Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt has been awarded the Center of Excellence (COE) in Pediatric Sedation designation by the Society for Pediatric Sedation (SPS), recognizing the hospital’s commitment to delivering safe, high-quality, patient-centered sedation care for children.
The COE designation honors organizations that demonstrate exemplary practices aligned with the highest standards in pediatric procedural sedation. Developed by the SPS Quality and Safety Committee, the COE description reflects expert consensus on ideal structures, processes and programs that support safe and effective sedation services for children.
“Earning the prestigious Center of Excellence in Pediatric Sedation designation from the Society for Pediatric Sedation demonstrates our team’s commitment to providing safe, high-quality pediatric procedural sedation,” said Kim Isenberg, MSN, APRN, director of Advanced Practice, Pediatric Perioperative, Acute Care and Ambulatory Services.
“This honor reflects the exceptional care we provide to our patients and reinforces our team’s high-quality sedation care and unwavering dedication. I want to extend a special thank you to Jill Kinch and Jason Willis for their invaluable support in navigating the application.”
To earn the designation, hospitals go through a rigorous application and evaluation process, for which only about 50% of applicants successfully achieve the designation. In this latest cycle of applicants, Monroe Carell was one of only 10 hospitals awarded the distinction.
“Our team is beyond honored to receive the Center of Excellence designation, the culmination of more than two decades of building this program from scratch — the day Monroe Carell opened,” said Sally Watson, MD, assistant professor of Clinical Anesthesiology.
“What began with two nurse practitioners, a single MRI scanner, and a fold-up table has grown into a dedicated, highly experienced sedation team that now supports a wide range of patients and procedures. I want to thank Kim Isenberg for spearheading this formidable process, as well as Dr. Mark Newton, our sedation medical director, for his continued support and contribution to our team’s success.”
The Society for Pediatric Sedation created the Center of Excellence designation to identify institutions that demonstrate leadership in the following areas:
- Standardized clinical processes that reduce variability and support consistency in care
- Ongoing monitoring of outcomes to drive system and quality improvements
- Use of pediatric-trained providers, equipped to address the unique needs of children
- Specialized sedation nursing, reflecting skills beyond traditional acute care
A comprehensive approach to sedation that includes patient assessment, medication planning, and consideration of alternatives when appropriate.
The Society for Pediatric Sedation is dedicated to promoting safe, high-quality pediatric procedural sedation care. Since its inception in the early 2000s, the Pediatric Sedation Research Consortium has gathered data from several participating institutions to provide baseline information on sedation outcomes. Moving forward, SPS is striving to define and develop metrics for quality in pediatric sedation utilizing the framework of the National Academy of Medicine’s “6 Aims of Quality.”
Monroe Carell’s achievement is a result of the collaborative effort of team members from pediatric sedation, pediatric anesthesia, advanced practice providers and nursing staff. The team supporting the work included Isenberg; Jill Kinch, MMHC, MSN, APRN; Jason Willis, MSN, APRN; Jenni Logsdon; Jessica Williams, DHA, MPA; and Autumn Harding, MSN, APRN; with support from Gretchen McCullough, MSN, APRN, Chief Nursing Officer for Monroe Carell, and hospital leadership.
“Designation of Monroe Carell Pediatric Sedation Services as a Center for Excellence in Pediatric Sedation is a testament to the exceptional patient care our teams provide,” said McCullough. “This recognition is an important milestone in our ongoing mission to provide the highest quality care.”
