| The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Medical Center Nurse of the Month for August is Tenille Rawls, R.N,. of the Neurosurgery/Trauma Unit. Rawls is nurse liaison for neurosurgeon Ossama “Sam” Al-Mefty, M.D. She joined UAMS after graduating from the University of Central Arkansas in 2002 and has entered the Family Nurse Practitioner Program in the UAMS Graduate School. Rawls is married to third year medical student Russ Rawls, and the couple lives in Little Rock.

The Neurosurgery Clinic, located in the Jackson T. Stephens Spine and Neurosciences Institute, has been selected the Outstanding Area in UAMS clinical programs for the month of August. Arlyn Howard, R.N., is the charge nurse for the clinic. Clinics are surveyed each month for the pride the staff takes in the appearance of the area, the quality of care giving, and patient satisfaction. Other areas surveyed this month were the neurology, dermatology, and surgery clinics.

The STAR (Striving Together Achieving Results) Award winner in August is Debra Reed, point of service coordinator in the University Private Medical Group (UPMG) Clinic. The award goes to the outstanding patient access employee. Reed started at UAMS in 1998, and moved to the UPMG Clinic a year later as a registration and appointment specialist. She is pursuing a degree at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock to become a certified health educator.

Hollie Black, chart technician in the Women’s Oncology Clinic at the Arkansas Cancer Research Center (ACRC), is the Most Valuable Player for August, as selected by the Clinical Programs Recognition Council. Black started in 2001 as a patient chart technician in the Head and Neck Oncology, Dermatology Oncology, and Joint Oncology clinics. In her current job she handles point of service, helps transport patients, does backup registration, and assists nurses.