My role at Vanderbilt is being a part of one of the most amazing, caring, hardworking, supportive teams of APRNs, fellows, and attendings who care for the critically ill pediatric patients. As an inpatient APRN, I am responsible for admitting patients, developing, and managing their daily plan of care, and either performing needed procedures if they are within my scope of practice or collaborating with consulting services for needed procedures outside of my scope of practice. My first love has always been cardiac so getting to care for these warriors and witness their incredible fight daily is something that humbles and inspires me. I am incredibly grateful for the unique position I have where I also get to practice in the NICU and the PICU. My career started off as a nurse in an outside NICU where I also cared for cardiac patients so continuing to care for the NICU population is a great honor. The PICU allows for me to continue my love for pediatrics outside of the cardiac population.
Our role in the Pediatric Critical Care Unit (PICU & PCICU) is challenging and tough almost daily. We see the most critically ill patients, but we also see some of the most critical patients who recover and get to go home which is what makes this job all worth it. As APRNs we are encouraged to get involved with quality improvement and research in our units. My research and quality improvement has primarily focused on pediatric delirium and early mobility in the PCCU. I am currently a co-investigator for mini-MENDS, which is a blinded, randomized, control trial over five years evaluating the outcomes of pediatric patients sedated with either midazolam or dexmedetomidine.
In my spare time, you will find me outdoors hiking, on a beach, playing with my mini labradoodle puppy Hallie, running (attempting to restart that habit), in another country (pre-covid and thankful now that travel is back due to vaccines!), hanging out with my friends, or in Alabama with my family.