Valley Children’s Celebrates the 2022 Nurse of the Year Award Winners

Jennifer served as a registered nurse in the Oncology Clinic for more than 10 years before becoming Charge Nurse in the Hematology Clinic in 2021. Never one to settle for the status quo, Jennifer’s strong leadership and clinical excellence make her a phenomenal Charge Nurse. Under Jennifer’s leadership, the Hematology Clinic is more efficient and has improved access to care, a really important enhancement for the special population they serve. She is constantly evaluating current hematology programs to identify areas for improvement and was instrumental in developing new orientation documentation for LVN utilization in the department. Her willingness to welcome and orient new nurses to the highly specialized clinic has been appreciated by providers, staff and leadership. Jennifer has participated in multiple unit-based performance improvement projects, including the new Apheresis Program, which streamlines the scheduling of patient visits and ensures required specialized units of blood are on-hand. Her management of the program has improved interdepartmental communication with the blood bank, emergency room, ambulatory treatment center, pharmacy, and most importantly, the care of our kids.

Jennifer’s career as a Clinical Nurse Specialist has made a tremendous impact at Valley Children’s Hospital and beyond. Her commitment to improving neonatal outcomes is at the forefront of every project she takes on. Jennifer has led many quality improvement projects and presented seven poster nationally over the last ten years. She has been the consistent face of Valley Children’s in the community, speaking regularly on the resuscitation and stabilization of the neonate. She has impacted literally hundreds of lives through her advocacy and focus on improving neonatal care. A key member of the NICU education team, she provides advance core classes to nurses within the NICU. She teaches and inspires nurses not only learn to care for critically ill neonates, but also how to communicate with families concerning their baby’s needs and treatments, and she demonstrates family centered care in all her interactions. Jennifer is an integral part of the Valley Children’s Clinical Partnerships team, where she engages with referring facilities to provide education on interventions to promote better outcomes for their neonates.

Jessica Moody joined Valley Children’s in 2014 as a registered nurse in the Apollo unit. Jessica took on the role of Charge Nurse in 2018 and became manager of the unit in 2019. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Jessica led her team through rapid change and the unknown. Apollo became the “COVID-19 Unit” overnight, which included administering Monoclonal Antibody infusions for COVID-19 positive patients at high risk for developing severe symptoms. Jessica’s commitment to the professional practice of nursing is evidenced through her leadership from chairing the Valley Children’s Hospital Professional Development Council to supporting research studies and providing oversight to various quality and safety initiatives. Jessica's influential leadership style includes promoting a culture of excellence through the engagement of her teams in participatory governance and decision-making on the unit. Throughout her tenure, Jessica has been a role model who guides nurses through academic advancement, clinical advancement and national certification by her own example. Jessica embodies the true tenants of a nursing leader and is well deserving of recognition for her exemplary leadership.

Anita Eggleston has been a member of the Emergency Department at Valley Children’s for several decades and her dedication is inspiring to us all, she is always looking to improve practice and operations. Anita serves as course coordinator for the Emergency Nurse Pediatric Core and the Trauma Nurse Certification Course with the Emergency Nursing Association. She serves as instructor, director and course faculty member for both since 2001, which have been a requirement for ED nurses since 2001. This translates into Anita having educated every RN that has come through the ED at Valley Children’s Hospital in the last two decades. Anita has held her National Certification as a Certified Pediatric Emergency Nurse since 2004 and has acted as a mentor to ED team members seeking to obtain this certification. She is the organization’s triage expert, mentoring ED nurses to safely and accurately triage and treat each patient that comes through the department. Anita embodies the core values of Valley Children’s Healthcare, showcasing them in action every day.

The Apollo team of nurses has supported and promoted multiple strategic priorities of Valley Children’s. The team has been recognized by leaders in the organization for their flexibility and willingness to support staffing throughout the Hospital. Apollo rapidly transitioned to supporting the care of COVID-19 positive patients early in the pandemic and Apollo nurses provided significant support of their peers by having the highest percent of nurse floating in units – all while keeping their focus on providing care to patients who needed it most, regardless of their physical location in the Hospital. Apollo nurses consistently show leadership in modeling the way to improve patient/family satisfaction and engagement in their care through the implementation of MyChart Bedside. Staff and leadership engagement has resulted in a number of outcome improvements such as more than 3 years since the last Central Line Associated Blood Stream Infection and more than 4 years since the last Healthcare-Acquired Pressure Injury.

What word best describes this duo? Dynamic! Jessica and Darlene have made a tremendous impact on nursing during their careers as RNs and Unit Support staff recruiters. These two individuals have shown incredible flexibility with the changes and challenges they have faced throughout the pandemic. Jessica and Darlene support all patient care units of the hospital. They collaborate with department leadership teams, maintain open lines of communication, and are extremely proactive in the recruitment process. Their genuine enthusiasm shines through with each new hire. Thank you, Jessica and Darlene, for your passion and dedication to helping us fill nursing positions throughout our organization.