Majeda Al-Ruzzieh, PhD, RN, FPCC, CGNC, left, a Commission on Magnet member for the American Nursing Credentialing Center, awards Beth Bass, MSN, APRN, Advanced Practice Manager for the Preoperative Assessment and Teaching for Children’s Hospital (PATCH) Clinic, with a Magnet Nurse of the Year award. (photo courtesy of the American Nurses Association)
When her kindergarten teacher asked the class to draw what they wanted to be when they grew up, Beth Bass drew a nurse’s hat.
“I just knew that was it for me,” Bass recalls.
Her conviction only grew stronger after a burn injury at age 11 led to a difficult experience in an adult-focused emergency department.
“No one was explaining things to me in a way that was kid-friendly, and it made the situation more stressful than it needed to be,” said Bass, MSN, APRN, Advanced Practice Manager for the Preoperative Assessment and Teaching for Children’s Hospital (PATCH) Clinic. “The experience made me realize how important it was to help children be children.”
A Nashville native and first-generation college graduate, Bass earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in nursing from Belmont University. She joined Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt in 2006 for her pediatric nurse residency, starting her career on the hospital’s eighth floor unit. In 2012, she joined the PATCH team, where she has spent much of her career focused on improving care for children and their families in the surgical setting.
That commitment recently earned her one of nursing’s highest honors.
Bass was named a 2026 National Magnet Nurse of the Year by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), receiving the award Oct. 30 during the Magnet & Pathway Conference in Chicago.
The National Magnet Nurse of the Year Awards recognize clinical nurses whose work exemplifies excellence in leadership, innovation and professional practice. Bass was honored in the “New Knowledge, Innovations and Improvements” category for her pioneering work applying artificial intelligence to create a clinical decision support tool for pediatric surgical care.
“Every opportunity that led me here began with a goal that motivates nurses every day — finding better ways to care for our patients and supporting the teams who serve them,” she said. “Thank you to my leaders, my mentors, my colleagues, my friends and my family for believing in me and encouraging me. Thank you to my team who had the courage to take this challenge on with me.”
In 2025, Bass launched the SMILE project, which stands for Surgical Mapping for Ideal Location Eligibility, initiated as a capstone project for the Perioperative Leadership Advance and Empowerment Program under Surgeon-in-Chief Jeffrey Upperman, MD, and Lyndy Wilcox, MD. Working with perioperative leaders and collaborators across Vanderbilt Health, she explored whether artificial intelligence could help determine the safest surgical location for pediatric patients.
The team used Brim Analytics, an AI-powered review tool developed at Vanderbilt Health by Daniel Fabbri, PhD, Associate Professor of Biomedical Informatics and holder of the DBMI Directorship in Informatics Innovation, to help identify children who may require the additional resources available on Monroe Carell’s Nashville campus and those who can safely receive care at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital Vanderbilt Surgery and Clinics Murfreesboro. By rapidly analyzing medical histories and other clinical information, the tool helps care teams make more informed scheduling decisions while ensuring children receive care in the most appropriate setting.
“This was about ensuring we get the right patient in the right location for safe care and that we’re utilizing our resources appropriately,” Bass said.
The innovation streamlined a time-intensive review process and improved access to care by matching patients with the location best suited to their needs.
Monroe Carell leaders Kim Isenberg, MSN, APRN, Associate Advanced Practice Officer for Surgical and Sedation Services, and Jill Kinch, DNP, MMHC, APRN, Associate Chief Advanced Practice Officer, nominated Bass for the Magnet Nurse of the Year award. They wrote, in part: “Beth’s leadership, courage and willingness extend beyond her local pediatric practice. She is the first clinician to successfully implement and navigate Vanderbilt Health’s Artificial Intelligence Technology Committee and Institutional Review Board approval processes, paving the way for future nurse- and health professional-led innovation initiatives that can redesign workflows with the assistance of AI.”
Isenberg said the recognition reflects both Bass’s vision and the practical impact of her work.
“This recognition is well deserved and reflects Beth’s passion for innovation and her commitment to leveraging technology to improve patient care,” Isenberg said. “As the first nurse from Monroe Carell to receive a Magnet Nurse of the Year Award, Beth has achieved a remarkable milestone that highlights her leadership and dedication to advancing nursing practice. We are incredibly proud of her accomplishments and the impact she continues to make on our patients, families and care teams.”
Gretchen McCullough, MSN, RN, Chief Nursing Officer for Monroe Carell, said Bass’ achievement reflects both individual excellence and a culture that supports innovation.
“This deeply meaningful recognition of Beth’s work is not only a testament to her individual contributions as an international leader in this space but also recognizes the structural empowerment present at Monroe Carell, which creates space for clinicians to reimagine the future of care delivery,” McCullough said. “Our nursing department, including our outstanding advanced practice team, is the heartbeat of our hospital, but we reach far beyond compassion by advancing care delivery through meaningful innovation, discovery and research.”
