Nurse and Student Nurse of the Year Recognized for Going Above and Beyond

Pat Francis-Johnson, R.N., MSN, an assistant professor in the Anita Thigpen Perry School of Nursing, was named the school’s Nurse of the Year. Elizabeth Tompkins, a traditional undergraduate nursing student, was named the school's Student Nurse of the Year.

Nurse of the Year

Francis-Johnson has been with the Perry School of Nursing for more than seven years. She has shown continued commitment to the school and is a TeamSTEPPS master trainer charged with introducing the TeamSTEPPS approach for patient handoffs to University Medical Center and Covenant Health System.

TeamSTEPPS is an evidence-based teamwork system developed by the Department of Defense in collaboration with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The system is aimed at optimizing patient outcomes by improving communication and teamwork skills among health care professionals. It includes a comprehensive set of ready-to-use materials and a training curriculum to successfully integrate teamwork principles into any health care system.

"Pat is an outstanding clinical faculty member who guides her students to use clinical reasoning to understand their patient’s disease processes and plan care accordingly," said Cindy Acton, R.N., DNP, an associate professor in the Perry School of Nursing who nominated Francis-Johnson for Nurse of the Year. "She co-course facilitated chronic care clinical this year and demonstrated the highest leadership quality in planning clinical simulation and hospital clinical. She demonstrates nursing leadership, innovation and scholarship. She has been actively involved in curricula development and teaching in both the traditional and non-traditional undergraduate studies."

This year Francis-Johnson was instrumental in designing a clinical evaluation tool for the undergraduate studies. She is an active member of the Texas Nurses Association, serving as the 2010-2011 board chair, Nurse Week chair and interim fundraising chair. In addition, she is graduating from the Perry School of Nursing Doctor of Nursing Practice program in May 2011.

Student Nurse of the Year

Tompkins, an Omaha, Neb., native, was nominated for Student Nurse of the Year for her involvement and dedication to several student nursing organizations.

"I was so surprised and very appreciative of my nomination," Tompkins said.

She was vice president of the Texas Nursing Students' Association (TNSA) in 2010. While in TNSA, Tompkins was also chair of the Council of Schools and State Convention Planning Committee, chair of the Credentialing Committee and chair of the Membership Committee. She worked closely with her board of directors to write new policy for TNSA regarding social networking and dismissal of a board member for failure to complete duties.

Tompkins was appointed to the National Student Nurses Association (NSNA) Resolutions Committee for 2010-2011. She co-authored a resolution in the 2010 TNSA House of Delegates and another resolution being passed in the 2011 NSNA House of Delegates.

She was a delegate or attendee of the 58th and 59th NSNA House of Delegates, the 62nd and 63rd Annual State Convention and the 2010 State Council of Schools.

Tompkins will be inducted into the the Iota Mu chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing during the School of Nursing's convocation on May 20.