Peak Performer: Nina Gonzales

Nina displays excellent patient care on a daily basis. As one of the few employees that serve on 5NT every day, she is a constant source of sunshine for our patients. They recognize her and approach her for help regularly. Nina is outstanding in the fact that she will go out of her way to help make families feel safe and welcome. On one occasion, she dropped what she was doing to help a tired mom make coffee in the family room on our unit. She makes great conversation and lets the parents know they are not in this alone. On top of that, she provides a (masked) smiling, friendly face to our patients. She cheers them on as they do laps around the unit. No task is too small for Nina to help with!

​Nina is one of the greatest, most devoted team members I have had the pleasure of working with. A wonderful example of her commitment to our families was displayed last week. There were multiple key employees out for various reasons and Nina stepped up to the plate. Her normal job duties include helping nurses with medication-related tasks, creating medication calendars, and responding to medication messages, among other things. This particular day, Nina became a runner for our patients who needed medications from Retail pharmacy (Meds-to-beds was short-staffed). She made at least 4 trips to Retail Pharmacy to help facilitate safe and expedited discharges for our patients. On top of that, she became an Omnicell technician. Not only did she help to reboot and fix the Omnicells on her units, but she came to help fix the Omnicell in the Infusion Center as well! Her hard work did not stop there. Pharmacy was short-staffed with medication history technicians, so Nina completed outstanding medication histories for medically complex patients on other units. 

Nina always goes above and beyond to help make 5NT run smoothly. She does not wait to be asked to help, she jumps at the opportunity any chance she gets. She understands that caring and collaboration are key points in how we at Cook Children's can help improve the health of every child that we see. Most importantly, she has compassion for our patients and a strong belief in the care we provide at Cook.