B-Metro Excellence in Nursing 2015

SPECIAL PROMOTION

Meet men and women who go above and beyond to make the Birmingham Metro a healthier place to live. So many lives have been touched by the nurses featured on this list. Their hard work, sharp minds, compassion, commitment to education, and willingness to serve earned them a spot in our annual Excellence in Nursing Awards.

Excellence in Nursing 2015

They have been a reassuring presence to anxious family members. They have mentored and educated others in their field. They have created and implemented new programs that enhance the quality of patient care. They have advocated for public health. They have set the bar higher for themselves and those with whom they work.

We extend our heartfelt gratitude to all the nurses nominated and our congratulations to these extraordinary award winners.

Join us for a special evening as we celebrate our Excellence in Nursing Award Winners on Thursday, August 20 at Rosewood Hall, beginning at 6 p.m.

SPECIAL PROMOTION

Cathy Barber, RN ADN 1978, Princeton Baptist Medical Center Nominated by Ida V. Moffett School of Nursing, Samford University Barber serves as charge nurse in the One Day Surgery Care and Pre-Admission Testing Units at Princeton Baptist Medical Center. In her daily work, she consistently demonstrates the courage to care. She is committed to ensuring the highest quality of patient care and she leads in a way that encourages staff and provides comfort for patients and families. She is a leader in the area of quality and improving patient outcomes, embracing best practices, and thoughtfully sharing them throughout the hospital.

Lajuana Conway St. Vincent’s East Lajuana Conway started her journey in health care working as a home health technician; that is when she decided to become a nurse. She attended Northeast Community College and obtained her nursing degree, then started a career in surgical services in 1997. St. Vincent’s East became her home in 2003, where she worked as an important part of the surgical team. Conway started to feel the desire to work in Behavioral Health and transferred to the Geriatric Behavioral Health Unit in 2013. Currently, she is working on her certification for Geriatric Nursing.

Conway is always looking for ways to improve the patient experience and working environment. She serves as president of the unit council that develops these projects.

Marla Couture, MSN, CRNP, NNPC, ACNP-BC,

CCRN University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Nursing Instructor and Assistant Track Coordinator for the nationally ranked Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Specialty Track. Couture has been a critical care nurse for 26 years and has been an Acute Care Nurse Practitioner with a sub specialization in cardio-pulmonary for 18 of those years. She has worked in a variety of fields as an Acute Care Nurse Practitioner, including cardiology, pulmonary, internal medicine, and urgent care. In addition to her faculty role, she also practices as an Acute Care Nurse Practitioner in the emergency department at UAB. She is also a doctoral student in the UAB School of Nursing pursuing her PhD. Sarah Creech, BSN, RN Special Care Unit, Children’s of Alabama Creech is only in her second year as a critical care nurse at Children’s of Alabama after having completed her preceptorship in Special Care. She works very hard to help meet patient and family needs, often educating them about resources they might not know are available to them while their child is in the hospital. She understands the unique stresses that families with critically ill children are under and seeks to find ways to help them cope with the feelings they may be having.

Carol Connor Crow, MSN, RN Trinity Medical Center/Kronos, Inc. Nominated by Ida V. Moffett School of Nursing, Samford University

With more than 40 years of experience in health care, Crow has spent much of her life embracing Mrs. Moffett’s maxims. A student of Mrs. Moffett’s, Crow attributes much of her success to Mrs. Moffett’s personal mentorship and guidance. Crow’s career as a nursing professional is diverse, spanning from staff nurse to management and leadership roles. She spent 15 years in nursing administration at Trinity Medical Center, where she managed multiple nursing and interdisciplinary areas, including the staffing and scheduling office, nursing supervisors, and float pool.

She has expert knowledge in staffing and scheduling and facilitating change across interdisciplinary boundaries within the health care system.

Joann Devaney CRNP for St. Vincent’s IMPACT Program Devaney makes a difference in patient lives and influences their outcomes. She treats every patient as if they were her family member, and makes the impossible seem possible. She continually demonstrates her dedication to her patients by going above and beyond the call of duty.

Devaney is a hard worker, and her clinical skills are top notch. She has a strong work ethic and does not quit until she gets the job done. She is a leader for her coworkers, serving as a resource and the “go to” for all disciplines.

