Nurses Week: Fulfilling Our Promise for Every Child, Every Day
Introducing the Center for Nursing Excellence
A new initiative is dedicated to supporting nurses and their professional journey. The Center for Nursing Excellence offers a range of exciting opportunities to help nurses excel in their careers and promote overall well-being.Meet the team and read more on the Connect Newsroom.
Great 10 Nurses Ceremony
Congratulations to nurses from across the System who were named Great 10 Nurses at a special ceremony on May 9. These nurses, selected from among 76 nominees, represent excellence in the art and science of nursing and all the winners have shown themselves to be role models, leaders, community servants, compassionate caregivers, and significant contributors to the nursing profession. Here are the recipients:
Great 10 Nurse Honorees: Amy Valenta, 4P/EMU; Chansey Pullen, Neuro Pain Services; Christina Richardson, 3 Main North; Danielle Ransonette, PICU; Kelsey Bassett, Research Operations; Kimberly Sheehan, Emergency Department; Lori Parrott, Quality Improvement; Melissa Lubahn, PICU; Shakyryn Napier, Heart Center, and Sheralyn Hartline, Prosper Nursing Administration.
Daisy Leader Award: Ashley Chreene, Neurosciences Unit, Nurse Manager
Daisy Team Award: 5 North Tower – Hematology/Oncology, Central Venous Line (CVL) Team: Josephine Camus, Karen Gartner, Kelci Henegar, and Lacy Bayles.
DFW Great 100: Shakyryn Napier, Director, Heart Center
Stories of Nurses and Their Patients
Angela Velasquez, RN, a Cook Children's Health Plan Case Manager in the Medically Dependent Children Program, and the patient family she worked with for nine years, and counting. Read more here.
Tiffany Skrodzki, R.N., CCRC, provides medical and emotional support to a family whose son receives care in the Hyperinsulinism Center.Read more here.
Nursing at Medical Center-Prosper
How Sheralyn Hartline, DNP, RN, CNEP, RNC-NIC, Assistant Vice President for Nursing and Patient Care, and Stefanie Tanner, MSN, RN, BCEN, Director of Nursing and Patient Care, have worked to create and implement processes to improve practices for 200 nurses across multiple departments at the Prosper campus. Read more on Checkup.
2023 Nursing Annual Report Is Here
The report is chock full of impressive stories of patient care wins, innovations, achievements, teamwork and more. We will be highlighting many of these stories on the Connect Newsroom in coming months.
Rick W. Merrill, our President and CEO, wrote an opinion piece for The Dallas Morning News in response to Texas Health and Human Services Commission's decision to exclude Cook Children's Health Plan (CCHP) from the new STAR/CHIP contract starting in September 2025.
He urges the state to reverse its decision to ensure CCHP, along with other qualified plans, can continue seamlessly serving our communities and caring for our most vulnerable children and families. Read the op-ed here.
The Dallas Morning News: “skewed” bid process should be redone
The Dallas Morning News Editorial Board wrote an editorial calling the bid process for the contracts “botched” and noting that taxpayers “deserve the best deal" on contracts worth billions of dollars.
“The only way forward is for Texas Health and Human Services to throw out the results of this procurement process and start over,” the editorial says. Read the piece here.
Respect and Kindness: Working with Our Veterans
Learn what respect, kindness, and allyship look like in the veteran community at our second virtual Lunch and Learn. The Cook Children’s Veteran’s Group (CCVG) invites employees to join them on Zoom from 12-1 p.m. on Tuesday, May 14. Participants will: • Meet Cook Children’s employees who are veterans or have a close tie to a veteran. • Discuss scenarios where you can support veterans with kindness and respect. • Learn common misconceptions about veterans. • Understand how to support Cook Children’s veterans who are transitioning from a military to civilian lifestyle.
