Honoring UT Southwestern’s Advanced Practice Providers
UT Southwestern’s growing workforce of nearly 1,000 Advanced Practice Providers (APPs) work in a wide variety of roles across UT Southwestern, serving patients and supporting their teammates at William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital, our clinics, Children’s Health campuses, and partner health organizations including Parkland Health and Texas Health Resources.
UTSW observed National Advanced Practice Provider Week Sept. 25-29 with a series of thank-you events culminating in a ceremony that honored standouts from the five APP professional groups: clinical nurse specialists, certified nurse midwives, certified registered nurse anesthetists, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners.
About 660 UTSW APPs work with adult patients, and more than 300 serve in pediatric specialties.
“During APP Celebration Week at UT Southwestern, we take this opportunity to recognize the important role our Advanced Practice Providers play in the process of education, discovery, and healing,” said Christopher Roe, D.N.P., M.B.A., APRN, ACNP-BC, Adult Specialty Director for the Office of Advanced Practice Providers. “Through their collaborative efforts, APPs enhance patient access and provide quality, patient-centered care.”
Winners of the five APP Celebration Week Excellence Awards were selected through a rigorous review of nominations received by UTSW’s APP Engagement Committee. They were chosen for making exceptional contributions in the areas of clinical practice, community service, leadership, scholarly endeavors, and teaching. Additionally, the committee chose a faculty member as the 2023 APP Champion.
Learn more about these prized team members below:
Outstanding APP in Leadership
The award for Outstanding APP in Leadership celebrates a clinician who demonstrates effective leadership skills and is motivating, creative, and positive. The recipient is a skilled communicator and serves on a board or committee within or outside UT Southwestern Medical Center.
Ashley Boothe, M.S., APRN, AGACNP-BC FNP-C
Department of Neurological Surgery
Ashley Boothe, who joined UT Southwestern in 2016, is an inpatient nurse practitioner at Clements University Hospital (CUH) in the Department of Neurological Surgery. A vital member of her team, Ms. Boothe demonstrates strong leadership skills important for successful outcomes, team collaboration, and continuity of care.
She has helped expand the neurosurgery team from one to three APPs, ensuring that new hires have the appropriate training and shadowing experiences to flourish in their roles. Ms. Boothe is an excellent resource for neurosurgery-related questions and is a staunch advocate for patients, who also appreciate her thoroughness.
In addition to her clinical practice, Ms. Boothe is the Chair of the APP Lecture Series Committee and an active member of the APP Mentorship Committee. She is known for her willingness to teach students and provide them with the tools necessary to become excellent nurse practitioners.
In the words of her colleagues: “She is always learning and sharing her knowledge with the people around her. She is very deserving of this leadership award!”
Outstanding APP in Clinical Practice
The award for Outstanding APP in Clinical Practice celebrates an Advanced Practice Provider who is enthusiastic, prepared, and effective while engaging in direct patient care; who collaborates respectfully with colleagues; and who practices evidence-based medicine. The recipient must consistently receive positive patient feedback.
Ashley Britt, M.S.N., APRN, ACNPC-AG
Department of Surgery
A hardworking member of the Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU) team for more than a decade, Ashley Britt is deeply appreciated and respected by patients and colleagues.
She is praised for her work ethic, her dedication, and her excellent mentoring skills to the residents and APPs who work alongside her. Even in an emergency, her unfailingly steady demeanor reassures patients and their families that they are receiving the best care possible.
Ms. Britt is an effective communicator and is very knowledgeable in her field. With her self-confidence and strong technical skills, she manages patients independently while keeping her SICU teammates connected with regard to their care. Ms. Britt is detail oriented and stays informed on the latest literature related to evidence-based medicine. Her bedside manner has been described as “exemplary” by patients and colleagues alike. She also effectively connects with providers from a broad range of disciplines to keep them informed about patients under her care.
In the words of her colleagues, “Ashley is the heart and soul of the SICU provider team, and her patients and colleagues benefit from her expertise, compassion, and attitude every day!”
Outstanding APP in Scholarly Endeavors
The award for Outstanding APP in Scholarly Endeavors celebrates an Advanced Practice Provider who demonstrates efficacy in research, scholarly work, and/or quality and safety improvement projects. This APP has contributed to literature via a high-quality publication, received grant funding for their scholarly work, and/or served as a co-investigator on a new Institutional Review Board-approved study. The recipient must have completed a scholarly project with demonstrated impact.
Maria Crain, M.A., APRN, CPNP-PC
Health System Administration Advanced Practice Providers-Pediatrics
Maria Crain demonstrates a zeal for advancing her field of pediatric allergy and immunology by leading, promoting, and actively contributing to research. She is a co-investigator in nine active research studies and a team member on three others.