Dr. Ashley L. Hodges, PhD, CRNP, WHNP-BC Faculty, University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing UAB School of Nursing Associate Professor and Assistant Dean for Graduate Clinical Programs Dr. Hodges

Saluting

all of our amazing nurses!

When it comes to caring for children, "good enough" is not good enough.

That’s why, at Children's of Alabama, our team has the most inquiring minds, the most skilled hands and the most compassionate hearts in pediatric nursing.

Each day, every one of our more than 1,800 nurses makes a promise to the children of Alabama to provide a level of world-class care that leads to better tomorrows.

We are happy for this opportunity to celebrate our amazing nurses recognized by B-Metro for Excellence in Nursing.

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www.ChildrensAL.org/nursing

CHANGE THE WORLD. START WITH YOU. Improve the health of our communities, one patient at a time.

Join UAB Medicine, a national leader in the professional practice of nursing, where we relentlessly pursue world-changing care for every patient, every family, every time. uabnursing.org

SPECIAL PROMOTION

has more than 25 years of experience in maternal child nursing, administration, and nursing education. Hodges is known for her expertise in provision of innovative distance education programs at the graduate level, curriculum evaluation, and both educational and clinical leadership regionally and nationally. She holds national leadership positions including board member and chair of the Public Policy Committee for the 24,000-member Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses in Washington, DC, promoting the health of women and newborns.

Amanda Howell, RN St. Vincents’ East The staff at St. Vincent’s East first met Howell when her mother was in CVICU recovering from a thoracotomy after being diagnosed with cancer. During that time, the staff realized how compassionate and caring Howell was.

When she told them that she was graduating nursing school, they knew they wanted her on their team. She is a great team player with a passion for nursing. She truly cares about her patients and her profession. She was nominated for the Daisy award by her coworkers because of her outstanding service to the poor. A patient was being discharged and could not afford their medications.

Howell took it upon herself to make a trip to Pell City to the patient’s pharmacy and personally paid for this patient’s medications. This truly shows an example of her service to the St. Vincent’s East mission, vision and values and upholds the service to the poor, weak, and vulnerable Denise Kailey, RN Oncology, St. Vincent’s Hospital Kailey graduated with a RN diploma in 1974 from Riverside School of Nursing. Kailey has worked in Oncology for much of that time. She began working at St. Vincent’s Hospital in January of 1995.

Kailey is very committed to patients in Oncology. She works charge and picks up extra shifts as needed and is always willing to work where needed. She is a preceptor and has resourced several of our associates.

Mary Grace Kelleher Children’s of Alabama Kelleher works on an inpatient unit that provides care for neurology, orthopedic, and rehabilitation medicine patients. Most of the patients under her care have had some

type of surgery. One patient’s dad had this to say about the nursing care and compassion displayed to his daughter: “Mary Grace took care of my daughter, who just had surgery. I can’t begin to express how grateful we were that she was our nurse. My daughter was having the toughest day of her life and Mary Grace made it so much easier. She did all this with a smile on her face, concern in her heart, and compassion that radiated from her.”

Kristin Knarr Hematology-Oncology, Children’s of Alabama Knarr works with medically and emotionally fragile patients and families. It was not too many years ago that a pediatric cancer diagnosis was a death sentence for a child. Now that more than 80 percent of childhood cancers are treatable and survivorship rates have soared, it is still an extremely scary road for most families to travel.

One parent of a child who has cancer recently had this to say about Knarr: “When my daughter was diagnosed with AML, our world was turned upside down in a matter of hours. Anxiety, tears, shock, and heartache took over. Then one night early on, Kristen Knarr walked into our room and instantly bonded with my child. From then on everything seemed brighter for all of us.”

Dr. Candace C. Knight, PhD, RN Faculty, University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing Dr. Knight is a faculty member at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing, where she teaches maternal child nursing in the undergraduate and accelerated master’s program and leadership in the undergraduate program. She has 18 years of experience in maternal-newborn nursing, primarily in labor and delivery, and 17 years of experience as a childbirth educator. She received her certification as a Lamaze educator in 2009.

