by Jessica Pasley
Janet Cross, MEd, administrative director of Patient- and Family-Centered Care at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, has been named a member of the inaugural Pediatric Advisory Council for the Beryl Institute.
As a Certified Child Life Specialist through the Association of Child Life Professionals and a certified patient experience professional through the Patient Experience Institute, Cross is dedicated to improving health care experiences for patients, families and caregivers.
The Pediatric Advisory Council, a group of 28 people from across the country, will work with the Beryl Institute to develop a strategy of engaging pediatric patient experience leaders in the broader patient experience movement and to guide program development relevant to pediatric patient experience leaders and staff as well as serve as an ambassador for the Beryl Institute. Each member will serve a two-year term.
Through a corporate Vanderbilt University Medical Center membership, Cross has participated for many years with the Beryl Institute, a global community practice with about 40,000 members dedicated to improving the patient experience through collaboration and shared knowledge.
“I am honored to have been selected as a member of the newly formed Pediatric Advisory Council,” said Cross. “As the leader for Patient- and Family-Centered Care at our Children’s Hospital, I am looking forward to collaborating with others working in pediatric patient experience to recognize and establish best practice.
“Evidence tells us that patients and families with better care experiences often have better health outcomes, and that effort to improve patient experience also results in greater employee satisfaction, reducing turnover. Both initiatives are priorities for us as an institution.”
As director of Patient-and Family-Centered Care, Cross is responsible for the development, implementation, and evaluation of patient- and family-centered care initiatives as well as oversight of Child Life Services, Volunteer Services, Pastoral Care, Family Resource Center, Hospital School Program, Music Therapy, Art Therapy, Seacrest Studio, Patient and Family Advisory Councils, Patient Experience, Patient Education and the Gift Shop.
Cross obtained her bachelor’s degree from Mississippi State University and her Master of Education from Vanderbilt University. She completed her Child Life internship at Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt in 1981 and was hired as a Child Life Specialist in 1982. She later served as the manager of Child Life in 1992 and in 2003 became the director of Child Life and the Family Resource Center. She moved into her current post in 2010.