The L.E.A.D.S. (Latinos Engaging, Advancing, Developing & Supporting) Employee Resource Group hosted the first in series of virtual Lunch and Learn programs focused on the importance of respect and kindness in Hispanic Latino culture and its significance in everyday interactions. The event was a huge success, with more than 60 Cook Children’s staff members joining the robust discussion.
The Mock Survey on the Fort Worth campus is complete. Please click here for details on the Preliminary Report (you must be on the Cook Children’s Network to view the information). Great job to everyone. We had lots of compliments and a great survey!
'My Mom is a Doctor!' A Special Mother's Day Gift to Alice Phillips, M.D.
In honor of Mother's Day, we asked Annie Phillips, MCN, RD, LD, a clinical dietitian and nutritionist for our Outpatient Cardiology team, to share some thoughts about her mother, our own Alice Phillips, M.D. , MPH, FAAP, a pediatrician and Medical Director for Ambulatory Quality and Safety. Have some tissues handy and read Annie's piece here.
On Sunday, we celebrate mothers of all kinds – from the cool moms, to the PTA mamas, to honorary mommies, to moms who live in our memories– and acknowledge the special role mothers play in our communities, our own lives and the lives of our patients.
It’s Teacher Appreciation Week
We’re celebrating Nicole Rogers, Marissa Glasschroeder and Laura Ralston, the incredible teachers who make sure that Cook Children’s patients keep up with their schoolwork while in the hospital.
For children and teens, school is an important part of life. It’s where they learn, form their social skills and begin to develop a sense of independence. Keeping up with schoolwork feels familiar and can help things seem a little more “normal” during a child’s stay at Cook Children’s. Plus, it eases their fears of falling behind.
Because we recognize the importance of schoolwork for our patients, Cook Children’s partners with Fort Worth Independent School District to provide school services to eligible patients while in the hospital setting. Our teachers work specifically with children and teens who have a chronic or complex diagnosis, are experiencing an extended hospitalization, or have sustained a life-threatening injury.
Huge thank you to these wonderful teachers for all you do to support our patients!
Cook Children’s ECMO Reunion is taking place from 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday, May 19, Medical Center-Fort Worth, Family Support Room. The event will include snacks, games, and a remembrance ceremony.
Please note this is an updated location for this event.
VIDEO: Hot Dogs and Hamburgers at the Calmont Cookout
Employees got together at the Calmont Building for lunch, taking a moment to catch up with one another and even take photos with Peaks the Dragon. We spoke to several staffers about what the employee cookouts mean to them – watch the video here.
Medical Center-Fort Worth DAY Shift: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Wednesday, May 15 (Medical Center, 901 Building, Dodson Specialty Building, Rosedale Office Building & 750)
Medical Center-Fort Worth NIGHT Shift: 11 p.m. to 1 a.m., Wednesday, May 15
CCPN W. Frisco Primary Care: 12 to 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 15 (Little Elm, Aubrey, Parkwood, Lewisville, N. Carrollton, Windhaven)
Child Study Center: 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Friday, May 17
Medical Center-Prosper DAY Shift: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Wednesday, May 22 (Prosper Medical Center, Prosper Specialty Building, Prosper Urgent Care Center, Prosper Windsong, Prosper Pediatric Surgery Center)
Medical Center-Prosper NIGHT Shift: 7 to 9 p.m., Wednesday, May 22
FWP Clearfork Primary Care: noon to 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 29 (Southwest FWP, Pediatric Gynecology, Southwest Orthopedics, Cityview, Forest Park)
New Registers Coming
The Food Services department will be installing new registers the week of May 13 for several areas. There will be downtime while the registers are installed, but the vendor will complete this work in stages so that business can continue.
Checkout lines may be longer than normal as we replace these registers. Please note: If possible, please have cash on hand to make purchases. Installation locations:
Camelot Court
Starbucks
Goodies to Go
Physicians’ Dining
There will not be an impact to room service and food ordering for the patients.
