Laryssa Reese Liteplo, MSN

While enrolled in an accelerated and lengthy dual master’s NP program, Reese somehow found time to utilize her extraordinary interpersonal and communication skills as a volunteer supporting some of the most vulnerable patients and families. After learning of pediatric oncology refugee patients from Ukraine, Reese immediately leveraged her integrity, ingenuity and caring to sustain patient and refugee relationships within the broader healthcare team by providing translation services for Ukrainian patients relocated to St. Jude's hospital for continuation of oncologic care. As she describes, "It involves transcribing Ukrainian medical information into English... there are a lot of words and phrases that conversational Ukrainian doesn't typically consist of... so we consult a very long Ukrainian to English spreadsheet and each other to ensure the translation is done quickly and with superb quality.”

Given her prior service efforts and nursing excellence awards, it is no surprise that Reese juggled her own studies and professional responsibilities to meet the needs of Ukrainian families. Reese leveraged her nursing knowledge to support collaborative relationships among patients, families, and members of the healthcare team not only locally, but abroad. Additionally, she provided direct networking support to families leaving Ukraine for relocation with subsequent connection to local U.S. resources.

While her nursing work supporting this unique population was not done entirely within a traditional hospital system, her efforts are extreme examples of strong patient care highlighting the compassionate clinician Reese is to her patients and families.