By Heather Duge

Since the beginning of 2023, Sheralyn Hartline, DNP, RN, CNEP, RNC-NIC, and Stefanie Tanner, MSN, RN, BCEN, have shifted into leadership roles as part of the opening of Cook Children’s second Medical Center in Prosper, Texas. Both nurses described opening a new facility as a unique experience – one that has challenged them and allowed them to think outside the box. 

“We are here to guide the ship, but the staff took ownership of our processes and ultimately provided the safest, quality care for our patients,” Sheralyn said.

Stefanie said it has been a year of robust learning.

“The community, market and population are very different in Prosper so it’s not just copying and pasting what is being done at the Fort Worth campus,” Stefanie said.

Providing the highest quality care and a one-of-a-kind experience is always at the top of their minds as they know people in Prosper have many options to choose from when looking at hospitals.

“As we enter new territory, it has been increasingly important to be involved in community events and build relationships with leaders in the region,” Sheralyn said.

Sheralyn, assistant vice president for Nursing and Patient Care, and Stefanie, director of Nursing and Patient Care, worked to create and implement processes to improve practices for 200 nurses across multiple departments at the Prosper campus.

“Our teams refined what is working well,” Sheralyn said. “We also found processes that we needed to take back to the drawing board."

One of the projects spearheaded by Morgan Cotton, Clinical Risk/Quality Improvement coordinator and Amanda Pulley, manager of Laboratory Operations, is the Emergency Department and Lab Specimen Integrity Project. The interdisciplinary team worked together to provide solutions for keeping specimen integrity.

Another project led by frontline staff called Difficult IV Access (DIVA) involved collaboration with child life specialists, Advanced Care Technicians and nurses to improve the process for IV placement and infiltrations. Now, a nurse from the DIVA team who is trained to place IVs in patients with difficult access can be called at any time.  

Sheralyn and Stefanie also have supported many educational opportunities on the Prosper campus such as the emergency nurse pediatric course, the trauma nursing core course and crisis prevention intervention, largely driven by clinical practice and advanced education specialist Lucinda Berent.

“It’s a huge plus for staff if they don’t have to travel to Fort Worth or elsewhere to get certifications,” Sheralyn said.

Previously at Cook Children's Medical Center - Fort Worth, Stefanie served in the Emergency Department and Sheralyn led the Level IV NICU. Their different perspectives complement each other well. The dynamic duo communicates with each other from the moment they wake up until going to bed.

“I am a thinker and Sheralyn is a feeler,” Stefanie said. “We are both very outgoing and truly love our jobs. It’s busy and some days are 10 to 14 hours, but when I’m collaborating with Sheralyn, it doesn’t feel like work. I feel like this is what I get to do every day and I’m lucky to get paid for it.”

Sheralyn agrees and says she is blessed to be able to go to a job and do what she loves all day. Her passion for our organization’s Promise is reflected in all that has been accomplished since the opening of the Prosper facility.

“We are so proud of the culture that the team has created in Prosper while using our Promise as the guiding compass,” Sheralyn said.

There is no single criteria that makes a person eligible to lead. Education, job title and seniority can all be a start to establishing a role as a leader. But sometimes, the best leaders aren’t the highest ranking of any of the three. Today we are going to talk about leading when you are starting your career and how an early-career physician can develop leadership skills when they are not the most senior physician on their team.

Today’s guest is Matthew Carroll, M.D. He is a pediatric hospitalist at Cook Children’s and serves on Quality Improvement/Practice Management. Prior to coming to Cook Children’s, he served as the chief resident at Cincinnati Children’s Medical Center.

Questions to work through on the topic:

• What do you think are some personality characteristics that allow you and other young physicians to find roles within leadership?
• How big of a factor is the institutional culture toward the ability to develop young leaders?
• How do you see medicine changing now and as we go into the future?

Ways to listen:

• Listen on Soundcloud
• Subscribe for series on iTunes
• Download/Listen to MP3

Navigating Transitions in Leadership

Frank McGehee, M.D., is a pediatrician in the Cook Children’s Magnolia clinic. He practices in an office that has roots in an 80-year tradition of providing excellent patient care to the children of Fort Worth. He has seen many changes in medicine, but still believes that the heart of pediatrics lies in his connection with families.

There are probably a bunch but what are a few of the big changes you have seen in pediatrics over your career?

How have you seen your role in leadership change over your career?

What do you see coming for you in leadership in the next few years?

Ways to listen:

Listen on Soundcloud

Subscribe for series on iTunes

Download/Listen to MP3