Knight completed her PhD in nursing in 2013 after conducting qualitative research regarding prenatal stress with pregnant adolescents.

Kim Layton, RN ICU, St. Vincent’s Hospital Layton received her ADN from Central Alabama Community College in 2000. She has worked for St. Vincent’s

Birmingham for 13 years. In the past, Layton has served as a clinical instructor for upcoming nursing students.

Her coworkers describe her as inspiring, encouraging, and having the most patience of anyone they have ever met. Her kindness and humor increase the morale and teamwork of the unit.

Kristin Lindsey NICU, Children’s of Alabama Lindsey is a nurse in Children’s NICU, where the staff sees the youngest, smallest, and, many times, most fragile patients. In this complex environment, she is consistently calming, comforting, and cheerful while performing her duties. To a patient family in need, this can often make a stressful situation more bearable. A recent patient’s family had this to say about Lindsey: “Our daughter was diagnosed with tracheoesophageal fistula immediately after her birth and transported to the Children’s of Alabama NICU. Kristin Lindsey was our nurse and she did an incredible job of comforting us during what was the most stressful time of our lives.”

Donney Mattox PACU, Children’s of Alabama Mattox is an affective ambassador for Children’s of Alabama and a strong patient advocate. He works to make sure that every patient and patient family feels welcomed and cared for in a special way. Patients and families in the PACU have come to know that he will do everything he can to make them feel relaxed and comfortable. The mother of an adolescent patient had this to say: “My son had ENT surgery on July 7, 2014. His recovery nurse was Donney Mattox. My son told me that all he remembers upon waking up from his surgery was someone calling out his name and he realized it was nurse Donney. I was just overwhelmed by his hospitality.”

Russell McAnnally MICU, St. Vincent’s East McAnnally is a staff nurse in the Medical Intensive Care Unit at St. Vincent’s East. He received an Associate Degree in Nursing from Jefferson State Community College in 1994 and joined St. Vincent’s Health System in 2007.

McAnnally is a humble, compassionate, and knowledgeable nurse. During the national Ebola scare,

Cathy Barber

Marla Couture

Sarah Creech

Carol Connor Crow

Joann Devaney

Dr. Ashley L. Hodges

Denise Kailey

Mary Grace Kelleher

Kristin Knarr

Dr. Candace C. Knight

Kim Layton

Kristin Lindsey

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Donney Mattox

Dr. Susan McMullan

Teresa Meadows

Kelsey Mitchell

Bonnie Moore

Erin Mullinax-

Amy Nolen

Dr. Kaitrin Parris

Gwen Pernell

Cassie Perry

Lisa Roper

Lisa Ryan

McAnnally was the first nurse to volunteer to be a part of the hospital’s response team. He helped research best practice in the care of these patients and works closely with the Infection Prevention Specialist to provide ongoing training for other volunteers. He assumed responsibility in his unit for routine maintenance of Central Line Catheters and ensures that these patients always receive appropriate care of their lines. According to his coworkers, they have never heard him say, “I don’t know”; he keeps his patients and family members educated and informed, he never passes judgement on anyone, and is a true team player, always willing to lend a helping hand.

Dr. Susan McMullan, PhD, MSN, CRNA Faculty, University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing Dr. McMullan has been a CRNA for 28 years. She received her BSN from University of Michigan, her MSN in Nurse Anesthesia from Rush University in Chicago, and her PhD from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey.

She has administered all forms of anesthesia with a focus on pediatric and cardiovascular anesthesia. Prior to coming to UAB, she was a staff CRNA at Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital, Chicago, and a didactic instructor in the Rush University DNP in Nurse Anesthesia program.

She has been a region director for the Illinois Association of Nurse Anesthetists and a member for the Illinois Society for Advanced Practice Nurses.

Teresa Meadows Bone Marrow Transplant Unit, Children’s of Alabama Receiving treatment in the pediatric Bone Marrow Transplant Unit can be quite stressful for young patients and their families. It takes a special kind of nurse to be able to provide the nursing care needed and to act as a counselor, educator, confidant, and friend. Meadows expertly handles all of these functions.

Patient families often report that Meadows does her job with confidence and in a way that helps to instill confidence and security for them.

