UTMB celebrated Certified Nurses Day, honoring the approximately 685 specialty certified nurses who work at UTMB. UTMB encourages certification for all qualified registered nurses. Board Certification of nurses plays an increasingly important role in the assurance of high standards of care for patients by demonstrating competency and excellence in one’s professional nursing specialty.
In recognition of Nurse’s Day, all certified nurses received a Certified Nurses Day ribbon for their badges and a gift. A Certification display was featured in the hallway of Café on the Court and posters were placed throughout the patient care units and clinics. Receptions were held in John Sealy Hospital and at Victory Lakes.
Thank you, Nurses, for your leadership, professionalism and commitment to excellence in patient care!
UTMB welcomes Neil Hart as he begins his role as the new director of Auxiliary Services in Business Operations and Facilities.
Hart has more than 20 years of experience in leading business enterprises and managing diverse products and services. He is no stranger to the UT System, as he comes to UTMB from MD Anderson Cancer Center where he has been the Director of Campus Services since 2005. He was directly responsible for large shuttle bus operations, large self and valet parking operations, fleet management, courier services and mail services. He has extensive experience in Parking and Transportation and served more than 600,000 patients and 400,000 employees per year. In 2010, Hart received a Gold Level Achievement award for “Asset Maximization” from the Office of Performance Improvement for switching to tiered rates and increasing occupancy from 40 to over 120 percent. From 2003 to 2005 he served as manager of Parking and Transportation Services at MD Anderson where he was awarded “The Heart of MD Anderson Outstanding Employee Award”.
Dr. Ann Fry
e was recently honored by the AAMC’s Southern Group on Educational Affairs (SGEA) with the SGEA Career Educator Award during its 2014 annual conference. The Career Educator Award recognizes service to the SGEA and lifetime achievement in medical education, including a record of scholarship, leadership, collaboration and professionalism. Frye is currently Professor of Internal Medicine and Director of the Office of Educational Development, a post she has held since 2005. She also serves as Assistant Dean for Educational Development, and has been instrumental in coordinating, promoting and conducing educational research at UTMB. She is an internationally-known expert on curriculum evaluation, learner assessment, and educational measurement issues in medical education, including longitudinal investigation of medical student characteristics, interprofessional healthcare education, and curriculum change outcomes.
Clinical Nurse Specialist Odette Comeau, HCS-RN Foster Sayles, Nurse Manager Jamie Heffernan and Nurse Clinician Jason Sheaffer recently received news from Critical Care Nursing Quarterly that their manuscript, Rising to the Challenge: Transforming an Adult ICU into an Adult and Pediatric ICU has been accepted for publication. The manuscript describes the transformation of the Blocker Burn Unit from solely an adult ICU into an adult and pediatric burn center in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike. The manuscript also provides a summary of cross-training activities for adult/pediatric care, as well as overviews of unit and resource modifications necessary for expansion. Congratulations!
“Help Catch a Killer,” a patient video on screening and prevention of colon cancer produced by UTMB's Dr. Scott Larson, was honored by the American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. Larson was one of two doctors nationally to receive the 2014 Community Outreach Award for Trainees. The award recognizes trainee doctors for doing good works in their community related to digestive health.
Watch the video at www.youtube.com/user/ASGEGIEndoscopy.
UTMB directors traveled to Meru, Kenya to explore a partnership with Kenya Methodist University. UTMB and KeMU leaders discussed working together on research, capacity building and community service.
The UTMB team was led by Dr. Scott Weaver, director of the Institute for Human Infections and Immunity and scientific director of the Galveston National Laboratory. Weaver was joined by Dr. Peter Melby, director of the Center for Tropical Diseases, Dr. Matthew Dacso, director of the Center for Global Health Education, and Dr. Janice Endsley, associate professor of Department of Microbiology and Immunology.
“We had a very successful visit to Kenya Methodist University and will likely be solidifying our research and educational collaborations with them,” said Dacso.
The visit was coordinated by Jonathan T. Mwiindi, director of operations of the Coordinating Center for Global Health at UTMB, and research coordinator for the Kenya-based Hospital Support Organization, Elizabeth Njogu.