for outstanding patient safety metrics.
- On Wednesday, May 14th, we’ll present the Mary Helen Forrest Legacy in Nursing Award during the Awards of Excellence at 10:00 a.m. as part of Team UAMS Week. Click here for a link to watch this ceremony. The Helen May Compassionate Care Award and the Team Impact Award will also be presented at this event.
Don’t forget to take advantage of the special 20% discounts for nurses at the Cancer Institute and Hospital gift shops from May 5-9.
The theme for this year’s Nurses Week is “UAMS Nurses Thrive in 25.” Four months into the year, we are making good progress and truly thriving. By this I mean we have a strong, growing core team of nurses who are aligned in a shared vision and commitment to our teams and our patients.
We are continuing to build our team, and the number of vacant positions has decreased dramatically. We will be welcoming about 70 new grads this summer, which is 25 to 30 more than recent years. And, more and more in-house agency nurses are joining UAMS full-time. We’re so glad to welcome these nurses to UAMS!
Having a strong team like this results in better engagement and a more positive work environment. The culture becomes more about cooperation, support and encouragement, and it’s one that attracts more nurses. Your enthusiasm about working at UAMS is truly making a difference.
This also translates into excellent patient care and an unwillingness to settle for anything less. I repeatedly see examples of UAMS nurses pushing one another to embrace our core standards and focus on continued improvement. We will soon announce quality goals for fiscal year 2026 that will drive us even further, and I am confident we’ll meet or even exceed these goals.
This is a great time to be a UAMS nurse, and I’m honored I get to experience this time with you all. Please take part in as many of the activities in the coming weeks as you can and soak up the love for nurses and all you do to help others.
Tammy Jones, PHD, RN, NE-BC
Chief Nursing Officer
Associate Vice Chancellor for Patient Care Services & Clinical Operations
Perioperative, Interventional & Imaging Services Division