Kelsey Mitchell Breast Health, UAB Medicine Mitchell is a Registered Nurse with a bachelor’s degree from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She is currently employed within the Breast Health Center and Supportive Care Clinic at The Kirklin Clinic of UAB Hospital as Oncology Nurse Team Lead. Mitchell participates in the clinic-wide nurse stat team that responds to emergencies 140

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throughout Kirklin Clinic. She possesses an Oncology Certified Nurse designation from the Oncology Nurses Credentialing Center and is a member of the Central Alabama Chapter of the Oncology Nursing Society. She is pursuing her Master of Public Health in Healthcare Organization and Policy.

Bonnie Moore, RN BSN 1986, Trinity Medical Center Nominated by Ida V. Moffett School of Nursing, Samford University For more than 23 years, Moore has exemplified the Moffett maxims at the bedside specializing in cardiac patient care at Trinity Medical Center. She provides compassionate, evidence-based care to her patients and comfort to their families.

Moore’s knowledge of the cardiac patient is second to none and she is routinely looked to for guidance with clinical decisions by her coworkers. She is an ACLS instructor and a Critical Care Certified Nurse who offers her support, expertise, and knowledge to others in reaching these goals. Moore has received numerous awards, including Trinity’s peer-nominated Ida V. Moffett Award.

Erin Mullinax NICU, Children’s of Alabama Mullinax is a dedicated and talented NICU nurse. Mullinax incorporates compassion and commitment to patient and family care into a base of strong clinical practice. She supports those with her knowledge and teamwork. These are all important attributes of a nurse in the pediatric critical care setting. One patient family sent this message to us about Mullinax’s care of their child: “Erin was our rock. After eight months and one day, we were finally able to bring our miracle home to join his twin brother and older sister and brother. That almost didn’t happen. Our tiny son had coded suddenly and without warning. Erin and the amazing NICU staff did not panic and performed CPR to bring him back. We love all of our Children’s NICU staff family, but Erin now and forever will hold a special place in our hearts. Our family is whole. Our family is home. That would not have happened without Erin.”

Amy Nolen, RN Birth Suites, St. Vincent’s Hospital Nolen joined the Birth Suites at St. Vincent’s Birmingham in May 2011. She had five years of Labor and Delivery experience prior to joining the St. Vincent’s team. She graduated from Bevill State Community College in 2006.

Nolen received National Certification in Inpatient Obstetrics in September 2013. She received the Daisy Award in October 2014 and the John Faucette Award in May 2015.

Nolen is frequently recognized by her patients for the care that she provides. A recent patient shared, “Amy Nolen epitomizes what it means to be a nurse. Her kindness, generosity, thoughtfulness, follow-through, and genuine interest in all of her patients makes her both an amazing nurse and a blessing to all she touches at St. Vincent’s.”

Dr. Kaitrin Parris, DNP, RN Faculty, University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing Dr. Parris, a faculty member at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing, is known throughout the medical community for her experience in nursing administration, nursing education, and home care. Parris spent 11 years at a large teaching institute providing care to cardiovascular compromised critical care patients, then provided leadership in the hospital setting, on orthopedic, renal, and neurological units, as well as in the home health setting. After completing her Doctor of Nursing Practice from Case Western Reserve University, she joined the UAB School of Nursing to educate and mentor Bachelor’s and Accelerated Master’s in Nursing Pathway students.

Gwen Pernell Center for Nursing Excellence, UAB Medicine Pernell has been with UAB Hospital for years and the Center for Nursing Excellence since 2009. She received her Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree from UAB School of Nursing and is currently in the DNP program. Pernell is truly one of the best educators. She exemplifies what it means to engage students in the classroom. Her students are nurses of all levels.

As an Advanced Nursing Coordinator, Pernell has recently redesigned the Nurse Residency Program. This purpose of this program is to assist nurses to successfully transition into practice.

Cassie Perry, RN, MSN Director of Clinical Education, St. Vincent’s Health System Perry is the director of Clinical Education for St. Vincent’s Health System. Perry graduated with her BS in Nursing from the University of Alabama in 2006 and went on to earn her Masters in Nursing and Management in 2008.

