Nurses from across Middle Tennessee gathered to honor outstanding colleagues during the fifth annual March of Dimes Nurse of the Year Awards.
Marilyn Dubree, MSN, RN, NE-BC, executive chief nursing officer at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, served as chair of the awards gala, and Chris Clarke, RN, BSN, senior vice president of the Tennessee Hospital Association, was the event’s honorary chair. The gala enjoyed broad community support with more than a dozen corporate sponsors, including Lipscomb University School of Nursing as the gold sponsor. Continuing tradition, Nashville Medical News served as media sponsor, and Dan Thomas of WSMV - Channel 4 was the evening’s emcee.
Top honors were awarded in 17 categories from a long list of highly accomplished nominees who live out the mission of the March of Dimes to support children and families.
Advanced Practice
Sponsored by Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Beth Davidson, DNP, RN, ACNP, CCRN
TriStar Centennial Medical Center
Educate and advocate could be Davidson’s motto. Those who nominated the advanced practice nurse with expertise in heart failure noted the huge impact she has had at the hospital. Her patients have benefitted from her heartfelt caring and clinical expertise honed over 26 years of practice. Not only does she advocate on behalf of her patients and work tirelessly to educate them about living with a chronic condition, she also provides outreach in outlying areas to promote heart failure services and education and teaches an eight-week review course for nurses specializing in the care of heart failure patients.
Behavioral Health
Megan Simmons, DNP, RN, PMHNP-BC
Vanderbilt University School of Nursing
In her nine-year career, Simmons has already contributed substantially to the field of behavioral health with a clinical practice as a psychiatric mental health provider and as an assistant professor at VUSN. She is passionate about increasing student awareness of the need for committed professionals to care for the vulnerable population of older adults with mental illness and provides dementia education for healthcare workers in skilled nursing facilities. Her doctoral project has been featured at national conferences and has led Simmons to serve as a national reviewer of geriatric pharmaceutical practice guidelines for the Gerontological Advanced Practice Nurses Association.
Critical Care
Sponsored by Sumner Regional Medical Center
Amy Charlton, RN, BSN, CCRN
TriStar Centennial Medical Center
This nurse of more than 15 years integrates her critical care talents into all facets of her practice including modeling the critical thinking skills vital to caring for the very ill. A mentor and friend to young nurses, she leads by example. Her caring nature has led Charlton to travel to Uganda to lead hundreds of volunteers in efforts to improve health and education so that children will have an opportunity to reach their full potential.
Emergency
Sponsored by Maury Regional Medical Center
Joey Kerrigan, RN, TNCC, ENPC
Sumner Regional Medical Center
Calm under the pressure of providing emergency care, Kerrigan is proud of her role as a preceptor for nursing students to help train the next generation of emergency nurses. Passionate about patients, she is active in implementing quality improvement projects and focuses on improving processes aimed at preventing errors and increasing patient satisfaction. Her colleagues note that Kerrigan, who has been in practice for five years, is just the type of caring professional they would hope to encounter if the need arose.
General Medical
Sponsored by NorthCrest Medical Center
Sherrie Jackson, RN, BS, BLS, ACLS, PALS
TriStar Skyline Medical Center
Recognizing the best care is integrated care provided by a professional team, Jackson has been known to point out there is no “I” in NURSE, but you can find a “US.” In practice for five years, she tries to lead by example with a focus on quality to improve patient outcomes without ever losing sight of the unique individual in need of care. While Jackson always hopes to be a blessing to her patients, she said she so often finds they are a bigger blessing to her.
Hospice & Palliative Care
Carey McDonald, MSN, APRN, CPNP-AC
Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt
Having spent her career in pediatric critical care units and the NICU, this palliative care professional has come to realize the skills most necessary in her field are also some of the hardest to teach … learning to listen carefully and counsel compassionately. McDonald said communicating with families facing incredibly difficult situations and treating symptoms in gravely ill children are subjects not routinely covered in standard medical education so she is particularly thankful to mentors who helped her hone her skills and is happy to mentor others interested in this specialized field.
Managed Care
Sponsored by Cigna HealthSpring
Corinna Dransfield, RN
Amerigroup Corporation
With 14 years of critical care nursing experience, the last six years in the managed care setting, Dransfield utilizes her range of clinical experience as an ER nurse case manager. Her motto has always been ‘positive in, positive out.’ To make positive changes in her profession, she believes in tracking and trending data to highlight successes and areas of need. Using those skills, Dransfield identified a patient with more than 100 ER visits and multiple inpatient psychiatric admissions and then collaborated with other departments and the client to address needs and barriers with remarkable results.
Nursing Administration
Sponsored by Community Health Systems
Diana Moses, RN, BSN, MBA, NE-BC
TriStar Centennial Women’s & Children’s Hospital
As administrative director of nursing, Moses finds it most rewarding to mentor new managers and help develop leadership skills. With three decades of nursing experience, she sets the bar high with a focus on excellence. A staunch advocate for nurses, children and families, Moses is always willing to listen and to speak up when needed. Equally, she manages to balance the needs of the hospital and larger healthcare system to help ensure the delivery of effective, efficient care.
