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2019 Founders Award Winner

Jenny Kreiss

Jennifer L. Kreiss, MN, PCPNP-BC

Our Founders Award recipient received 5 letters of support. These letters of support were written by John Waldhausen, MD, Division Chief, Jeffrey Avansino, MD, MBA, VP and Medical Director of Surgical Services, Connie Mantel, RN, CPN, Julie Aldrich Whalen, ARNP, MSN, FNP-BC, all from Seattle Children’s Hospital and Raquel PasarĂ³n, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, 2015-2016 APSNA President.

Our recipient has been a nurse since 1989, therefore around 30 years. She has been a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, Division of General and Thoracic Surgery Seattle Children’s Hospital since1996, and an APSNA member since that time. She wrote an article in the 1998 Winter Issue of Sutureline describing her first year as a surgical PNP. She became the APSNA Program Chair in 2009-2010, the President, 2011-2012 and later the Global Health Special Interest Group Chair in 2012.

John Waldhausen, Division Chief – Pediatric General and Thoracic Surgery, Seattle Children’s Hospital writes:

Early in her career, jenny became the go-to nurse practitioner in the hospital for essentially all pediatric surgical problems. She was counted on by all the faculty and helped run the service and provided continuity of care for all our patients. Jenny has always displayed outstanding leadership characteristics and has been a kind and patient teacher. She is someone who all the faculty and staff depend on has an exceptionally high level of expertise.

Julie Aldrich Whalen, Nurse Practitioner and Supervisor for Urology and General Surgery Advance Practice Providers

In her nearly 30 years with Seattle Children’s, Jenny’s contributions to the advancement of pediatric surgery have been immeasurable. Her expertise also extends outside of Seattle to those in rural area of Washington State, Montana, and Alaska, where she travels with Seattle Children’s to care for surgery patients routinely. Her dedication to the field of pediatric surgery is obvious, but more apparent in daily interactions with her patients and colleagues. She is humble and steadfast in her work; a trusted and respected leader in the field.

Connie Mantel, Reconstructive Pelvic Medicine RN

I have known Jenny for over 20 years, and have worked with her in the Reconstructive Pelvic Medicine program for the past 8 years, since the program began in 2011. She has been an integral part of the multispecialty program at Seattle Children’s. Since 2013, Jenny has served as a volunteer for Camp Korey. The camp is offered to children with various medical conditions free of charge.

During Fall Weekends, Jenny has facilitated discussion of parents’ bowel management concerns in children with Anorectal malformation, Hirschsprung and spinal conditions.

Jeffrey Avansino, VP and Medical Director of Surgical Services, Seattle Children’s Hospital

Jenny is committed to creating a sense of community for our patients and families inside and outside the walls of the hospital. Not only is she motivated to initiate and complete tasks, she is able to anticipate the needs of the staff, providers, patients and families. She has a knack for building strong relationships with both patients and families. She is also committed to helping patients and families from a variety of backgrounds and is especially sensitive to the cultural and language differences. She recognizes the financial and social burdens endured by these families and offers herself as a pillar of support.

Her calm, patient demeanor makes her an ideal preceptor and mentor. I knew jenny when I was a resident and fellow. She was always kind, gently offering bits of advice and education just at the right time. Even now, she respectfully bestows knowledge to me and the rest of the team.

I watch her taking time to carefully explain the clinical scenario and teach the techniques to achieve the optimal clinical outcome. Jenny exhibits humility in her leadership. Jenny has worked hard for the patient’s surgical needs both at the national and local levels.

Raquel PasarĂ³n, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, 2015-2016 APSNA President

One of the things that Jenny has been quite passionate about in her APSNA work after she completed her board tenure has been the development and continued support of the Global Health Special Interest Group. Jenny has really strived to develop this initiative. She has continued to partner with other organizations to bring global health nursing into the forefront specifically to APSNA and its members. She continues to think of ways to highlight members and bring pediatric surgical nursing excellence to the global health community.

I wanted to highlight this specific commitment and dedication that may not be widely recognized and it is highly important and significant to pediatric surgical nursing and APSNA.

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