She began her career at St. Vincent’s in 2008, where she served as a Patient Care Supervisor on a challenged med/ surgical unit and because of her exemplary leadership

Thank you, Birmingham, for partnering with us in improving health and preparing health care professionals.

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SPECIAL PROMOTION

David B. Sanford

Chablis Shultz

Stacy Sexton

Dr. Tedra Smith

Edith Tashman

Becky Thomas

Julie Tyrrell

Brenda Vason

Cody Walker

Deborah Warren

Alyssa Webb

Tammy Weeks

skills, was quickly promoted to the manager, serving in that capacity for three years. Additionally, because of Perry’s overwhelming success transforming the medical unit, when the need to open a new step-down unit arose, she was the obvious person to assume that responsibility.

In Perry’s most recent role, she has transformed nursing education at St. Vincent’s and taken it to a new level.

Brittany Roberson, RN CVICU, St. Vincent’s East Roberson came to CVICU at St. Vincent’s East after working as a new graduate on 4 North. She was eager to expand her skills and her knowledge base related to open heart surgery. While in CVICU, she developed excellent critical thinking skills and became an excellent team player. She is now expanding her skills to travel nursing and will continue to work for St. Vincent’s East as well. Her coworkers call her compassionate and say she is always showing great empathy for her patients. She does this without judgment and understands everyone has their own set of values and their own life experiences. Her charge nurses love her because she takes direction well and has a thirst for knowledge. She is always happy to work as team and has brought great care, compassion, courage, and commitment to her patients and to CVICU. Lisa Roper Urology, UAB Medicine Roper is an LPN. She works in the Urology department at the Kirklin Clinic. She graduated from Jefferson State Community College and has been an LPN for three years.

Roper demonstrates our core values in all aspects of her work ethics. She has a kind heart and shows great compassion and utmost respect for her patients. She always has a smile on her face, which eases her patients and improves their clinical experience when they come to clinic. Her genuine affection for people draws other team members toward her for encouragement and help.

Lisa Ryan, RN Surgical Services, Children’s of Alabama Ryan has a reputation for a strong work ethic and for taking responsibility for the quality and safety of her work.

She consistently sets an ideal example for new nurses.

She has earned the respect of nurses, techs, anesthesiologists, CRNAs, and surgeons for the level of care she provides, her professionalism, and ability to understand 142

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the needs of the team and those of her patients.

From the pre-operative wait time, to the prep, positioning, and procedure, Ryan always has the patient’s best interest in mind. Skin care has always been an important interest and concern of Ryan’s for each patient. She investigates opportunities for performance improvement.

David B. Sanford, MSN, CRNA, EMT-P MSN 2006, St. Vincent’s Hospital Nominated by Ida V. Moffett School of Nursing, Samford University As a preceptor for nurse anesthesia students, Sanford holds to a standard of excellence that sets him apart from others in the field. He has served as the clinical coordinator at St. Vincent’s Hospital since 2007 and throughout his time there, he has continuously challenged nurse anesthesia students to be their best. His efforts are appreciated by Ida V. Moffett School of Nursing students who have recognized him as an Outstanding Clinical Preceptor for each of the past four years.

Sanford is widely known for his expertise in practicing and teaching cardiac anesthesia. He is committed to educating future nurse anesthetists and he excels in teaching both in the clinical and classroom settings.

Chablis Shultz, RN, BSN, MSN, CRNP St. Vincent’s Hospital Words that describe Shultz: Humble, dedicated, servant leader, generous with her time and resources. She stands for what is right and honest. Shultz demonstrates unfailing professionalism during changes in her role and responsibilities.

Shultz earned her Bachelor of Science in nursing from Auburn University and her Master of Science in nursing from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She has 11 total years of experience in the nursing profession and six years of experience as a Board Certified Adult Nurse Practitioner. For the past six years, she has overseen the care of diabetic patients and works closely with physicians to deliver appropriate care related to the management of congestive heart failure, pneumonia, stroke, and myocardial infarction for hospitalized patients.

Stacy Sexton SICU, UAB Medicine Sexton was born and raised in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

She has been providing first-rate nursing care at UAB for more than 10 years. She is an exceptional nurse, teacher,

patient-family advocate, and nurse leader thus demonstrating the qualities of Clinical Excellence in Nursing Award as an Assistant Nurse Manager. SICU is overjoyed that Sexton represents SICU for this award.