Ms. Crain is also the Principal Investigator and research coordinator of her own study about a rare food allergy called food protein-induced enterocolitis syndrome (FPIES). Ms. Crain has witnessed caregivers’ anxiety about their children’s food challenges and continues to assess ways to better support patients and families.
With clinical expertise in professional immunology and food allergies, Ms. Crain has presented information at local, national, and international levels. In 2022, for example, she spoke at the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology conference in Edinburgh, Scotland.
According to her colleagues, Ms. Crain is “bettering the life of patients and their families and furthering the future of medicine by excellence in advancing, applying, and evaluating evidenced-based medicine that translates into quality care.”
Outstanding APP in Teaching
The award for Outstanding APP in Teaching celebrates an Advanced Practice Provider who is a respectful, professional, challenging, and supportive communicator with learners, particularly in precepting APP students, providing clinical lectures, and onboarding new APP colleagues. The recipient must practice and teach evidence-based medicine.
Leslie Morales, M.S.N., APRN, CPNP-AC/PC
Health System Administration Advanced Practice Providers-Pediatrics
Leslie Morales has been a clinical educator for 13 years and has practiced in pediatric gastroenterology since 2019.
Before becoming a nurse practitioner, Ms. Morales spent six years as the ER nurse educator at Children’s Medical Center Dallas. She began her career as a nurse practitioner in hepatology and continues to be a trusted resource for nurses, students, and APPs onboarding to the hepatology team.
In between precepting APP students and onboarding new nurse practitioners to the team, Morales provides hepatology lectures to new RNs on the gastroenterology floor. She also teaches Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) and Basic Life Support (BLS) courses.
Ms. Morales stays current on hepatology best practices by reviewing pertinent literature and guidelines from the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases. In 2022, Ms. Morales was involved in a workgroup to create an Acetaminophen Toxicity Clinical Pathway, which provides guidance to providers on the management of patients with acetaminophen toxicity. Given the sharp rise in patients with liver injury due to acetaminophen toxicity, these guidelines have been an invaluable resource to staff.
Her colleagues recognize Ms. Morales as “an APP who improves patient care through her continuous pursuit of new information, and her tireless work inspires the entire medical team.”
Outstanding APP in Professional & Community Service
The award for Outstanding APP in Professional and Community Service celebrates a clinician with active service in the community outside of their UT Southwestern employment whose service helps a specific, local population; reduces health disparities; and makes a lasting, meaningful impact. The recipient must organize and/or lead community engagement activities.
Janith Mills, M.P.A.S., PA-C
Health System Administration Advanced Practice Providers-Pediatrics
Janith Mills makes a lasting impact on the people who work around her and creates positive changes for colleagues.
Ms. Mills is President-Elect of the Texas Academy of Physician Assistants (TAPA). She also participates in multiple organizations at UTSW, including the APP Engagement Committee and the UTSW Master of Physician Assistant (PA) Studies program, where she takes part in its White Coat Ceremony.
In the Dallas community, Ms. Mills is involved in UTSW’s Epilepsy Spanish Group as well as its Epilepsy Teen Group, which allows her to advocate for and provide education to neurology patients.
She has a reputation for her knowledge in pediatric neurology. In April 2023, she presented her research findings titled “Seizure Mimics in Children: The Great Pretenders” to the New Frontiers in Pediatric Neurology Conference at Children’s Health in Dallas. She also has created several posters and has served as a panelist for various conferences over the past few years, always demonstrating the highest standards of professionalism.
Ms. Mills is known for being extremely energetic, thorough, and passionate about health care and the APP profession, and her peers call her an invaluable resource.
2023 APP Champion
For this award, all UTSW Advanced Practice Providers were encouraged to nominate employees or faculty members who effectively collaborate, influence, support, mentor, and encourage APPs.
Ron Mitchell, M.D.
Dr. Ron Mitchell, Professor and Vice Chairman of Otolaryngology and Chief of Pediatric Otolaryngology, is being honored for his dedication and unwavering support of APPs.
Dr. Mitchell, who specializes in pediatrics and airway conditions, joined UT Southwestern in 2011 and immediately requested to work with a team of APPs. More than a decade later, he continues to encourage them to work at the top of their license, helping to improve patient access while also enhancing job satisfaction. He includes APPs in the decision-making process, and those who work with him say he has cultivated an environment of trust and respect.
In the past year, Dr. Mitchell successfully created a membership option for APPs within the American Society of Pediatric Otolaryngology, where he served as President. He continues to advocate for them at the national level by supporting the profession and teaching others how to integrate APPs in their medical practice.
An APP colleague notes that Dr. Mitchell “is constantly encouraging me to pursue further leadership development opportunities and has always believed we have a seat at the table, no matter what or where that table might be.”