Director Clinical Informatics Employee at Cook Children's Health Care System

Rhiannon McDonnell

Director Clinical Informatics

Rhiannon’s teams train and support EMR, and other technology applications for the system, while troubleshooting and providing ideas for improving technology workflows.

“This organization, this system, is built on family values.”
- Rhiannon

What attracted you to work at your company? How did you know it would be a good fit?: I was fresh out of nursing school and unsure of where I wanted to begin my nursing career. A peer encouraged me to apply at Cook’s, and from the very first moment I stepped foot on campus I knew I would never leave! I started in Hematology/Oncology, and the blend of building relationships with patients and their families hooked me quickly.
What are you responsible for in your current role?: I’m responsible for clinical informatics, epic training, and technology training teams. Clinical informaticists are the translators between the “real world” and IS. They use their clinical backgrounds and technical savvy to support both clinicians and non-clinicians in workflow improvement, elbow support, and training. The epic and technology trainers work closest with IS analysts to provide new hire and change training for apps like Epic, Workday, OnBase etc. Like most nurses, servanthood, education, and training are close to my heart so getting to work with these teams fulfills me greatly!
What are you working on right now that excites or inspires you?: Fiscal Year 2024 is full of exciting opportunities for our clinicians! We’re kicking off a Unified Communications project to greatly improve staff communication through the EMR and associated apps. I also recently had the opportunity to attend a Healthcare Data Analytics conference, and am geeking out over the coming opportunities our Data Governance committees will have to improve patient outcomes based on improved usage of data.
What do you value most about your company’s or team’s culture? What sets it apart from other places you’ve worked?: Family. That’s it!! This organization, this system, is built on family values. Cook rarely fails to deliver a top-notch project or product and that is 100% due to the commitment our staff has to each other and to our mission. As a HemOnc nurse, my very favorite part of the job is caring for the families. They need almost as much attention as the sick child. Cook understands the role of family, whether it’s making sure their staff have work-life balance, or attending to the needs of our patients’ families!
What’s one thing you would want a candidate to know about what it’s like to work at your company?: I often tell people how Cook employees just walk down the hall smiling! They greet each other, they greet strangers. They may be having a really rough day, but we all know we’re blessed to work at an organization making a difference daily—even hourly! I love that I’ve been here for 23 years, and when I share this, it’s to brag about Cook and our culture!
How does working at this company allow you to have a work-life balance?: I know we have good processes in place and that we have good people manning those processes. I can leave in the evening with peace, confident that if there is an issue that arises after hours, we have good policies and proper training to ensure the right steps are taken. From an IS perspective, if our “off hours” are disturbed with an issue, our focus is immediately, without waiver, on how the issue impacts patients and staff performing their job. We work quickly and expertly to address the issue, and support the patients and staff.

Meet Other Cook Children's Health Care System Employees

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Daniel Figueroa

Clinical Nurse Leader

Daniel engages in interdisciplinary collaboration to enhance bedside nursing care, increase quality metrics, cultivate a positive work environment, and improve patient outcomes.

Breann Wills

Principal Trainer and Lead, Information Systems, EPIC

Breann is responsible for mastering both the Epic application and Cook Children's operational workflows. She oversees the development and implementation of the training program, ensuring that hospital staff are well-versed in using the system.

Thomas Atkins

Nurse Practitioner / Physician Assistant

Thomas works closely with physicians, collaborating on patient care. He performs patient assessments, forms diagnoses and interventions, follows up with patients, and supervises clinical personnel as needed.