For Jackie, who works at Keck Hospital of USC, everything comes back to patient care. Whether she is serving on a committee, leading grand rounds, or writing a journal article, she has one goal: to improve advanced practice provider (APP) continuing education and practice, so patients can get the care that they need.
As a specialist in vascular surgery, Jackie leads a multidisciplinary team of surgeons, podiatrists and others to manage the care of patients before, during and after their surgeries. This is a job that requires expertise in both the micro and the macro: She engages with each patient as an individual, with tremendous compassion, and is also always thinking about the bigger system, to keep improving the vascular program more broadly.
Jackie is very aware that APPs — such as nurse practitioners and nurse anesthetists — are essential to patient care and satisfaction. Because she knows those stakes, she is constantly innovating, developing ways to improve APP practice and reach. She can be counted on to say yes: She steps up to head new committees, to mentor new nurse practitioners. At the moment, she is participating in the first Keck Academy of Continuous Improvement specifically for APPs, a health system-wide collaboration to train workforce in best practices to strengthen quality and safety processes in health care environments. She also brings her expertise to the wider community, volunteering with domestic violence organizations and advocating for APPs in state regulations. Sadly, Jackie lost her home during the recent wildfires. Even as she juggled insurance appointments and the stress of moving, she continued to care for her patients with her signature excellence.