Sexton has been supported by staff to become one of SICU’s premiere Nurse Succession Leaders in line to be promoted into a Charge Nurse Position, and promoted to Assistant Nurse Manager She now has been recently accepted to UAB’s Nursing Health Systems Administration Program.

Dr. Tedra Smith, DNP, CRNP, CPNP-PC Faculty, University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing Dr. Smith is an assistant professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Nursing.

Her primary teaching responsibilities include being the co-coordinator for the Pediatric Primary Care Nurse Practitioner track. Smith has more than 13 years of experience as a pediatric nurse with the last 10 of those being as a pediatric nurse practitioner. She has more than four years of experience as an educator and has been actively involved in pediatric simulation with undergraduate and graduate students.

She is also very involved with various simulations in conjunction with the UAB Office of Interprofessional Simulation. In August 2013, Smith won the Innovation in Simulation Award for the School of Nursing at UAB. She is a regular contributor to Pediatric Nursing as the critical thinking case study column editor.

Edith Tashman, RN ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation), Children’s of Alabama Tashman is a true nurse advocate and has a gift for bringing kindness and humor to difficult situations. Not only does she advocate on behalf of her patients, but she is also an advocate for the profession and her coworkers.

In 2014, Tashman volunteered her time and effort toward planning and implementing the ECMO team’s quarterly education days. This involved generating topics of interest and relevance to current and future practice, as well as securing physicians, nurse practitioners, and perfusionists to serve as speakers. As a follow up, she personally provided education for the team on new policies and practices to improve patient outcomes.

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Becky Thomas Specialty Care Services, Children’s of Alabama Thomas has a reputation for being calm under pressure and for finding solutions to patient and family problems in a caring and effective manner. In the high-volume environment of the pediatric specialty care clinics there are issues, large and small, that arise every day. The mother of one clinic patient recently sent this note to us at Children’s: “I was in tears because I had lost my child’s prescription and school was getting ready to start. There wasn’t time for her to mail it and I didn’t get off work until after the clinic would be closed. She told me that if I could find a way to come during my lunch break, she would walk the prescription out to my car so I didn’t have to find a parking space and could get back to work as quickly as possible.

Becky is a shining star among a sky of stars.”

Julie Tyrrell SICU, UAB Medicine Tyrrell is truly committed to excellence. In 1998, she moved from China to Alabama. Here in Alabama, she began her scholastic pursuits at The University of Alabama and Shelton State. She received her BSN from UAB and now is pursuing her master’s degree. Here at UAB Hospital, she has been providing nursing care for 13 years.

Tyrrell practices with a sound knowledge base and is clinically astute synthesizing her critical thinking skills.

She has experience working with a diversity of surgical and critically ill patients. In her nursing school years, she volunteered for the United Way in the Miracle Ride program.

As a professional clinician, she is certified as a Medical Surgical Nurse and as a member of the American Nurses Credentialing Center; she volunteers to be on the Content Expert Panel for this nursing specialty.

Brenda Vason, RN Performance Improvement, Infection Prevention, and Control, Children’s of Alabama Vason has built a cohesive team where all staff under her leadership promote and help each other. Vason is known to work extremely well in stressful situations. One example is Children’s Ebola response and planning in 2014. She met the crisis head on, researched all aspects of the current disease and prevention methodology, and developed and led her team to work with all staff to educate and to listen to concerns.

Vason took over as the Interim PI Director during a time when the PI team was in significant need of leadership and team development. During this time, the hospital initiated the Solutions for Patient Safety (SPS) project, which created a significant workload for the PI team.

Cody Walker, RN BSN 2011, Brookwood Medical Center Nominated by Ida V. Moffett School of Nursing, Samford University As a student in the Accelerated Second Degree Bachelor of Science in Nursing program, Walker naturally embraced Mrs. Moffett’s vision for nursing. During his time as a nursing student, he exemplified excellence in nursing, and he encouraged others to do the same. As a recipient of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation New Careers in Nursing (RWJF NCIN) Scholarship, he was expected to participate in leadership development and mentoring

activities beyond what was already required in the rigorous nursing program. Following his graduation in 2011, Walker accepted a position as a full-time staff nurse in the cardiac intensive care unit at Brookwood Medical Center. In 2013, Walker was promoted to nurse manager of the surgical intensive care unit, where he is highly regarded for his commitment to ensuring the highest quality patient care.