24/7 Virtual Support for Pregnancy, Postpartum and Newborn Care
Navigating pregnancy and postpartum can be overwhelming, but there are so many ways that Maven can help you and your family. Maven is a free virtual care app with support, coaching, and education for your entire pregnancy and postpartum journey. You have free access to Maven to get virtual support with things like pregnancy nutrition, childbirth education, postpartum recovery, infant feeding and sleep, returning to work, and more. Your Maven membership includes: ● Dedicated support: Your Maven Care Advocate and Care Team complement your in-person care by offering you 24/7 support that embraces your culture, language, location, and health goals. ● Top-rated providers (available day or night): Video chat or message with doctors, providers, and coaches specializing in pregnancy, postpartum and newborn care. Get the support you need–on everything from birth planning to physical recovery and adjusting emotionally to infant feeding to sleep struggles and more. ● Trusted resources, articles and classes: Spend less time searching for medically reviewed advice and get your toughest questions answered in one safe, convenient place.
Join us at the Trauma Awareness and Safety Fair to learn about injury prevention and our Trauma Services department. There will be games, snacks and prizes! The event is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 10 p.m. to midnight on Wednesday, May 15 in the Atrium at the Medical Center-Fort Worth.
Four patients with a rare and difficult to control form of epilepsy participated in trials that led to landmark research data for a medicine. Read more about this work by the Cook Children’s Jane and John Justin Institute for Mind Health on Checkup.
Recent news of suicides among teens in North Texas has sent shockwaves through our community. Tune in as Raising Joy podcast hosts Kristen Pyrc, M.D., and Wini King take time to acknowledge the heartbreak being felt by so many and to share resources for healing. Catch the episode here.
Retirement Announcement for Brenda Byrd, LVN, Nurse at Willow Park Primary Care
Brenda Byrd is retiring from the system on May 21 after 15 years at Cook Children’s. Thank you so much, Brenda, for your many years of service and dedication to Cook Children's and our patient families.
The Willow Park team wrote:
“Brenda, affectionately known as “BB” by those closest to her, has 42 years of LVN experience, and 30 of those years were in pediatric primary care. We will greatly miss her expertise and knowledge at the Willow Park CCPN office. She is our guru of telephone triage, and per her two physicians, ‘She saves our day, every day!’ Brenda has touched many patient families’ lives, her co-worker’s lives, and has been her providers’ glue holding all things portal/triage together. Now “Yaya” (as her two young granddaughters call her) gets to spend more time with her girls and pursue international travel, which is one of her joys. We wish her well! “
We encourage you to take a moment to send Brenda a farewell note or a congratulatory eCard by May 20.
Retirement Announcement for Jimmy Uselton, CRNA, Nurse Anesthesiologist at Medical Center-Fort Worth
UPDATE 5-13: TIME CHANGE
Jimmy Uselton is retiring from the system on May 31 after 23 years of service to Cook Children’s. Jimmy, thank you for your dedication to the Cook Children’s Pinky Promise and your service to patients and families for so many years. We wish you the best of luck on your next adventure.
Everyone is invited to join us from 3 to 5 p.m. p.m. on Wednesday, May 15 in the South Tower Classroom 1163 (next to Goodies to Go) at Medical Center-Fort Worth as celebrate Jimmy’s retirement.
We encourage you to take a moment to send Jimmy a farewell note or a congratulatory eCard by May 14.
Health Plan In the News
Learn what respect, kindness, and allyship look like in the veteran community at our second virtual Lunch and Learn. The Cook Children’s Veteran’s Group (CCVG) invites employees to join them on Zoom from 12-1 p.m. on Tuesday, May 14. Participants will: 
Joint Commission Mock Survey
Cook Children’s ECMO Reunion is taking place from 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday, May 19, Medical Center-Fort Worth, Family Support Room. The event will include snacks, games, and a remembrance ceremony. 
Now is the time that we take the opportunity to say ‘thank you’ to all Cook Children's employees for your dedication, hard work, and accomplishments. You are the reason that Cook Children's is an example of excellence for other organizations in North Texas and across the country. 
