A nurse for the past 30 years, Jennifer Williams has contributed to the success of two Memorial Healthcare System neonatal intensive care units: first at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital and, since 2005, at Memorial Hospital Miramar. She’s done that by focusing on one of the unit’s most important audiences. “It’s my job to build trust with the parents of the babies and one way to do that is to anticipate what communication is needed,” she said.
Williams serves as the clinical ladder committee chair at Miramar. The leadership position enables her to help fellow nurses advance in their careers, a critical part of the effort to energize and retain clinicians working in busy, highly stressful situations. Williams says Memorial’s nursing residency program, a one-year curriculum that offers training in all specialties and focuses on leadership, patient outcomes, and professional roles, is also an important part of the training process.
