UCLA School of Nursing’s Nancy McGrath receives 2023 Pediatric Readiness Improvement Award

Nancy McGrath MN, RN, CPNP-AC/PC, a lecturer in the UCLA School of Nursing, has been named the recipient of the 2023 Pediatric Readiness Improvement Award from the Emergency Nurses Association (ENA).

This award recognizes a nurse who demonstrates outstanding efforts to improve readiness in caring for children in the emergency care setting, according to the ENA. 

“As an emergency nurse since 1983, I’m honored to receive the Emergency Nurses Association Pediatric Readiness Improvement Award. My involvement in Pediatric Readiness began over 20 years ago at Harbor-UCLA and it’s so unbelievable to see how far the project has grown,” McGrath said. “What started as a survey of emergency departments in California has developed into the National Pediatric Readiness Project. We know that children have better outcomes in emergency departments with higher readiness scores and how instrumental the role of the Pediatric Emergency Care Coordinator, who is often a nurse, can be to improving readiness. As I segway into retirement in the coming year, I hope to continue working on the Pediatric Readiness project and improving emergency care for children for many years to come.”

McGrath has been a pediatric nurse practitioner in the Department of Emergency Medicine – Pediatric Emergency Department at Los Angeles County/Harbor-UCLA Medical Center since 1991 and has been a lecturer in the School of Nursing since 1996. Throughout her career, McGrath has been a leader in clinical care initiatives, serving on the Pediatric Community Council as well as the Pediatric Liaison to the Los Angeles County EMS Agency representing Harbor. In this role McGrath is the pediatric emergency care coordinator (PECC) and has spearheaded the training of nurses in pediatric emergency care for more than 20 years. 

McGrath was instrumental in the development of the first regionalized care for pediatric patients in emergency settings in the country and continues to be an active member of the Emergency Nurses Association, serving on the pediatric committee and as a senior consultant for the National EMS for Children Innovation and Improvement Center.

A true leader in pediatric care, we congratulate Nancy McGrath on this incredible honor.