Prosper: Recognizing Employees Who Go Above and Beyond
By Kaley Johnson
Nearly two dozen staff members at Cook Children’s Medical Center - Prosper are wearing yellow smiley face pins to work. They're the first recipients of a special new award at Prosper recognizing their dedication and going that extra mile for patients. Each month, Prosper administrators select a staff member to receive the Above and Beyond award, which celebrates someone going outside the scope of their usual duties in service of patient care.
The Above and Beyond award began shortly after the Prosper campus opened in 2023, explained Sheralyn Hartline, R.N., Assistant Vice President of Nursing and Patient Care. A man walked into the facility and told a security officer that he “just didn’t feel right.” The officer said, “You don’t look well either,” and acting on instinct, sent the man immediately to the Emergency Department. There, the man was diagnosed with a life-threatening emergency and needed immediate help. Because of his quick actions, the security officer had saved the man’s life.
“This guy had no idea he was saving a life,” Sheralyn said. “He didn’t have the clinical skills to even imagine what was happening, but he knew the guy needed help.”
Those heroic actions inspired Prosper administrators to create the Above and Beyond award to acknowledge “these little things that happen that are really, really big things,” Sheralyn said.
The security officer was the first recipient of the award.
Since then, one person a month has been recognized for going beyond their usual duties and showing dedication and compassion. Nursing staff, support staff and physicians can all be nominated. In total, 19 staff members have received the award for going out of their way for others. One house supervisor, for example, received the award after she found out someone had left an Invisalign teeth aligner on a tray and accidentally threw it away. The supervisor went above and beyond her duties to find and retrieve it from the trash.
Recipients of the award said the recognition is meaningful.
“I am not one that likes recognition in front of others, so I appreciated this was an acknowledgement without it being a ‘big’ deal!” said Ginger Ward, R.N.
Abigail Reed, Manager of Retail Pharmacy, said: “I thought the Above and Beyond Award was really appreciated by my staff! It was a great moment to acknowledge their awesome work and take the time to let them know they are appreciated and that what they do matters."
Recipients of Above and Beyond Award
Congratulations to the recipients of the Above and Beyond Award so far and thank you for your dedication.
Ralph Cannon
Andres Ardila, R.N.
Jason Jenkins
Mouhammad Alwazeer, M.D.
Brookelyn Wetzel
Larisha Glover
Ginger Ward
Prosper and Fort Worth Pharmacy teams, Clifford Ho, Bonnie Glenn, and Stefanie Sumner, M.D.
Bobby Emmons and Gerardo Collado
Dayla Daff, R.N.
Kimberly Matini