B.S.N., 1985
Senior Vice President of Nursing and Chief Nurse Executive
Children’s Health System
 | "I came to Children's in January of '62 and started out as a staff nurse working 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. Children's was quite different then-it was just a 100-bed hospital at the time, as opposed to a health system.
"I've done every job a nurse can do here. The humble beginning of my management experience was as a head nurse in the intensive-care unit [ICU]-prior to the implementation of the ICUs, patients with respiratory complications would be placed in an iron lung in a regular patient room when needed. I had begun to work 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and would stay over for four hours every day to learn as much as I could about the technology, systems, M.D.s, and other resources that were necessary to develop a state-of-the-art ICU."
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As both a Birmingham native and an employee at Children's Health System (CHS) for nearly half a century, Surpora Thomas has had the opportunity to view many years of historic changes-in her hometown, at Children's, and in the nursing profession as a whole. Thomas originally attended nursing school at the three-year diploma program at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, but she returned to school 23 years later to earn a formal bachelor's degree at the UAB School of Nursing-even as she maintained her career as a nursing executive. She credits her innovative, unconventional approaches for her many successes as well as those of her nursing team prior to returning to school.
On her "double life" as both an executive and a student:
"When I got my B.S.N. from UAB, it was very challenging, because in spite of my many years of nursing experience, it was like I was starting all over again. For part of the day I would put on my suit, my business attire, and make decisions at the hospital, and then for the rest of the day I would put my student-nurse uniform on and do clinicals at University Hospital or attend class. I was able to maintain that balance because I had strong family support, and I had a dedicated, gifted, and multitalented nursing team at CHS.
"The networking with the other students, UAB faculty, and physicians proved to be interesting also. We were colleagues making decisions for part of the day, and then the rest of the day they'd see me taking care of patients. By the time I finished at the UABSON, I'd developed relationships with the faculty that continue even now. I've always had strong relationships with the deans-Marie O'Koren, Rachel Booth, and now Doreen Harper-and each one of them, in her own way, has brought the school greater international recognition."
Those relationships have served Thomas and her hospital well as she has tried to strengthen the ties between Children's Hospital and the School of Nursing. Thomas provided the impetus for one of those ties back in the 1980s when she encouraged Marie O'Koren to allow one UABSON faculty member to do a year-long sabbatical at Children's while still maintaining a faculty position; today, she says, Dean Harper's equally strong commitment to community partnerships has been a big boost to both the hospital and the nurses-many of them UAB graduates themselves-who are assigned to provide care. Harper's faculty and CHS employees at different levels and in different forums share educational resources, experiences, and expertise of mutual value.
On how the School of Nursing has helped Children's Hospital:
"One of the things Rachel Booth used to do was recruit faculty who would have opportunities to come into contact with the clinical areas here at Children's; she would always let me meet them and even interview them if she thought it was appropriate. Dean Harper makes sure that when the school has guest speakers come in and lecture, we know all about it. There's a lot of knowledge sharing between our two institutions-we have some nurses who are adjunct professors and actually teach in the classroom. In the 1980s and '90s, one of their professors facilitated an onsite journal club here, teaching students how to identify and abstract scientific articles. And in 2006, Dean Harper approved one of her faculty members being onsite at CHS each week to assist our nursing research and education staff in teaching and mentoring the staff about evidence-based practice and research principles. Upon request, CHS nurses enrolled in graduate classes in the School of Nursing receive faculty approval to do research projects that will benefit us as well as help the students meet their requirements."
That kind of partnership, Thomas says, definitely makes the demanding job of managing 1,300 nurses easier. She has also been able to draw upon her experience of balancing executive and student roles to help create an open, positive environment at Children's Hospital, where nurses have a voice and a valued role in the management process.
On creating a positive work environment at the hospital:
"I see my job as dignifying the talents of the nurses who work here, removing barriers, coaching and encouraging them, watching them soar, and then rewarding them for their successes. I'm personally rewarded by seeing them grow to their greatest potential. We've been able to achieve a lot here, and I'm blessed with great, creative, innovative people, a great place to work, and lots of support at all levels.
"I'm really into shared governance and creating forums where nurses can give their input. We have several staff nurse councils where decisions affecting nursing practice are made and a Nurse Executive Council where those decisions are endorsed. We have networking meetings the second and third week of every quarter at 4:30 a.m., 10 a.m., and 2 p.m., and the 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. meetings can be viewed via Webcast and are available for later viewing via the intranet for those who can't attend in person. I started an open-door policy in '84, and now all of the nursing leaders have the same. Our staff know and appreciate that it's their agenda whenever they choose to set up a meeting.
"In November 2007 we received Magnet designation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center, which was great, because it validated to our nurses that an agency made up of the top experts in our field judged us by rigorous criteria and determined that, yes, we met their standards and should be recognized for excellence in nursing. At that time, only 4.9 percent of hospitals in the nation earned that recognition, and we're still one of only two in the state of Alabama, the other being UAB Hospital. . . . Our Magnet journey was identified as a strategic initiative in 2003 with support at the Board of Trustees and executive levels. We're blessed to have so much knowledge available to us; our relationship with UAB has only gotten stronger over the years, not only in terms of the student-instructor relationship, but also in terms of the opportunities available through the partnerships that Dean Harper and I continue to develop-thus making things better not only for the nurses, but also for the patients we serve."