Deborah Warren Nursing Supervisor of Prime Care’s Internal Medicine-2 Clinic, UAB Medicine Warren was drawn to become a nurse while watching her mother study for her own nursing classes as she prepared for a career at University Hospital. Warren began her nursing career as a young bride in June 1974 at University Hospital, where she worked as an RN on the neurosurgery floor for 13 years. She transferred to the ENT Clinic at Russell Ambulatory Center, where she worked as the charge nurse until moving to Florida.

Warren and her family returned to Birmingham in 1989 and she resumed her career at UAB as charge nurse in the Neurology Clinic at Russell Ambulatory Clinic, until the move to The Kirklin Clinic. Warren was asked to take an administrative role for all the The Kirklin Clinic’s surgery clinics, where she supervised all clinical staff. She began to miss direct patient care and decided to take a staff nurse position in Urology Clinic, where she worked for more than 15 years. Her current role is Nursing Supervisor of Prime Care’s Internal Medicine-2 Clinic.

Alyssa Webb, RN Surgical, St. Vincent’s Hospital Webb is a medical-surgical staff nurse on 3 West at St. Vincent’s Hospital Birmingham. She began her nursing career at St Vincent’s Hospital three years ago after graduating from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Webb furthered her nursing knowledge in 2014 by completing the family nurse practitioner program at UAB. Webb has been an asset to patients and coworkers throughout her nursing career. One patient described her as a “great example of the type of nurse you hope to have care for your loved ones.”

Webb serves as a preceptor who orients new nurses and trains them on his or her nursing responsibilities. She is also a member of the peer interview team, which hires new associates for the unit.

Tammy Weeks, RN ADN 1982, Princeton Baptist Medical Center Nominated by Ida V. Moffett School of Nursing, Samford University For more than 32 years, Weeks has embraced Mrs. Moffett’s maxims through her practice as a registered nurse at Princeton Baptist Medical Center. Currently serving as charge nurse in the endoscopy lab, Weeks consistently demonstrates exemplary leadership skills by always keeping the patient at the forefront in everything she does.

Weeks is highly respected for her ability to work well with physicians, staff, and administration to ensure that all patients receive the best care possible. She has earned a reputation for doing what needs to be done when it needs to be done.

Justin Williford Pulmonary Care Unit, Children’s of Alabama Williford is known for his compassion and commitment when it comes to caring for his patients. The mother of a nonverbal patient who has cerebral palsy and lung disease said that she had recently discovered that her son loves sci-fi movies, but due to his vision impairment couldn’t see the large screen on the wall in the patient room. Williford called maintenance one day and connected a DVD player to the smaller monitor in the room. Here is what she had to say about Williford and his care of her son: “I walked into the room and there was my son grinning ear to ear, watching Star Wars, and having a grand time. I thanked Justin for taking such great care of him. His response brought tears to my eyes. He said, ‘No, thank you for having such an awesome son.’ To a mom who has seen her child ignored at best and spoken down to at worst, finding a nurse who sees the jewel that my child is and actually enjoys his company is a blessing and instills such confidence in the care Justin gives.”

Kandi Wise, BSN, RN Nursing Education, Pediatric Simulation Center, Children’s of Alabama As an educator in Children’s Pediatric Simulation Center, Wise works hard to make simulation available for nurses and support staff on all shifts. She often goes above and beyond to accommodate the shifting demands of the schedules of the direct patient care staff members. Wise takes initiative and is innovative. She has recently added the radiology staff to her situational training schedule after identifying a need based on meetings with the PI team.

Her training efforts are empowering and help nurses and support staff to initiate quality basic life support and anticipate the needs of the code team. She strives to help nurses provide the best care possible and hopefully improve outcomes for these patients.

Brittany Roberson

Russel McAnnally

Amanda Howell

Lujuana Conway

Justin Williford

Kandi Wise b-metro.com

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