Nursing Education
Sponsored by Belmont University College of Health Sciences & Nursing
Benjamin Smallheer, PhD, RN, ACNP-BC, CCRN
Vanderbilt University School of Nursing
A member of the VUSN faculty since 2006, Smallheer fosters an atmosphere of respect and professionalism that encourages free thinking where all questions are valid and opinions are honored. He remains active in clinical practice in the critical care arena and relishes seeing the spark in students’ eyes when classwork comes to life in the acute care environment. A champion for his students and a collaborative colleague, this 16-year veteran nurse is effectively preparing today’s students to meet the healthcare needs of tomorrow.
Pediatric
Sponsored by Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt
Catherine Norvell, MSN, RN
Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt
Norvell is always looking for areas of improvement to help the tiny, vulnerable population under her watch. Knowing that medicine and technology have advanced to the point where infants born at the limits of viability are surviving more often, Norvell recognized the care designed for preemies really didn’t translate to these ultra-tiny infants who require lengthy hospitalizations. To address this need, Norvell helped develop a curriculum where the babies receive more neurologic stimulation, including cuddling and reading, to help them developmentally track with healthy newborns.
Public & Community Health
Sponsored by Amerigroup
Carrie Plummer, PhD, MSN, RN, ANP-BC
Vanderbilt University School of Nursing
During her nine-year career, Plummer has discovered a passion for developing and leading interprofessional collaborations to effect positive community change. She has organized and implemented several community-based efforts to address prescription drug abuse and worked collaboratively with other universities, local law enforcement officials and the DEA. Plummer has also worked on the national level through an internship with the National Office of Drug Control Policy in Washington, D.C. On a state level, Plummer has provided information used to inform policies on prescription drug abuse in Tennessee.
Quality and Risk Management
Sponsored by Tennessee Hospital Association
Karen Hande, DNP, MSN, RN, ANP-BC
Vanderbilt University School of Nursing
An adult health nurse practitioner with 15 years experience, Hande is passionate about caring for the chronically ill and looking for ways to improve prevention and management. She designed and conducted a quality improvement project focused on colorectal cancer prevention with outcomes measured in three areas of clinical practice. Hande has had the opportunity to disseminate the findings of her work in a number of publications and at an international conference in Hong Kong.
Research
Sponsored by Vanderbilt University School of Nursing
Jie Deng, PhD, RN, OCN
Vanderbilt University School of Nursing
Since 2008, this nurse researcher has dedicated her investigations to the complications associated with treatment of head and neck cancers. Based on her findings, she has developed a tool with which oncology nurses and other clinicians can routinely assess and accurately document head and neck cancer-related lymphedema. Her current research interests also include testing interventions for decreasing symptom burden and improving functional outcomes related to late effects of head and neck cancer treatment. Deng is extensively published and is part of the research committee for the National Lymphedema Network.
Student Nurse of the Year - Undergraduate
Sponsored by Lipscomb University School of Nursing
Nicole Brooks, MSPH
Lipscomb University School of Nursing
After earning a Master’s in Public Health, Brooks decided to pursue nursing to enhance the care she could provide to underserved communities. She believes nurses are not only providers of care but also a source of faith and symbol of reassurance. One of her favorite quotes states, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Her goal is to use her compassionate nursing skills to address health disparities both domestically and abroad.
Student Nurse of the Year - Graduate
Sponsored by Lipscomb University School of Nursing
Megan Shifrin, MSN, RN, ACNP-BC
Vanderbilt University School of Nursing
Shifrin, who has been in practice for nine years, has a clinical background in ICU settings. She noticed nurses expressing feelings of professional inadequacy when caring for intensive care patients at the end of life, which prompted her to pursue her doctoral studies. In 2014, Shifrin designed an educational curriculum on end-of-life patient care specific to the ICU setting. This year, she is offering educational sessions to nurses in six adult ICUs. Her hope is to not only help improve patient and family care at the bedside but also to increase nursing confidence and competency.
Surgical Services
Lori Patterson, RN, ONC
Saint Thomas Rutherford Hospital
Patterson earned her nursing degree just four years ago, becoming certified in orthopaedics in 2013. From the first clinical rotation in her specialty, she knew it was a field she loved and wanted to pursue. With her compassionate nature, it came as no surprise to her family when Patterson decided to leave her previous career and go back to nursing school. Her caring nature and excellent clinical skills resonate with patients and colleagues, alike. Both admire her professionalism, communications skills, efficiency and empathetic nature.
Women’s Health
Sponsored by 100+ Women Who Care Middle Tennessee
Mary Visceglia, RN, BSN, OCN
TriStar Skyline Medical Center
Visceglia, a nurse navigator, said she looks forward to coming to work every day because she doesn’t see it as ‘work.’ Instead, she believes nursing is about being part of something much greater as she helps patients diagnosed with breast cancer navigate the healthcare experience. She guides patients through their course of treatment, helps them manage the emotional and physical peaks and valleys, and makes sure they understand their diagnosis and care plan. One colleague noted Visceglia is more than a patient advocate … she is someone who empowers patients to advocate for themselves.
