Cook Children's Promise in Action: Ricky Morris

Ricky Morris is dedicated to the Cook Children’s promise not just at work, but in every aspect of his life. In honor of Nurse's Week, we are sharing Ricky’s story and how he embodies our values inside and outside of Cook Children’s walls. 

Ricky has been a member of the Cook Children’s family for 15 years across a variety of units.  

He served as a patient care technician in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU), Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) and the Behavioral Health unit until a recent move to the Nurse Residency Program.

Over the years, he and his wife have not only had four biological children, but they also added 12 foster children to their family. The couple adopted six children and fostered six more who, as Ricky puts it, “adopted us.” Three of the children have complex medical issues, and two are still patients at Cook Children’s.  

Ricky and his Cook Children's family

The Morris’ oldest adopted daughter is the reason they started fostering. The couple are active in their church’s youth ministry group and became close with a family who was fostering 11 girls. After a year of knowing one another, one of the girls “said very point blank she was looking for a family,” Ricky said. “And she just said, ‘y’all could adopt me.’ And that’s how it all started.” 

The Morris’ adopted the 11-year-old girl as well as her brother and half-sister in 2006 and 2007. In 2010, they started working with three medically complex children and adopted them, too. Over the next five years, they fostered six other children who aged out of foster care, but are considered part of the family all the same. Their family gatherings, Ricky said, “are what you would consider organization chaos.” 

Since Ricky joined the nurse residency program in October, he has been able to meet many of the people who have taken care of his kids. He remembers their dedication to his children and is able to see them provide that same continuity of care for every child they treat.

Two of his children are still patients at Cook Children’s, and when he brings them to appointments, he is still amazed “at the outstanding care they receive.” That consistent, attentive care is why Ricky loves Cook Children’s.  

“Cook Children’s looks at the individual child like a child; not a number, not a case study,” he said. “Each child is met where they are, and worked with individually and on an individual basis, on an individual care plan. Like the Promise says, each life is sacred.” 

The collaboration at Cook Children’s makes that individualized care possible, he said. Everyone does their part to do what is best for the patients and their families.  

Relating to his patients and families

Ricky’s colleagues are proud to have him on the Nurse Residency Program, said Lizzie Marshall, Manager of the Nurse Residency.  

“Ricky came into the Nurse Residency Program with an open mind and a genuine humility for the process of rotating through multiple units,” said Lizzie Marshall, Nurse Manager.  

Recently, Ricky moved to Hematology and Oncology as his home unit. While he fully embraced the experience of each rotation, Lizzie said, he is “truly thriving” with hematology and oncology patients. 

Ricky brings a unique perspective and empathy to patients on this unit, because he, too, is a cancer survivor. In 2021, Ricky said he sat with a patient on the oncology floor as a sitter. The first night, he told his wife that’s where he needed to be. That same year, he was diagnosed with cancer. 

“And I felt even more called to be in the oncology department,” he said. “To understand and relate with them on different procedures and options.” He is able to empathize with the struggles and fear that the diagnosis brings. Lizzie said Ricky is a natural leader and consistently goes above and beyond.  

“During this year’s ice storm, he even made arrangements to stay near the hospital to ensure he could work his shifts and continue caring for our patients,” she said. “He shows up early, stays late, and is a constant source of support for both his teammates and the patients he serves.”